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EDITORIAL March 21, 2000 VNN5727 Related VNN Stories Killed By Friendly Fire BY LALA GOPALA DEVI DASI EDITORIAL, Mar 21 (VNN) — (see also VNN Story 5597) Dear Prabhus; All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Please accept my humble obeisances. A few devotees here in western Canada are taking the battering perpetuated upon Shanta and the children by Mahamantra very seriously. I admit that our response may be a little late. I have been pondering the question as to, why we as a devotee community haven't taken this issue seriously before this?
I have received various responses from devotees concerning the issue. Here's a few examples 1) Why did she stay? 2) It's not our business to find fault. 3) We are a lynch mob! 4) A devotee should not be angry. 5) Defending the victims is contaminated with our own frustration so in fact how much of that is for real. 6) Mahamantra needs to be sheltered 7) Mahamantra needs to be fully engaged in devotional service 10) Mahamantra needs to chant full time 11) We need to get down to the root cause of the Iskcon problem before we deal with this problem I would like to speak first and for most in defence of the victims. We could speak volumes about WHY the woman stays in an abusive relationship. But we'll get straight to the guts of the reason SHE STAYS BECAUSE SHE IS SCARED TO DEATH OF HER ABUSER. She is not a stupid woman, she understands either because instinctively (Krsna in the heart) or because she has had one of the thousands of headlines from a local newspaper shaken in her face about, how a woman was gunned down in front of her children as she was leaving her husband! Here's a few other attention getters, "Woman Slain, Police Seek Boyfriend," "Man Charged in Ex-Wife's Death," "Postman Shoots Estranged Wife, Four Others" "Man Slays Wife and Self," and "Slain Wife Had Protection Order." It is a proven fact that whenever a headline like that appears, women leave Abuse Shelters in droves because the facts are that woman are murdered AS they are finally leaving their abusive partner or JUST AFTER. Let's look at a few statistics -1967 to 1973- battering men killed 17,500 women and children in U.S. Compare that to 39,000 men who where killed in the Vietnam war during that same period. In 1991 more than 21,000 domestic assaults, rapes, and murders were reported to the police EVERY WEEK. Even with the new laws the situation for women has not improved in fact it has only gotten worse. Are we simply fault finding where there is no fault to find? I don't think so. We are calling a thief a thief! Or in this case a wife beater a wife beater! A child beater a child beater! We are not a lynch mob! We do not want to HANG anybody as I just read Mahavegavati clearify in her latest article posted on VNN. We want the culprit to do the time for his crimes. Why shouldn't a devotee show anger? If we see another devotee being hurt shouldn't we show own "Lion" side? What to speak of vulnerable woman and defenceless children? As Krsna Devata so aptly put it, "Didn't Lord Nrsingadeva appear to kill the child abuser, Hiranyakashipu? Yes! I am guilty of not being pure in my motivations to help Shanta. Yes I publicly make the claim that I am frustrated and maybe just a tad jealous that I didn't get the help or sympathy that I so desperately needed, when I asked for it years back. Does that mean because my motivations are not abolutely pure that I should not help other woman in similar situations. In my books it makes me even more responsible to help and more determined because I have first hand experience. I know how much the abuse hurts not only physically but how the emotional scars take a life time to heal. What to speak of how it affects our spiritual lives! Here is what really ticks me off. Why do our leaders feel it their DUTY to be leanient with the criminals? Why do they hate us women so much that they will side with a man who jumps with both feet on a eight and a half pregnant woman's belly? Up to this point the leaders have barely given MAHAMANTRA A SLAP ON THE WRIST! Hari Vilasa appears to think that he is making a big stand by stating on Chakra, that Mahamantra is not allowed to represent Iskcon in any way at the Vancouver temple, but he can still come to the temple but not be in the limelight! What about the other temples in his jurisdiction? Why isn't Mahamantra being banned right across this movement? We all know that this cannot be just a local issue because devotees travel the entire globe. Harivilasa is even questioning whether or not the ALLEGATIONS of abuse made by Mahamantras' wife are true. Apparently only when our corrupt Canadian justice system proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Mahamantra is guilty...only then will he be banned from the temples?? For those of you who don't know, the justice system IS heavily weighed in the abusers' favour! But don't just take my word for it. There are many books on the subject matter already. If you want more information the library is a good place to start. Check out, Next Time She'll Be Dead by Ann Jones! Within our own community of Saranagati we are wageing our own battle