750528 - Letter to His Excellency Sriman S. B. Chavan from Gopala Krishna
Bombay,
May 28, 1975
From: Gopal Krishna
His Excellency Sriman S. B. Chavan,
Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
Sachivalaya,
Bombay, Maharashtra
Dear Sriman Chavanji:
We thank you for receiving us so nicely last Thursday and for hearing about our project at Hare Krishna Land. This letter will serve as our official application for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to build a Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple at the Hare Krishna Land in Juhu, Bombay.
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded in 1965 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and has gained considerable recognition all over the world. This movement is meant for the total reformation of the whole human society and is based on the most essential knowledge of the Vedas, as summarized in Bhagavad-gita As It Is. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is an authorized acharya coming in the Brahma Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya and is the chief disciple of the late Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada, the founder of the Gaudiya Math Institution with temples throughout India, who in 1936 ordered A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami to spread Krishna consciousness movement in the western world. His Divine Grace began preaching and translating Vedic scriptures in 1944 and in 1965, at the age of 70, Srila Prabhupada went to the west to fulfill his spiritual master’s divine instructions. At the present moment, His Divine Grace has opened over 100 centers throughout the world, including eight centers in India. In addition, he has written and translated Bhagavad-gita As It Is (1100 pages), Srimad Bhagavatam (20 volumes) Caitanya Caritamrta (12 volumes) KRSNA the Supreme Personality of Godhead (2 volumes), Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Nectar of Devotion, Sri Isopanisad, Krishna Consciousness is the Genuine Vedic Way, and numerous other books. He is also the Editor in Chief of our monthly magazine ’Back to Godhead’, which has a circulation of ten lakhs copies monthly in English alone, and is published in fourteen other languages. Srila Prabhupada’s books are being used as cross textbooks by numerous major universities in America, Europe and Asia. When the late Prime Minister, Lal Bhadur Shastri saw the first three volumes of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami’s Srimad Bhagavatam, he said that every school, college, and government office in India should read these books.
NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE SRI SRI RADHA KRISHNA TEMPLE IN JUHU
We pray that the government of Maharashtra may please grant us a NOC for the construction of the Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple at Hare Krishna Land in Juhu as already applied by us in letters dated 21-11-73 and 19-9-74.
In a letter dated 11-17-73, the Commissioner of Police, Bombay, advised us as follows: “There is no objection to your digging the allotted space for the temple structure at Hare Krishna Land, Bombay-54. You are advised to approached this office afresh for a No Objection Certificate when you decide to construct a permanent structure at the site in question after the plans had been approved by the Municipal Commissioner”. As per this advice, our architect applied to the Commissioner of Police for our NOC and surprisingly the Commissioner refused to grant it. We cannot understand why he said in his letter of 17-11-73, “There is no objection to your digging the allotted space for the temple structure at Hare Krishna Land, Bombay-54” and why again in his letter dated 6-3-74, office reference no. 1033 of 1974, the Commissioner of Police rejected his own advice. We had already made advances on the advice of the Police Commissioner’s letter dated 17-11-73 and the Municipality sanction has simply been awaiting his NOC when suddenly he rejected our application for the NOC and thus we find ourselves in a precarious position.
In his letter dated 6-3-74 the Police Commissioner gave two reasons for rejecting our application:
The construction of the temple may lead to more traffic congestion on the Juhu Tara Road, (2) the bhajan singing which has been complained about in the past is likely to be a nuisance in the future as well”.
Regarding the question of traffic congestion, we have already agreed to part with a portion of our land to the Municipal Corporation for widening the Juhu Tara Road and the Municipal Corporation has accepted. There is already a cinema one block beyond our property, but still there is no question of traffic congestion even at present. We do not think and we hope that you will agree with us, that there will be no more traffic congestion than has already been caused by the cinema. Furthermore, just opposite our land there is another temple and still there is no question of traffic congestion. Regarding bhajan singing being complained as of a nuisance, this is clear blasphemy. In the Bhagavad-gita, which is the most important and widely accepted Hindu scripture, states about bhajan as follows:
- Satatam kirtayanto mam yatantas ca drdha-vrtah
- Namasyantas ca mam bhaktya nitya-yukta upasate” (Bg 9.14)
(Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion). In this verse of Bhagavad-gita temple worship is described. Temple worship means bhajan, worshipping the Deity, offering respectful obeisances to the Deity, and anyone who participates in these activities is considered a mahatma. On the other hand, anyone who has complained about these activities as a nuisance must be categorized as duskritina mudha, naradhama, mayayapahrta-jnana, asura and so on, as mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita. So while scrutinizing our application you may kindly take these points into consideration in order to give us protection from the mudhas and naradhamas.
