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EDITORIAL  Bhakta Das Is Innocent! BY S.P. RADHESH EDITORIAL, Nov 6 (VNN) — Do you remember the super-cyclone that devastated Orissa in October last year? In July 2000 another cyclone came unexpected. The first cyclone destroyed houses, uprooted trees and poles and many people died, but not in Puri. The second cyclone was only in Puri! 4 innocent Vaisnavas were arrested. You already know what I am talking about. The summer cyclone was the arrival of Maria Schmidova in Puri. Whoever came in touch with her immediately understood that Maria is mad, absolutely crazy and completely irrational. However, until now, nobody has done anything to counter her nonsensical allegations against Ashok Sahoo, Mandali Bhadra, Mayapurchandra and Bhakta Das. Police authorities believed Maria's insane statements without examining her mental state. The truth is nobody raped Tulasi dasi, the 6 year-old daughter of Maria. Nobody did anything at all as it is clearly shown in all the medical reports. Bhakta das was at the Chaitanya Chandra Ashram of H.H. Srila BV Puri Goswami Maharaj with two to three hundred assembled devotees at the time of the alleged rape. (Just a few days before Rathayatra) At the same time, Mandali Bhadra was in Bhubaneshwar, with Satchinandan dasa (Gour Govinda Goswami Disciple) but the police never asked any of the accused where they were at the time of the alleged incident! They have been denied bail and other basic legal and human rights. What are the Vaisnavas around the world doing to help Bhakta das and the others? Bhakta das received much affection and service from Srila Prabhupada and we cannot question his good character. The assembly of Vaisnavas in Vrindaban elected him as one of the trustees of the WVA one year ago. Everybody knows well the constant service Bhakta dasa has rendered to the Vaisnava community over the past 31 years. I received much e-mail from devotees and they all just tell that that is their karma, they must have done something wrong in the past, so why bother? Now, consider just for a moment that you will be imprisoned for no reason, that you are innocent, and that your fellow godbrothers will neglect you. How would you feel? Is that clear? What is the World Vaisnava Association doing to protect the interest of these Vaisnavas, their human rights, what to speak of their right to perform devotional service without handcuffs? Bhakta das is at present in the Puri hospital due to heart problems and other maladies. If indifference is not a Vaisnava quality, here we have another opportunity for service. Any reader may contact me (bv_parivrajak@yahoo.com) for further details in this matter. You can also write directly to Bhakta das or to his son Bhisma (bhakta@saintly.com), one of them will reply.  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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