against our local sannyasi, leader of Swami Mills, Dudhihara Swami. He has stated that the entire community, (who wants to see justice done and who have banned Mahamantra from the community), are a lynch mob! He on the other hand is following Lord Caitanyas mission by giving shelter to the most fallen. Since Mahamantra appears to be the most fallen Dudhidara Swami has made it known that Mahamantra is welcome with open arms at his centre right here in the middle of Saranagati and at his preaching centre in Victoria. Dudhidara claims that ALL Mahamantra needs is to be engaged in full time chanting and service. Maharaja claims that we are trying to take devotional service away from Mahamantra. If that can be done, then that would put spiritual devotional service on the material level. That statement has some serious ramifications. It would then put into question the entire purpose behind Srila Prabhupada coming to the west to preach! No one can take devotional service away from anyone. A perfect example, is the story about the poor brahmin offering sweetrice to the lord within his mind because he had no material facility to buy the ingredients or cook the sweetrice. He pictured himself testing the cooked sweetrice to see if it was cool enough for the Lord. He put his finger into the pot of sweetrice and actually burnt his finger? So was this simply a story to entertain small children? Mahamantra can chant in jail, he can offer his food in jail and he can preach to others like himself while in jail. Shanta has written to Maharaja asking him to please take Mahamantra out of his centre so that she can have the freedom to attend the centre. The children have written and asked to please not to give shelter to Mahamantra. Our entire community sent delegates to reason with him but Dudhidara Swami stubbornly sticks to what he calls HIS HARDLINE STAND, and apologises for the truth not being palatable! I don't understand WHY he cannot understand that Mahamantra has been doing service for the past twenty years and in between service he was beating and threatening devotees. Mahamantra always had his bead bag and chanted constantly but that didn't stop him from using his heavy beads to bash his wife in the face. We know that there is a war raging in Iskcon since Srila Prabhupada left our vision. But in any war the wounded are being tended even while the bullets and missiles are flying. While our own devotee soldiers are engrossed in verbal battles defending their own honor, we women and children are having our spiritual lives and sometimes our bodies injured and killed by FRIENDLY FIRE! We can't afford to wait until the fighting stops. Usually the most serious casualties of the war are given first priority. Aren't the woman and children the most vulnerable and in need of the most protection? We've all heard so many stories of heroes being awarded the purple heart for bravery because the soldier put his buddies life ahead of his own. At this moment the only heroes I see are Padmapani and Bhakta Brent prabhu. They are behaving like true gentlemen and ksatriyas. Padmapani is defending the defenceless by ceaselessly banging on the doors of the authorities with e-mails and information packages. All he has gotten to date is......silence! Justice Brennan wrote, inaction can be every bit as abusive of power as action. Bhakta Brent got a death threat! Any PRACTICAL help from ISKCON authorities? NOPE....nothing! Could that be because Mahamantras' other name is...MAHAMONEY??? What I would like to see is that each and every one of our communities take it upon themselves to educate their members about the abuse issue. I want to see Mahamantra and others like him banned from every temple in the movement. I want to see posters of these women batterers and other abusers posted in every paper devoted to getting info out to the community. I want to see their faces on every bulletin board in every temple. These people need to know that they are not wanted! The barometer used to measure just how civilized any culture is, is based on how the women, children and elders are being treated? Abuse festers in an environment of secrecy and shame! Please lets each and every one of us make it our own responsibility to put a stop to this heartbreaking crime! We can't expect the Woman's Ministry to deal with our local issues neither can we wait for the bewildered GBC members to take action. Instead of always putting out fires let's try to work at crises prevention instead of crises management, within our own circle of influence. If anybody would like more information on abuse or would like to share your story, you can reach me at...lalagopala@hotmail.com or Box 202, Ashcroft,B.C. V0K 1A0, Canada. If you would like to STORM THE CASTLE!!! with us, send your letters and e-mails of outrage, at the authorities lack of help, to your local GBC representative. If you would like Dudhidara Swami to know how you feel about him sheltering Mahamantra send him a postcard to my address and I'll hand deliver them to him. Sincerely, Mother Lala Gopala Devi Dasi Related VNN Stories  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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