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Media Release

 

Kazakhstan Hindus Fear Further Attacks

 

For Immediate Release

Date: November 27, 2006

Contact: Anuttama Dasa, 301 299-9707, ad (AT) pamho (DOT) net

Office: ISKCON Communications, 10310 Oaklyn Drive, Potomac, MD,

20854

 

Almaty, Kazakhstan—After government officials destroyed thirteen homes of

Hindu families and sent men, women and children homeless into sub-freezing

temperatures in this Central Asian republic last week, members of the

International Society for Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, a Vaishnava Hindu

movement, are fearing further attacks against their temple, and the

remaining homes of believers.

 

On November 21, busloads of riot police accompanied by bulldozers

destroyed homes of Hare Krishna members and threw personal possessions,

clothing and furniture into the snow and mud. Women with infants stood by

helplessly as bulldozers and hammer-wielding riot police destroyed their

homes. Human rights officials, trying to gain access to report on the

demolition, were blocked by police.

 

Kazakh officials have sought possession of the Hindu homes and a larger

100-acre parcel through court maneuvers and threat of force. Krishna members

as well as independent observers have denounced the legal maneuvers as

cover-ups for government-sponsored persecution and a land-grab, possibly

tied to members of the ruling family of this autocratic state.

 

Ninel Fokina, of Almaty Helsinki Commission, told Forum 18, a human rights

news agency, that while 13 homes were destroyed under court orders, "the

adjacent houses of other people who do not belong to the Society for Krishna

Consciousness were left untouched even though their title deeds have the

same status".

Andrei Grishin, of the International Bureau of Human Rights and Law, had his

camera forcibly confiscated when he tried to document the destruction, and

was told by a government official, the Hakim (Governor) of the Yetisu

district, who oversaw the attack, that the Hakim would personally “crush his

eyes.”

 

Ironically, Kazakhstan has advertised itself widely as a nation that

supports religious liberty, and it is vying for Chairmanship of the OSCE, an

international organization of 50-plus nations focused on human rights. The

Kazakhstan embassy in Washington, D.C., regularly spends tens of thousands

of dollars on public relations campaigns, buying advertisements on

television and in leading newspapers like the Washington Post, to prop up

their nation’s fledgling reputation.

 

“The demolition of homes of innocent Hindus is outrageous,” said Sonia

Chopra, of the United Hindu Jain Temple Association in Washington, D.C. “The

hypocrisy of the Kazakh government is becoming evident, and should not be

tolerated by persons who value religious freedom.”

 

The British Parliament passed an Early Day Motion condemning the “harassment

of and discrimination against Hindu minorities” in Kazakhstan just days

before the recent demolition. They called on Kazakhstan’s President

Nazarbayev to personally intervene.

 

Other religious minorities, including Protestant Christian groups have

suffered discrimination in Kazakhstan as well. For more information, please

visit forum18.org.

 

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