Vaisnavas of Turkmenistan in danger!

[Guest guest]

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

Dear Anuttama Prabhu,

please accept my humble obeisances.

 

I am not sure if you have received these materials or not, so I am

sending it again.

 

Vaidyanatha Prabhu gave me your letter in response to which I am

sending "Open letter" of Turkmenian community members, the text of the

protest from the Center of societies of Krsna Consciousness in Russia,

and also the text of the protest of Moscow's Indian community,

press-release along with the photoes of the temple to have been made

before and after destruction. I think it is enough for beginning. The

informatioon of Keston Institute may also be used.

 

Since Desember 12, 1996 Turkmenistan is acknowledged by UN as neutral

state like Switzerlend. The leaders of the republic announce

Turkmenistan as a democratic and secular state, although from the

beginning their policy is the antidemocratic dictatorship inerited

from totalitarian communist period. Mentality of free will in any

manifistations (political and religious) is very stricktly percecuted

and purnished. Official registration have only one party and two

religions: Muslim and Russian Ortodox Church. That's why it is simple

not possible to struggle against it within the country. External

pressure is necessary. It should be taken into consideration that

Turkmenistan is a member of UN and OSCE and it is waiting and

receiving investments from USA. Therefore, Turkmenistan is more depend

on opinion of USA then Russia.

 

On September 23, 1999 in Moscow we made picket in front of

Turkmenistan Embassy in Russia and in that day we held the

press-conference dedicated to the destruction of the temple in

Turkmenistan. Many reporters from different newspapers and radio were

on it, and several Moscow newspapers published the artickles about it.

We have already sent documents to the President and Ambassador of

Turkmenistan and to some international human rights organizations. We

are also planing series of pickets near the building of Turkmenistan

Embassy in Moscow (but now, pickets, demonstrations etc., are

prohibited in Moscow due to spesial political situation). We have the

request to all of you, our brothers and sisters, that you join and

support us throughout the whole world by picketting the Turkmenistan

Embassy in your countries also engaging international human rights

organizations, and espesially USA Congress.

 

Please help us!

 

Your servant, Attahasya das (Allamurad Rahimov),

president of Mary Vaisnava Comunity.

 

P.S. Please, inform Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about all actions

to have been done to:

E-mail: khallyevk (AT) rferl (DOT) org

VPonomarev (AT) mtu-net (DOT) ru

 

 

2. AN OPEN LETTER

 

 

 

To the President of Turkmenistan S.A. Niyazov

>From parishioners of the Mary Community of The International Society

of Krishna Consciousness

 

Copies: to khakim (gubernator) of the Mary Region,

To the ambassador of Turkmenistan in Russia,

International mass media

 

 

 

Venerable Saparmurad Atayevich!

 

As you may already know, on August 12, 1999 in the Dimitrov kolkhoz

of the Vekil-Bazar etrap (county) of the Mary velayat (region) a

tragic incident took place: a tem-ple recently build by local Hare

Krishna community on the private land of one of the members of the

community was barbarically demolished. This act of vandalism, typi-cal

more likely, of the Dark Ages than of the end of the XX century, was

carried out in the presence and under the direct leadership of the

religious affairs council chair-man M Karriyev, under the power of

(affiliated to) the President of Turkmenistan, and also that of the

head of the Turkmenistan moslem's imam N. Ibadullaev. At the clang of

tractor caterpillars, tracks and the din of falling bricks, the honor

of the republic was desecrated, in whose constitution the words are

written, black on white: "democratic state".

 

The demolition of the house of prayer, alas, was not a coincidence. On

the contrary, it became the logical culmination of anticonstitutional

policy that during the last years is carried out by the

representatives of the authorities and the law enforcement officials

of Turkmenistan against religious minorities, in particular, against

the people, who confess Hinduism.

 

One shouldn't go far to look for an example. Beginning with 1994,

hundreds of books of Indian philosophy were confiscated, more that 2

thousand dollars worth. J. Rahi-mov and B. Amanov, residents of Mary

city, were dismissed from work according to religious motivation. Many

times believers suffered from insults and threats from the

vice-khakim of Mary city M. Bekishev and the in-charge of the

department of this khakim M. Karakhanov. Now the officials have

proceeded from threats to "deeds".

