Partha Biswas

Bhagavad-gita As It Is, one of the most respected holy scriptures of the
world today, is under the threat of being banned in Russia.

The court proceedings will resume in Siberian city Tomsk, Russia, on Monday
19th. The prosecutors in Tomsk suggest that the widely distributed book
translated and commented upon by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada should
be included in the Justice Ministry's list of banned extremist literature.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is is translated in more than 80 languages. Over 100
million copies of this book was distributed to date all over the world!
Millions of people in the world today consider it as the main book in their
life.

The prosecutors with great determination and vigor are pushing through this
absurd case. During the first three court hearings, the testimony of the
Tomsk experts upon which the prosecutors built their case for the court was
recognized as «inadequate». However, the Prosecutor's office ordered the new
testimony. Noteworthy, that the testimony was requested not from the
well-known experts of Hinduism from Moscow, but from some unknown experts
from Kemerovo State University. This move clearly suggests that the court
decision is already predestined. This practice brings to memory the Middle
Age Inquisition, Witch hunting, burning of books and the prosecution of the
dissidents during Soviet period of Russian history.

Tomsk Ombudsperson, eminent scholars of Hinduism, the members of the Public
Chamber of Russian Federation, representatives of Indian community in
Russia, and people belonging to different religious denominations in Russia
have already expressed their perplexity and outrage caused by the activities
of Tomsk prosecutors.

We demand to stop the court over the Holy Scripture! These initiatives of
the Tomsk Prosecutor’s Office offend the religious sentiments of all the
followers of Hinduism and bring disgrace to the country of Russia.