Spiritual Disneyland

[gHari]

This sounds like one of those "If I had a billion dollars" songs.

 

IN THE NEWS:

 

Ford Foundation seeking Indian land to build ISKCON Disneyland.

<blockquote>Rajasthan offers 400 acres to Ford

 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2004 02:40:13 AM ]

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government has offered 400 acres of land to automobile giant Albert Ford, grandson of Henry Ford, to set up his dream project - Lord Krishna spiritual Disneyland - at the holy town of Keshoraipatan , 40 km from the district headquarter of Bundi.

 

Bundi was ruled by the Hara rulers and it has some beautiful frescoed buildings and step wells.

 

The BJP government which is promoting religious tourism has offered to give the land where a defunct sugar mill in cooperative sector is located.

 

The mill was closed a few years ago after it accumulated a loss of Rs 20 crore. The state government has decided to sell off the mill and the land to pay off the liabilities.

 

It has offered Albert Ford the land to set up his spiritual and meditation centre there. The state government has proposed that it could give the land to Ford, if he undertakes all the liabilities of the mill.

 

Ford had recently visited Kolkata and wanted to set up the spiritual Disneyland there on the banks of the Hoogly, but the West Bengal government could offer him only 40 acres of land.

 

Albert Ford is a devout worshipper of Lord Krishna and is connected with ISKCON. He is married to an Indian medico Shramila Bhattacharya, daughter of Australia-based Dr D D Bhatacharya.

 

Bundi collector R K Jain told TNN the state government had requested Albert Ford to visit Keshoraipatan, located on the banks of the Chambal. The Ford organisation is willing to spend Rs 600 crore to build the spiritual centre.

 

Keshoraipatan has a big temple of Lord Keshavrai and a Jain temple. The state government is also ready to offer a package to Ford, Jain said. Jain said if Ford agreed to the government's proposal it would be the first spiritual commune of the country.

 

Jain said he was in touch with the Indian representative of Albert Ford, Sudipto Mukherjee in Kolkata, and has sent a CD which carries all the details of the place.

 

Jain said he has received a positive response from Sudipto, who is expected to visit Keshoraipatan soon.

 

Jain said the spiritual commune will give a big boost to tourism in Hadauti region comprising Kota , Bundi, Jhalawar and Baran districts. </blockquote>

 

Terrorists close ISKCON Hospital. Note that the author seems to be Muslim.

<blockquote>Living with the mob (September 26, 2003)

Lumpenisation of logic: the Shiv Sena’s attack on an ISKCON-run hospital

by MOHAMMED WAJIHUDDIN

If you live in Sena land, you must live with its rules. One has watched Shiv Sainiks impose sundry bandhs in Mumbai and block the city’s lifeline—its trains—for hours and aggressively advance the cause of Mee Mumbaikar.

 

They did it again last week. And this time the Bhaktivedanta Hospital at Mira Road, a farflung suburb of Mumbai, was at the receiving end. TV channels flashed news of the hospital’s closure followed by acts of vandalism and threats. The hospital had management problems and some of the employees affiliated with the Shiv Sena decided to solve matters their way.

 

I live just ten minutes away from Bhaktivedanta, the only healthcare centre in the neighbourhood with modern facilities for over six lakh population of Mira Road. Not long ago, I took my wife to this International Society for Krishna Conscious (ISKCON)-run, temple-like hospital.

 

Surrounded by a green patch, its domes rising towards the sky and soft, soothing Krishna bhajans playing in its corridor, Bhaktivedanta felt more like a centre for holistic healing than a modern hospital. Almost every member of its staff spotted the mandatory tilak and patients were greeted with Hare Krishna by smiling Krishna bhakts who shuffled permanently in the hospital lobby.

 

A visit to it was like a spiritual journey. It beautifully blended a benevolent Krishna consciousness with mechanised modern medicare.

 

By forcing Bhaktivedanta to close, the Shiv Sainiks have not just sent a hospital out of operation. They hit the very principle of law and justice, a common tenet of all faiths and religious sects.

 

Two years ago, Shiv Sainiks had burnt down the Singhania Hospital in Thane because its doctors failed to save Sena leader Anand Dighe. The residents of Thane have lived without a good hospital in their locality ever since the Singhanias closed theirs.

 

The Singhanias and the Krishna bhakts can never match the might of the Sainiks. Krishna bhakti can never triumph over Shiv Shakti. One is guided by fear of God and love for mankind. The other is an aggrieved army fired by fanatic dream of a homogenised society. The Sena claims to be striving for lokshahi (democracy) but unabashedly uses thokshahi (mobocracy) to redress its grievances. To Krishna bhakts, nirvana lies in karma. The Shiv Sainiks take force, intimidation and segregation as an article of faith.

 

This is dangerous for the health of democracy. Closing avenues of dialogues and taking law into one’s hands is one step short of anarchy. The army of hate has a history of consuming the very society it’s supposed to protect. Ask a poor Maharashtrian in Thane who cannot afford to admit his ailing mother to an upmarket hospital in South Mumbai. Ask the weeping patients of Bhaktivedanta who were wheeled out because the hospital couldn’t risk their lives. ‘‘This was not a hospital, it was a temple,’’ said a shattered B.M. Mishra who regularly visited Bhaktivedanta for kidney dialysis.</blockquote>