 

Here are only several of the long listed testimonies:

 

v In June 14, 1999, Krishna's temple in Ashhabad was secretly visited

by the agents of the KNB (Committee of national security). Not at all

embarrassed by the cir-cumstances, that the temple is in a private

apartment, and making opportunity of the owners' absence, they broke

into the wardrobes and book cases and withdrew different objects,

including hinduist sacred scriptures, video - audio tapes (later, some

of the stolen property was partially returned);

v In the middle of August, with the permission of the authorities,

the TV of the re-public showed a program with the participation of the

same M. Karriyev, in which slanderous statements in the address of the

Krishna devotees were spoken. Karry-iev's speech was one of the

reasons of the assault and battery towards one devotee that happened

on the following day;

v On August 17, the director of the Ashgabad temple A. Prinkur (a

citizen of Uzbekistan) was deported from Turkmenistan without a

statement of solid grounds from such an act; despite the fact that

Prinkur has a legitimate long-time registration in the town of

Bezmein, Ashgabad;

v On September 5, the agents of the KNB arrested the citizens of

Turkmenistan M. Uraev, H. Shahberdiev and a citizen of Russia, V.

Zolotnikov and detained them in custody for 5 days without any food.

The only motive, that impelled these or-gans, was another faith.

 

The list of disgraceful incidents is not limited only by these

cases...

 

As it is known in villages, towns and cities of Turkmenistan there are

many mosques, that are being built individually or collectively

without legal formalities The guests of the country, that arrive from

Moslem lands - such as Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and others - have

the possibility to satisfy their religious requirements freely in any

mosque. Representatives of Hinduism do not have such opportunities, in

no place in the whole Turkmenistan. But this also contradicts the

Constitution of the republic. A measure of discrimination against

religious minorities is also the demand to collect not less than 500

members to make registration possible.

 

All these injustices arouse a feeling of shame in front of the face of

the world public. Is it really possible to call a society democratic,

if the authorities themselves inspire intolerance in it, and equal

attitude towards of its citizens, in reality, turns out to be only an

empty phrase? More over, if a person on a responsible post

non-oficially is given the powers to destroy a temple, where are the

guarantees, that tomorrow, ac-cording to his order, "some" Hare

Krishna devotee or a Christian will not be mur-dered. One may recall

the words of Mr. Karriyev, cynically pronounced by him a day before

the act of vandalism: "Turkmenistan does not feel sorry for these two"

- de-clared the official publicly, pointing to the Krishna devotees,

standing in front of him.

There is also another serious aspect of the problem, of which one must

not forget. The persecution of people, who think otherwise, in

Turkmenistan, including Krishna devotees, will negatively influence

foreign investments, political and cultural ex-change. And, on the

contrary, the strict following of the norms of international law will

substantially increase the prestige of Turkmenistan or the

international arena, will attract the attention of both politicians

and businessmen. It is not a secret, that India, as well as certain

other developed states of South and South-East Asia, already in the

nearest future will become largest economic centers. Does really only

Russia possess the right to call India her strategic partner"?

 

Returning to the destruction of the temple in the Mary region, we

would like to un-derline, that it is virtually practically impossible

to deprive a believing man of faith - it makes no difference, if he's

a Christian, Moslem, or a Hinduist. We simply want to convince you

with our letter that the ensurement of the believers' rights will

benefit our republic, will raise its' international prestige. We hope,

that you will go down in the history of mankind not as a destractor of

the temple, but as its' builder. For this, it is necessary to

acknowledge the justice of the demands of the insulted believers, and

create favorable conditions for pluralism. We demand the compensation

of the dam-age, caused to us: the reconstruction of the temple, the

return to us the illegitimately confiscated spiritual literature and

religious objects, the terminations of the campaign of threats and

persecutions. Krishna devotees, who were subjected to persecution,

must be publicly acquitted, and their legitimate rights restored, in

accordance with the Turkmenistan Constitution.