In order to counteract these mudhas and naradhamas we have collected hundreds and thousands of signatures supporting our so-called nuisance bhajans and you may know that many respectable gentlemen are coming daily to participate in these bhajans. But in spite of all of these factors which clearly counteract the Commissioner’s objections, still the Commissioner again rejected our application by his letter dated 4-3-75, without giving any particular reason, and so we are coming to you.
As everything is ready for the construction of our Radha Krishna temple in Juhu, we still hope to get the NOC very soon. As said earlier, we have more than 100 big temples all over the world, including nine in India. Our Indian centers are located in: Bombay, Vrndavana, Mayapur, Delhi, Calcutta, Hyderabad and Madras. In three cities, Vrndavana, Mayapur and Hyderabad, we have been given the NoC’s by the local authorities for constructing new temples. In Mayapur and Vrndavana our big temples have already been completed, and in Hyderabad our major temple will be completed by next year. Presently it is about half complete. Therefore, we hope that in Bombay we will get the same official cooperation for our noble activities as we have obtained in other Indian cities.
Recently, the local Municipal Councillor from Juhu, Mr. Pushpakant Mhatre has raised various objectionable questions about our movement in letters to your good self, and several newspapers. The aim obviously is to discredit the Hare Krishna movement and harass the devotees. We have learned from our neighbors who have been living in this area for a long time, that Mr. Mhatre tried his best to prevent Mrs. Nair (the previous owners of the Hare Krishna Land) from selling the land to ISKCON. Two years ago, Mr. Mhatre had the audacity to arrange for the ruthless, illegal demolition of the Sri Sri Radha Krishna temple constructed by devotees at the Hare Krishna Land. This demolition was criticized by all respected citizens in Juhu and Bombay, by the press, and by the Standing Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay. Although ISKCON has amicably purchased the land from Mrs. Nair, and the title of the land stands clearly in the name of ISKCON, for reasons best known to himself Mr. Mhatre is still trying to harass our devotees and drive them away. Once again, he is trying to instigate the government to revoke the permission for our already existing small Sri Sri Radha Krishna temple and to stop the work on our devotees’ residential buildings for which the Municipality has already given us permission. We have already spent more than Rs. 50,000/- of the public’s money for laying the foundation for the residential buildings. Therefore, Mr. Mhatre is raising so many dubious questions about our movement, even though he knows very well that our movement is purely spiritual.
Mr. Mhatre has questioned whether the Krishna consciousness devotees are CIA agents. Mr. Mhatre pretends to be ignorant of the fact that the same issue was raised in the Lok Sabha on 29-11-72 (unstarred question no. 2382) as by Shri Rajdeo Singh in the following words:
“Will the Minister of Home Affairs be pleased to state whether the government have ascertained that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has contracts or financial obligations at the CIA?”
The answer given by Shri F. H. Mohsen, Dy. Minister of Home Affairs, was that the government have no information about ISKCON having any contracts or financial obligations with the CIA. Does Mr. Mhatre think that the Americans have become so foolish that they have shaved their heads and kept Vaishnava tilok for chanting and dancing in order to further their spying business? Every foreign devotee of ISKCON in India has been strictly following for four years the principles of Krishna bhakti as propounded by His Divine Grace, including sleeping on the floor, rising at 4:00 in the morning, attending Mongala Arotike and chanting more than 25,000 names of Krishna daily, as well as following the restrictive principles of eating no meat, fish or eggs; engaging in no illicit sex life; no intoxication, including even coffee, tea and cigarettes; and no gambling or speculation. Such an austere life would be difficult even for an Indian CID agent, so how does Mr. Mhatre expect American CIA agents, who are accustomed to unrestricted sense gratification from their births, to now follow these principles for four years and dance in ecstasy in front of the Lord? We challenge Mr. Mhatre or any CIA or CID agent to stay with us for even one month under such strict regulative principles. The members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness are not CIA agents but are sincere devotees trying to render some humble service to their beloved Srila Prabhupada in his mission in India, and tolerating all difficulties to do so. Mr. Mhatre has also questioned where ISKCON gets its money. This question was also raise by Shri Rajdeo Singh and the answer was given in the Lok Sabha by Shri F. H. Mohsen, Dy. Minister of Home Affairs, as follows:
“According to information available with the government, the source of finance for the Society are subscriptions, donations and sales of literature”. In Bombay alone ISKCON has 1,000 life patrons and life members, each of whom must donate at least Rs. 1111/- and ISKCON gets large donations from leading industries and charitable trusts in Bombay. ISKCON keeps perfect account of all of its income and expenditure, and the accounts are submitted to the appropriate government offices to their satisfaction every year.
