December 2nd, 2006
By Braja Sevaki Devi Dasi
We met late Saturday afternoon with Mr. K. Padmanabhais, advisor to the Prime Minister and former Chief Minister of Home Affairs. He helped Indradyumna Swami years back with Poland, and he remembered Maharaja from that time. He asked immediately about the legal situation of the property in Kaz. Naturally this is something that comes up first with everyone we meet with, and the responses from both Govinda Maharaja and Rati Manjari are really sharp, to the point, and leave our hosts in no doubt that the Kaz government is out of order.
Govinda Maharaja gave Mr. Padmanabhais a brief history of the Kaz situation, and he was sympathetic and said he would speak with the Prime Minister, and also the Foreign Affairs Minister. He said he would also speak with Mr. Advani, whom we met this morning, and see “what is on his mind.”
Govinda Maharaja told Mr. Padmanabhais, “The US Panel of Human Rights issued a condemnation of the Kaz government’s actions; Britain is also objecting. Now we want our motherland, India, to help.” Mr. Padmanabhais accepted this and seemed to appreciate very much Govinda Maharaja’s delivery. As Mr.Padmanabhais finished watching the video, Maharaja said to him, “You can strip away the name of Hindu, Muslim, Christian, or whatever else you want to say, but when you’re bulldozing houses and leaving women and children in the snow, that is a gross violation of the most basic human rights.”