 

On behalf of the Mary community of The International Society of

Krishna Con-sciousness,

 

Allamurad Rahimov (Attahasya das),

community leader

 

 

3. PROTEST

 

To The President of Turkmenistan

S. A. Niyazov

 

Copies:

to Khakim of the Mary Velayat,

to the ambassador of Turkmenistan in Russia,

to international mass media

 

 

Protest

 

As it became known to us, an incident occurred on August 12 this year

in the Vekil-Bazar etrap (county) of the Mary Velayat (region) of

Turkmenistan. According to the personal order of the region's affairs

Council chairman M. Karryiev, under the jurisdiction of the President

of Turkmenistan, a recently built Krishna Temple was demolished in the

Dimitrov kolkhoz.

 

This act of open vandalism was the culmination of numerous incidents

of persecutions and threats of physical violence, coming from

officials, aimed at citizens confessing Hinduism, including Russians.

Such an atmosphere of intolerance, placed on the level of state

internal policies, creates a real threat to the religious minorities

of Turkmenistan.

 

We are deeply indignated by the facts of religious freedoms

violations, and violations of international agreements, in which the

human rights for freedom of religious confession is stated as an

unalienable right of personality. We demand immediate measures, aimed

at putting an end to these anti-human actions of non-scrupulous

officials, the termination of the persecutions of religious minorities

believers in Turkmenistan, the investigation and punishment o the

guilty, compensation of the damage, done to believers, and their

reinstatement in legitimate rights.

 

Tolerance and pluralism - these are values of democracy and the will

of time, with which mankind must enter the next millennium in the name

of the common benefit.

 

Taking into account the degree of danger, to which are exposed our

brothers in faith in Turkmenistan, in case of absence of any

constructive solution of the situation, we leave to ourselves the

right, for the sake of saving our brothers, to launch forward an

international information campaign, which will include: the

distribution of information through mass media, the picketing of

Turkmenistan's embassies in different countries of the world, the

holding of press-conferences, the appeal to international human rights

organizations etc.

 

We appeal to you, as the guarantor of The Turkmenistan Constitution,

and ask to install justice, and to defend the rights of believers,

citizens of Turkmenistan and to give us a written answer.

 

 

The President of The Center

of societies of Krishna Consciousness

in Russia

V. M. Touneev

 

 

 

4. Protest of "Indian Association, Moscow"

on religious persecutions in Turkmenistan.

 

To the President of

Turkmenistan

Mr.

S.A.Niyazov

 

Copies to:

The Governor of Mary region

The Ambassador of Turkmenistan

 

In Russia

International Mass

Media

 

Mister President,

 

We, members of Indian Association, Moscow, were shocked to get to know

from Indians working in Ashgabad, and from news distributed by Keston

Institute, that members of the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness (ISKCON) in Turkmenistan have been the victims of

systematic persecution by government. That persecution has recently

culminated in destroying the new-built temple, erected by Mari ISKCON

community. We also came to know that hundreds of volumes of religious

literature on Hinduism were being confiscated over the last few years

and congregational religious practice has been forbidden.

We were upset to learn that the leader of Ashgabad community,

Alexandre Prinkur, has been groundlessly deported from Turkmenistan

and three other followers of our religion: M.Uraev, H.Shahberdiev and

V.Zolotnikov (citizen of Russia) have been put into prison, where

they were kept without any food for five days!

We are writing to express our extreme outrage at the adoption of such

repressive measures by Turkmenian government and our deep concern for

the safety and well-being of local followers of Hinduism.

 

Krishnaites (Vaisnavas) represent an ancient monotheistic tradition,

one of two main branches of Hinduism. In particular, ISKCON is

accepted in India and all over the world as authentic representative

of traditional Hinduism.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan at present remains the only country among the

states of previous USSR, where the Hinduism Religion is not yet

officially registrated.

Implying the power of the state to tyrannize these peaceful pious

people smacks of Stalinism at its worst, and is certainly not

befitting a nation desiring to be counted among the civilized

countries of the world.

We demand to stop the persecutions of these innocent followers of

religion and want to be assured that their basic human rights will be

upheld in the future.

 

 

The members of "Indian Association, Moscow":

82 signatures.

 

5. PRESS-RELEASE

Democracy on the ruins of the Temples.

 

Terror against religious minorities becomes usual for Turkmenistan

authorities.

 

Press-conference for mass media and human rights activists was

held on the 23-rd of September in Moscow House of Journalists by the

initiative of Moscow members of Krishna Consciousness Movement. It was

dedicated to very sad and frightening facts of persecution of

religious dissidents by Turkmen authorities.

