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| Lalu Prasad shouting that the Hindu scripture does not preach extremism |
New Delhi: The Lok Sabha was adjourned this morning as MPs protested against a move in Russia to ban the Bhagavad Gita.
In a Siberian court, state prosecutors have petitioned that the Gita,
distributed locally by ISKCON members, is "extremist" literature. The
court in Siberia's Tomsk city is scheduled to deliver its verdict today.
The
final pronouncement in the case comes just two days after Indian Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh was in Moscow for a bilateral summit meeting
with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
The International Society
for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has in recent years been noted for
bulking up its membership in Eastern Europe. The organization has more
than 400 centres across the world.
"I want to know from the
government what it is doing. The religious rights of Hindus in Russia
should be protected. The government should impress upon the Russian
authorities through diplomatic channels," said Bhartruhari Mahtab, an PM
from the Biju Janata Dal. Lalu Prasad of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RLD)
was heard shouting that the Hindu scripture does not preach extremism.
The
court in Tomsk is deciding whether to accept that the Gita is
literature that spreads "social dischord." The petition filed in June
this year also asks for a ban on a Russian translation of the Gita written by AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Nearly
15,000 Indians in Moscow have appealed to the Indian government to
intervene diplomatically. They say the court case also wants to ban the
writings of of Prabhupada and ISKCON's religious beliefs on the grounds
that they preach "hatred" of other religious beliefs.
