Russian court rejects proposed ban of Hindu text

A Russian court decided Wednesday not to ban a religious text central to the global Hare Krishna movement, rejecting claims that the text is "extremist" and ending a case that is angry Hindus worldwide.

The Indian foreign ministry said it appreciated "this sensible solution to a sensitive issue."

Prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had claimed that the Russian translation of "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" promotes "social disharmony" and hatred against non-believers, causing an outcry in India, where many considered the proposed ban a violation of the rights of Hindus in Russia.
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The text is a combination of the Bhagavad Gita, one of Hinduism's most sacred writings and commentary by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which is often called the Hare Krishna movement.

Prosecutors had asked the court to include the book on the Federal list of extremist materials, which prohibits more than 1,000 texts, including Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and the books distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses and Scientology movement.

Alexander Shakhov, a lawyer for the Hare Krishna devotees in Tomsk, said the group is satisfied with the court's decision.

"This judge's decision shows that Russia is becoming a truly democratic society," Shakhov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "We are very excited about this victory."

Yury Pleshakov, a spokesman for the group in Moscow, said the book has existed in Russia for 25 years and has never inspired violence or extremist activity.

"On the contrary, this book teaches humane attitude to all living beings," Pleshakov said.

The trial, which began in June, followed this year's ban on construction of a Hare Krishna village in Tomsk and was based on an assessment of professors at Tomsk University, which concluded that "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" includes strong language against non unbelievers and promotes religious hatred and discrimination based on sex, race, nationality and language.

The ruling came a day after Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna met with Alexander Kadakin, Russia's ambassador to India and urged the Russian government to solve the problem. Indian officials had last week appealed to the high-level Russian authorities to intervene.

The Tomsk court had deferred its decision of December 19, when protesters gathered outside the Russian consulate in Kolkata, and the chairman of India's lower house of parliament raised the body for several hours after members began to shout in anger over the proposed ban.

After hearing additional testimony from academic experts on Wednesday, the judge ruled that the prosecution's allegations were unfounded.

Bhagavad Gita "is not only a religious text, but one of the key theses of Indian thought," said Indian Ambassador to Russia Ajai Malhotra in a statement. "The Bhagavad Gita has circulated freely throughout the world for centuries, and there is not a single instance of it that have encouraged extremism."

The Indian foreign ministry Wednesday sought to soothe over any tensions.

"We appreciate this sensible solution to a sensitive issue and are pleased to put this episode behind us," ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in a statement. "This shows once again that the people of India and Russia have a deep understanding of each others cultures and will always reject any attempt to denigrate our common civilizational values."

The Russian Foreign Ministry had insisted Tomsk court was not taking issue with the core Hindu scriptures themselves, but rather with the author's comments and a bad translation of "Bhagavad Gita as it is."

"I would like to stress that this is not about 'Bhagavad Gita," a religious philosophical poem, which is part of the great Indian epic Mahabharata, and is one of the most famous pieces of the ancient Hindu literature, "ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said at a briefing in Moscow last week, adding that the book was first published in Russian in 1788.

Yet supporters of the Hare Krishna movement in Russia as the proposed ban as a result of continued intolerance of minority religions of the Russian Orthodox Church. Pleshakov estimates that there are at least 150,000 Hare Krishna devotees in Russia.

"The current problem is, above all, abuse of the law on combating extremism," Pleshakov said. "It used to search for enemies where they can not even be defined."

In 2005, asked a Russian Orthodox archbishop of Moscow Mayor to ban construction of a proposed Hare Krishna temple, called the Hindu deity Krishna "an evil demon, the personified power of hell against God," according to Interfax. The temple was later allowed in the Moscow suburb.

Article Source:- http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/russian-court-rejects-proposed-ban-of-hindu-text-20111229-1pd6s.html

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