The reason of press-conference was recent act of vandalism -

the destruction by tractors of newly built Krishna Temple near the

town Mari following the direct order of the Chairman of Religious

Council of Turkmenistan - M. Karriyev.

The well-known human rights activists were among the members of

the press-conference: Chairman of Moscow Helsinki group Ludmila

Alekseeva, the Head of Information human rights Center Vitaley

Ponomarev, Chairman of the Council of

organization " Assistance for establishing of freedom of Conscience"

Valerie Nickolski, publicist Nicole Mitrohin and others.

"Is it possible to build a democratic state on the ruins of the

Temple?- such rhetorical question asked the leader of Russian

followers of Krishna Consciousness - Vadyanatha das (Vadim Tuneev). -

No, on the ruins of the Temple only totalitarian state can appear".

The leader of Krishna devotees in Mari Attahasya das (Allamurad

Rahimov) revealed the facts of penetration of security agents of

Turkmenistan into private houses for secret searches, unlawful

confiscation of spiritual literature, violent slander company against

Hindu religion, insulting of the devotees, deportation from the

country and open intimidation up to "physical annihilation".

Ludmila Alekseeva called this destruction of newly built Krishna

Temple by tractors "the challenge to World Society". It is violation

of Helsinki Agreement which was also signed by Turkmenistan.

Vitaley Ponomarev marked many cases of human rights violations in

Turkmenistan which took place during long period despite the fact that

Turkmenistan is the member of OSCE. There are human rights violations

not only towards the krishnaits but also the representatives of other

religious minorities: Adventists and other Protestants, bhaists etc.

They are practically deprived of their right to official registration

because of necessity to have 500 members for registration of local

Society. This artificial barrier was constructed personally by

president Niyazov in 1996.

The Chairman of Hindu Community in Moscow Sandjit K. Djha sharply

condemned this case of violence of Turkmenistan authorities. "It

insults religious feelings of one billion of people. More than one

hundred members if Indian Community signed the protest"

One hour before the press-conference in House of Journalists the

leader of Russian followers of Krishna Consciousness - Vaidyanatha

das handed official protest to the Secretary of Turkmenian Ambassy in

Moscow .

 

U.Pleshakov, A. Rahimov (Attahasya das)

943-3481, 945-5737

 

6. Internet: keston.institute (AT) keston (DOT) org

10-Sep-99 09:00 +0400

(Bhakti Brnga) Govinda Swami [10119]

KNS: Temples Destroyed in Turkmenistan

---------------------------

Wednesday 8 September

TURKMEN AUTHORITIES DESTROY HARE KRISHNA TEMPLES

 

by Felix Corley, Keston News Service

 

The Turkmen authorities - who are inflicting the harshest religious

policy

in the whole of the former Soviet Union - have turned their attention

to the

Hare Krishna community after taking steps to try to halt the

activities of

Protestant Christian communities. Two Hare Krishna temples - in the

capital

Ashgabad and in the eastern town of Mary - were destroyed in August

and the

leader of the Ashgabad community, ALEKSANDR PRINKUR (ACHARYA DAS), was

forcibly deported from the country.

 

Keston believes this is the first time government authorities in any

of the

former Soviet republics have deliberately destroyed places of worship

since

the end of the Soviet period, although many places of worship have

been

forcibly closed by the authorities in a number of republics. During

the

1994-1995 Russian assault on Chechnya, bombing by the Russian air

force

destroyed the Russian Orthodox church in Grozny. More recently, St

Petersburg authorities wanted to demolish a Russian Orthodox church to

make

room for a motorway, but at last word had dropped those plans after a

public

outcry which included the reporting of Sasha Shchipkov for KNS.

 

Prinkur told Keston News Service on 3 September that on 12 August the

National Security Committee (KNB, the former KGB) and the local

authorities

forced the Hare Krishna devotees to pull down their temple in

Ashgabad,

which had been under construction for two years on private land

belonging to

a devotee and which was almost finished. Two days later a programme

attacking the Hare Krishna community was shown on Ashgabad television.

