New Meetings in New Delhi

On December 6, B.B. Govinda Swami, Coordinator of ISKCON in Central Asia, Indradyumna Swami and a few other members of ISKCON met with the members of the Indian Parliament Laloo Prasad, Rajesh Mishra and Prasanna Kumar Patasani, as well as the leaders of the Catholic Diocese in Delhi. 

They had five meetings this morning, the last one finishing at around 1 p.m. The first was with Laloo Prasad, possibly the most interesting (and influential) personality in Indian Government. Lalooji is from Bihar, and even more interesting than his government contacts are his family connections: he is born in the direct line from Krishna's descendants. Lalooji's first words, on watching the video of the demolition, were, "They are finished. That they have done this to them (the women in the video) when they are calling out for Krishna means they are finished."

Govinda Swami spoke a little, but Lalooji simply said to him, "This is my cause." He does not speak English and so there was not much discussion, but he made it clear that he was on board.

From Lalooji's  the members of ISKCON visited Dr. Rajesh Mishra, MP for Varanasi. He saw the story on the news when it first ran on India TV, and tried to contact Mahamantra Das (ISKCON Delhi). This was a fast meeting, because he was already convinced of the urgency and importance of the situation, and he will raise the issue with the Prime Minister. By now several people have committed to doing this, and so the PM is no doubt starting to get the message.

Third meeting was with Dr. Prasanna Kumar Patasani, a sannyasa MP for Orissa. Another rushed meeting -- these early morning meetings are fast, one after the other, before everyone leaves for Parliament.

Tomorrow will be the same.

From there the members of ISKCON went saw Father Thomas, Director at the Catholic Diocese. He suggested that all the interfaith people could be contacted and a letter written by each to the Prime Minister. He also committed to helping in this way. From Father Thomas' office, the members of ISKCON went across to visit Archbishop Vincent M. Concessao, the Archbishop of Delhi. He put them onto his Asian Justice and Peace Commission, who will spread the word about this throughout Asia and send letters to their respective Prime Ministers and the President of Kazakhstan.

Braja Sevaki, Indian ISKCON press secretary