By Braja Sevaki Devi Dasi
December 7th, 2006
Another day in Delhi visiting Ministers and Parliamentary representatives — this time we couldn’t help but notice the extremes in Indian government and in the personalities who represent it….but that’s possibly a whole other story (and one that Indradyumna Swami is very keen to tell in his Diary of a Travelling Preacher). For the time being, I can only say that visiting one MP who was surrounded by so much firepower was a unique experience. Even the seating arrangements in his lounge were such that to my right was an armed guard on the chair next to me, and to the left, next to Dhruva prabhu, another armed guard who was only too keen to show Dhruva his “toy.” I’ve said often that the person we met with on any particular day was “powerful” or “influential,” but this one beat them hands down in his own unique (and very Indian) style.
Ramkanth Yadav, MP
His name was Ramakanth Yadav, from Somajwadi Party. He was very definitely in the “personality” league. He took a personal interest in all of us, asking many questions about where we were each from, about temples in different countries, what our religious backgrounds were, etc. He loved it when Dhruva started speaking Hindi, and seemed to really like the fact that we’d come to visit him and ask his assistance.
Indradyumna Swami meets a new friend…
He was voted by the team our favorite so far; Indradyumna Maharaja was particularly inspired by the amount of weaponry on display, and commented that we should have perhaps considered such a style ourselves and saved a lot of time :) On the way home, Maharaja said, “Did you get a photo of the weapons, Braja?” Sorry to say I didn’t…but trust me, they were big. And there were plenty of them. This country might be under the sway of Western materialism, but in so many respects India maintains it’s particular style of doing things, and when it comes to situations like this, one can only appreciate that style when it’s utilized for the right reasons. Mr. Yadav is indeed a person who invokes fear and respect from so many, and has the ability to sway things to our favor in Parliament. He said he would bring the topic for discussion in Parliament tomorrow. That’s a guaranteed statement.
Prior to that we met with Mr. Brajesh Patack, another MP who committed to raising the topic for discussion tomorrow, and we also met with Dr Sharma, who was on his way to a meeting with the Speaker of the House, Sonia Gandhi, our friend Mr. Advani (Leader of the Opposition), and several others. It was too good an opportunity to pass up: so Mahamantra prabhu rang Mr. Advani and asked if he could talk to the Speaker, Mr. Chatterjee. We then quickly faxed him for an appointment tomorrow, and are still awaiting an answer, but it looks good. And tomorrow we’re meeting Sonia Gandhi.
So one might ask what the upshot of all these meetings is: the answer is to get as much support across the board as possible, from all sections of Parliament — government, ministers, opposition, other parties — so that they support it in discussion when it’s raised. If we have powerful people all moving to act on this issue on the grounds of human rights abuse and religious intolerance, it puts the issue in a different category than the one being pushed by the Kaz govt, which is some “little Hare Krishna land problem.” This intense week of meeting after meeting culminates tomorrow with these two last, very important appointments. After that, we can really do no more: Parliament will vote to make an international statement on the issue. This is important, as India is a huge democratic nation represented by so many varied religions, but all will speak in favor of the Hare Krishna situation. It’s a wonderful opportunity, and we’re asking for the prayers of everyone worldwide that the result is a good one.
Good news today, though: a representative from the British Embassy in Kazakhstan visited the property and surveyed the destruction, and spoke at length with devotees. They offered their assistance, and said our lawyers could approach their lawyers for direction and guidance. It’s a bold and welcome move by the British Government, after the US Embassy statement yesterday.