`The

presenters of the programme conducted open propaganda against our

community,' reports Prinkur, `and it was also said that the Hare

Krishna

temple in the town of Mary had been destroyed.' (Keston does not have

independent confirmation of this report.) In the wake of the

programme, the

woman who owned the land where the temple had been built in Ashgabad

was

beaten at the market by another woman who had seen the programme.

 

`Devotees are periodically summoned to the KNB, where they are

interrogated,

intimidated and threatened that their homes will be taken away,'

reports

Prinkur. `Very many devotees and those who associate with devotees

have lost

their jobs. One woman, Klara, who had just begun to associate with

devotees,

was fired from her job. Her boss told her that they were firing her

because

she was connected with Krishna Consciousness and also threatened that

they

could put her in prison.'

 

Prinkur himself, who had led the Ashgabad community since 1995, was

deported after the demolition and in the wake of two months of

harassment of

the community. In the evening of 14 June two KNB officers and one

policeman

conducted an illegal search of the Ashgabad temple - without

presenting the

necessary documentation - breaking into locked cupboards and

confiscating

both communal and personal property. `They searched through literally

everything,' reports Prinkur, `and left everything in complete

disorder.'

The officers focused on the books, confiscating a total of 1,300

volumes as

well as 16 video cassettes and 120 audio cassettes. All those present

had

their identity documents confiscated, though all but Prinkur were able

to

get them back the following day at the local administration.

 

However, the authorities seem to have targeted Prinkur. All his

personal

possessions, including books, two cameras and a tape recorder, as well

as

all his documents (internal passport, military book, birth certificate

and

labour record book) were confiscated. The republican KNB kept them for

two

months, despite Prinkur's repeated attempts to get them back. `One KNB

officer, ORAZ NEPESOVICH, told me that they would keep the documents

until

my identity had been established. He told me that I was a citizen of

Uzbekistan and that I was allegedly staying in Turkmenistan illegally,

although I was legally registered in the village of Anau in Ahal

region from

2 April 1997. From 2 March 1999 I reregistered in the town of Bezmein

in

Ahal region, and had a temporary registration certificate valid until

1

March 2000.'

 

On 16 August - four days after Hare Krishna members had been forced to

pull

down the temple - two KNB officers came by car for Prinkur, but he was

not

at the site of the former temple, as he had moved to another home.

They said

they had come to talk about registering the community and returning

his

documents. The following day Prinkur went to the offices of the

republican

KNB in Ashgabad. There they told him that his documents would be

passed to

the city KNB for them to deal with the matter. An officer of the city

KNB

then arrived and he was handed Prinkur's documents. He then proposed

taking

Prinkur to the city KNB, but instead took him to the visa and

registration

office, where they drew up documents for his deportation without his

knowledge. He was told his registration had been removed and he was

shown a

piece of paper filled in with his name (and with his forged signature)

declaring that he was moving to Uzbekistan. The KNB officer then

informed

him that his train was leaving in half an hour and that he had to

hurry to

catch it. Prinkur asked for time to collect his things, but this was

refused. `They began to threaten me that they would put me in a cell

if I

did not leave the country within an hour. I was taken to the station

by

police officers and put on the train, accompanied by a guard.'

He was then deported.

 

The Hare Krishna community has been unable to gain registration with

the

Turkmen authorities, despite repeated attempts. Under current Turkmen

law,

each religious community needs 500 adult citizen members before it can

even

apply for registration. The Ashgabad Hare Krishna community has

existed

since 1990, while the Mary community - the bigger of the two - has

existed

since 1993. Although both communities were denied registration in the

early

1990s, they had been able to function relatively freely until 1996,

when

campaigns to close them down began. In 1997, under the new regulations

in

the wake of revisions to the Law on Freedom of Conscience and

Religious

Organisations, the Mary community collected the required 500

signatures, but

the application was rejected as some of the signatories lived in the

Mary

region but not in the town of Mary. The same year the Ashgabad

community

tried again to register. Both the Mary and Ashgabad communities

suffered

constant harassment and threats from officials.

 

Only communities of the officially-sanctioned Sunni Muslims and the

Russian

Orthodox Church have official registration. Communities that have been

denied registration include Baptists, Pentecostals, Adventists and

Bahais.

This summer the Turkmen authorities stepped up their harassment of

Protestant churches in what many believe was an attempt to halt their

activity once and for all. (END)