Feb 16, 2012 — NOIDA, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA (SAMAYLIVE) — Nearly two months after a Russian court rejected a ban on a translated version of Bhagvad Gita, a top Siberian prosecutor has now demanded the removal of a Russian comment only from the book for being "extremist", without affecting the canonical text of the scripture.
On December 28, a court in the Siberian city of Tomsk had rejected a petition seeking a ban on the translated version of Bhagvad Gita, a verdict which was welcomed by India as a "sensible resolution of a sensitive issue".
Tomsk Region Prosecutor General Vasily Voikin has now demanded that "a Russian translation of a comment in this book, earlier published in English, be banned as extremist, not the canonical text of the scripture," his deputy Ivan Semchishin was quoted as saying by 'Ria Novosti' today.
Confirming the report, Sadhu Priya das of Moscow ISKCON told media persons that an appeal has been filed by prosecutors in Tomsk District court against the earlier judgment, dismissing their plea to ban Gita.
"The next hearing will be held on March 6," he told media persons.
The original petition seeking a ban on the translated version of the holy scripture was filed in June 2011 and the trial prompted a flurry of criticism from across the world. State prosecutors, who had filed the petition, have branded the test as "extremist" literature full of hatred and insult to non-believers, which promoted social discord.
A day before the Siberian court rejected the petition, External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna had asked the Russian government to help resolve the issue quickly.
"The bid to ban the Russian translation of Bhagavad Gita has been misunderstood," Alexander Buksman, a Tomsk region prosecutor, said.
"It's important to discern gems from the chatter in this very case; the society's perception of this issue is that prosecutors are standing against the concepts of this religion (Hinduism).
"However, the problem is that the Russian translation has paragraphs that could be seen as promoting extremism; prosecutors started the case for that reason," Buksman was quoted as saying.
Voikin "is now maintaining his claims in an appeal court for that very reason," Semchishin added.
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In other words, they wish to ban ISKCON and its members, the only Gita that produces real devotees.
JAGANNATHA PURI, ORISSA
— ISKCON and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have said they will fight "internationally" to thwart attempts at banning the sacred Bhagavad-gita in Russia after the state prosecutors in Tomsk recently moved an upper court against a lower court's decree on rejection of the ban appeal.
"We came to know that fresh attempts have been made to ban Bhagavad-gita after a lower Russian court rejected such an earlier attempt on December 28. The state prosecutors moved an upper court against the decision last month. We will fight it internationally to protect the rights of Hindus and their identity," VHP leader Pravin Togadia told media persons at Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.
Foreign ISKCON devotees, who were cheerful following the December 28th verdict by the Tomsk court, are also bracing up for the second battle to salvage the pride of Hinduism.
"The upper court at Tomsk in Russia has set March 6 as the date of hearing the pleas of state prosecutors. We will oppose it tooth and nail. We want support of Indians from across the globe to save Bhagavad-gita, said Mikhail Frolov, a Russian ISKCON devotee at a press conference in Puri on Tuesday. A lawyer by profession, Frolov said he was assisting a team of lawyers representing ISKCON in trial court in the case.
Bhagavad-gita As It Is, a Russian version of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's translation and commentaries on the Gita, became the center of a worldwide storm last year when, under pressure from the fundamentalist Orthodoxy, the state prosecutor's office in Tomsk alleged that the book promotes "religious extremism". The move triggered strong protests by members of Parliament who wanted India to take up the matter strongly with Russia.
"ISKCON never promotes extremism and violence. We will fight peacefully and spiritually against the nefarious attempts to ban Gita. Bhagavad-gita has transformed our lives and helped us understand the essence of life," said Mayapur Chandra das.
Elsewhere, sentiment in the Indian community has been strongly in support of ISKCON. One Indian resident of Canada commented that worldwide, Indians are very grateful to the ISKCON devotees, who fought brilliantly to stop the attack in the Russian court. "If ISKCON had not fought and won and the Russians succeeded in banning the Gita, we might have seen the radical element in India burn every Christian church to the ground. So we are very grateful that ISKCON devotees stepped forward and put so much effort into the campaign."