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Oberoende akademiska
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National of Hindu Temples, UK. 21 April 1993 Rt. Hon. Mr. Antall Jozeph
I hope you are well. I have just heard the disturbing news that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has been labeled as destructive cult' in your country. This is very distressing news indeed since I was in Budapest early this year where I attended a world conference in which the allegation of ISKCON as a cult was the subject matter. I very much spoke against this and I presented a 16 page paper on the subject and had the impression that all the people present were very much satisfied and the allegation was refuted. This latest news indicates to me that there has been no objective investigation carried out. Hinduism is one of the major religions in the world and has over 800 million followers world wide. For your information, ISKCON is one of the two main streams of Hinduism and dates back over 5000 years and is based can the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita and Bhagavat Purana. ISKCON has been doing great work for over 25 years in the Western world and has greatly contributed to the society in general. ISKCON's 'Food For Life' programme has already fed millions of homeless people world wide and has helped thousands of people with their drug problems. The largest temple in Britain is run by ISKCON and every year on the occasion of appearance of Lord Krishna, known as Janamashtami, over 20,000 Hindus attend and celebrate the festival with great enthusiasm. Every one is reminded of the Vedic culture which existed long ago in India, and NO ONE even for a moment thinks of ISKCON as a destructive cult. If ISKCON is not registered or has not been present in Hungary for a long time than does this mean that it not bonafide or does this mean that it is not a religion? The Christian missionary were welcomed in India, they were not outlawed. And now there are many denominations of Christianity present in India, they are not considered as cult by the Indian but as different branches, so where is the logic of branding ISKCON as a cult and a destructive one for that matter. I beg you to - think again with regards to the allegation made towards ISKCON and if there is some research carried out than I am sure the views held by some of your country men with respect to ISKCON will surely change. Thank you very much. Yours faithfully, Om Prakash Sharma |
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