Mr. Mhatre has raised the question as to how the Krishna consciousness devotees are distributing prasadam at Hare Krishna Land. We wish to inform the public that we have obtained special permission from the Department of Food and Civil Supplies from the State of Maharashtra in relaxation of the Maharashtra Guest Control Act in allowing us to feed hundreds of people every Sunday, and sympathetic outsiders are contributing grains from their own rations to help this program. So many people are hungry in India and we are welcoming them to come to Hare Krishna Land to take prasadam to their full satisfaction. But Mr. Mhatre, who has done nothing to feed the hungry people of India, is criticizing our prasadam distribution which makes us wonder whether Mr. Mhatre would rather have these poor people die of starvation than take prasadam from the Hare Krishna devotees. Mr. Mhatre has questioned whether ISKCON is managed by Americans or Indians. Our first answer is that we do not distinguish between American, Indian, Chinese, or Russian, on the basis of this temporary body. The basic teaching of the Bhagavad-gita is that the living entity is not the body but that as spiritual souls all living beings are one.
Vidya-vinaya-sampanne / brahmane gavi hastini suni caiva svapake ca / / panditah sama darsinah (Bg 5.18)
(The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater (outcaste).
It appears that Mr. Mhatre, although very proud of calling himself an Indian, does not know even the first lesson of the chief of all Indian scriptures, namely Srimad Bhagavad-gita. As such, Mr. Mhatre’s actual position is aptly described in the following verse from Srimad Bhagavatam:
yasyatma-buddhih kunape tri dhatuke / sva-dhih kalatradisu bhauma idyadhih yat-tirtha-buddhih salite na karhicij / janesv abhijnesu sa eva gokharah
(A human being who identifies this body made of three elements with his self, who considers the by-products of the body to be his kinsmen, who considers the land of birth as worshipable, and who goes to the place of pilgrimage to take a bath rather than meet men of transcendental knowledge there, is to be considered as an ass or a cow).
The other answer is that the ultimate control of ISKCON is with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, and His representative His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is an “Indian”. Srila Prabhupada is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and final authority in all matters, and his Zonal Secretary in charge of all ISKCON temples in India and Asia is Gopal Krishna das Adhikari, an Indian disciple whose parents reside in Santa Cruz (Bombay). Most centers in India are presently managed jointly by one foreign disciple and one Indian disciple, but in those centers where the Indian disciple is ready to manage on his own, there is no foreign co-manager at all. Each center also has an Advisory Committee including Indian life members which oversees the management of the local center, and in Greater Bombay the Committee includes Shri Pannalal Pittie, Shri K. K. Mahadevia, Shri S. T. Asnani, and others.
Once again we must state that we fail to understand why should we be troubled again and again in Bombay, when in seven other centers in India, including Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Vrndavana, Mayapur, and Hyderabad the local government officials and citizens are supporting and cooperating with us. ISKCON’s life members in Bombay include Shri S. K. Patil, former Union Minister; Shri S. R. Damani, M.P.; Shri Kalyan Rao Patil, then Minister of Public Health of Maharashtra; Shri V. K. Tambe, M.L.A.; Shri R. K. Ganatra, then Mayor of Bombay; Smt. Sumati Morarjee; Shri D. M. Khatau; Shri Viren J. Shah; Shri Ashok V. Birla, and D.P. Patkar, to name a few. Throughout India ISKCON’s list of life members includes many eminent personalities such as: Shri G. L. Nanda, former Acting Prime Minister of India; Dr. Sarojni Maheshi, Union State Minister; Dr. Channa Reddy, Governor of Uttar Pradesh, and recent Chief Guest at the opening of our Krishna Balaram Temple in Vrndavana; Shri Taron Kanti Ghosh, Industry Minister of West Bengal; Shri J. D. Chavhan (Bytco), Industrial of Nadik; and Shri Pannalal Pitty (Bombay Woollen), industrialist of Hyderabad, as well as several other Union Cabinet Ministers and many Members of Parliament. In addition 5,000 other respectable and leading citizens of India are our life members. Mr. Mhatre’s questions and activities are an insult not only to the Hindu religion and culture, which we are propagating, but to the intelligence of the leading citizens who have come forward to join this great movement.
Throughout the world we have more than 100 big temples and everywhere we have received official cooperation for our noble activities. Therefore we hope to get the same in Bombay without being harassed on unfounded grounds. We request you to issue your favourable reply at the earliest. Thanking you.
Yours in the service of the Lord.
- Gopal Krishna das Adhikari
- Governing Body Commissioner
- for India and Southeast Asia
- Giriraj das Brahmachary
- President, ISKCON Bombay
- GKdA:add