This brief message is to inform you of the resignation of Gauri Das from the post of temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor. Gauri Prabhu has served as an excellent president for the past six years and has contributed in many ways to the numerous projects that make up the temple and its community. We are sad to see him move on from this position.
His resignation was effective from two weeks ago, and I apologise for taking so long to send you this announcement. We've all had some internal catching up to do, to make sure that all his many services were adequately covered.
The temple management continues as before, with weekly senior management meetings where we thoroughly discuss any major policies, projects or festivals before arriving at a decision. Gauri's stepping down came at the conclusion of a prolonged process of enquiry concerning allegations of 'excessive corporal punishment' made by some of his former students while he was a teacher at our Vrindavan Gurukula School in India in the mid 1990s.
As you probably know, ISKCON takes any allegations of this nature very seriously and has an international office set up for dealing with these matters. Whilst Gauri submitted that corporal punishment was indeed used, in keeping with many schools both in India and England, he stressed that it was not 'excessive.' However, the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection concluded that he should not continue to serve as temple president or hold any other office for a period of three years. Gauri may choose to appeal this decision, but his resignation was a mandatory condition issued by the office.
While the decision finds Gauri Das responsible for excessive corporal punishment, it also goes on to give him credit for "many positive accomplishments" while he was at the school. We regret that Gauri Das will not be able to continue as an officer of our temple, but we also recognize the important need of the Office of Child Protection to acknowledge problems in the care of children in the past, and to address those issues.
We are pleased that Gauri Das has indicated that he would like to meet with the former students in the hope of further reconciliation. Please drop me a line if you have any further questions.
The following is a letter in response to Kripamoya prabhu's original mailout, I have never met the author and hope he or she will forgive me for publicly using their response.
The following is a continuation from A letter from Kripamoya prabhu pt 1 and pt 2. Kripamoya prabhu's response is in italics.
Dear prabhu, thanks for your letter and your thoughts
I was very disappointed to receive this statement below as an
official response to the resignation of Gauri as temple president of the
Manor.
I think I can understand your disappointment (I've read the letter a
few times to see it through your eyes) but other people i sent it to told
me they thought it must have been a difficult letter taking into
consideration all parties involved.
I find the bias within this statement to be a serious miscalculation
of my sympathies on the matter. Gauri's defence has been rejected by
the CPT.Whilst he may indeed choose to appeal, for the meantime he has been
found guilty of serious misconduct, which would certainly have resulted in
criminal charges if brought before UK authorities.
I wonder whether you are not reading into the letter a bias which just
isn't there. Maybe it does remind you of defensive letters from
organisations you dealt with before. I can't comment on that. I can just tell you that I
did my best to present all the facts to the (only) 163 readers this
message went out to.
Yes, Gauri's defence was rejected by the CPO. He lost the case and is
no longer the temple president. The job now is to help those who may feel
troubled by the institutional processes involved in bringing about
what for some is a shock decision to work through it and deal with their
feelings.
Don't forget that he was a spiritual figure to some people - not
merely an administrative figure. However you or I may see him - and its all our
personal vision and appreciation - some people are saddened to see him
go,and I just wanted my readers to know that.
By repeating his rejected defence, it appears the CPT judgement is
being cast into doubt, and therefore that it's authority is being
usurped.
It appears that this same defence is being used as mitigation for a
person found guilty of serious misconduct. And far worse, it thus appears
to be subtly insinuated that the victims in this case may have exaggerated
their story.
No, it just means that he may appeal the decision because although he
accepts the judgement, he may feel the terms require some adjustment.
Thats his prerogative, the CPO allows 90 days for him to do so, and I thought
people may like to know that information. Don't forget, that just as you find some things objectionable, other people have strong opinions too.
As an official response to a judgement of this kind I find this
typical of ISKCON's strategy in these kinds of situations, and I'm
afraid, as someone who worked for years in protection of children and vulnerable
adults, that it makes me utterly ashamed to be associated with it. Sympathy for
the culprit rather than for the victims comes as standard. All too
frequently those who commit such acts appear to be rewarded and plaudited
rather than brought to account in a judicious manner.
I expressed no sympathy at all for the 'culprit' save to explain that he was otherwise a good TP and that the CPO had credited him - in their
written statement - for having also done some good stuff at the Vrindavan
school.
When ISKCON has the courage to put the protection and the dignity of
it's rank and file members above damage limitation and public image, then
it might command the respect of those ordinary members that it feels
itself to be lacking.
Gauri is a rank and file member, and thats why he also needs to be
afforded basic common dignity as he gives up his post - even though he has
been found guilty of 'excessive corporal punishment'.
I personally have no intention of presenting this kind of angle
with those with whom I have dealings. Rather I would prefer to say that a man
who committed serious misdeeds has been brought to account and that
therefore they can rest assured that the "judicial" process within
ISKCON protects and their family members from further incidents of this nature.
Thats what we can all say isn't it? Its not that I have said that the
CPO is amiss in their judgement, merely that they found the allegations
substantive and that Gauri might be appealing. Please read my letter again without
emotion and you'll see that I have just given the facts.
I feel somewhat, however, that I would be saying that with my
fingers crossed behind my back. My conscience thus forces me to call my
personal position into question. I really do not feel I can act as a representative and spokesman for
this kind of public line.
No-one has, or will, ask you to do that
It breaks my heart.
Please don't do anything you don't want to do, or say anything you don't want to say.
I therefore have no choice but to state my intention not to
continue to take shelter of the administrative body known as ISKCON until such
time as these attitudes substantially change, for whatever little it's worth to anyone.
No-one has asked you to leave or wants you to leave . It won't help
any of us if you think of the Hare Krishna movement as the 'administrative
body known as ISKCON' It will only become that if you choose to regard it
that way. It remains a spiritual movement with many, many wonderful
devotees.
If I thus find that my activities are challenged or interfered with
by such administrative authorities, then I may have no choice but to
make public presentations as to my feelings in these matters.
Sorry, I cannot understand this last line.
Your servant, in exasperation,
The following is the reply from a member of the ISKCON community to Kripamoya prabhu.
Dear Prabhu
In order to clarify my position, I've replied below including your
email to highlight areas that I find objectionable:
On Sunday, July 27, 2008, at 07:37PM, "Kripamoya Das" wrote:
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Dear Vaishnavas,
This brief message is to inform you of the resignation of Gauri Das
from the post of temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
Gauri Prabhu has served as an excellent president for the past six
years and has contributed in many ways to the numerous projects that make up the temple and its community. We are sad to see him move on from this
position.
***This may be the case, but in response to a judgement of this kind, this is not the time or place to say so. When a man is convicted of such things in a criminal court, it would be deemed highly inappropriate for the
solicitor to runout afterwards and make statemenets to the press telling everyone what a nice guy he really is. The judgement has been made and it is for all to
respect that and behave appropriately, with consideration of the feelings of the
victims (I use the word advisedly) the most important priority. It is this absence of
consideration I find extremely problematic.
His resignation was effective from two weeks ago, and I apologise for
taking so long to send you this announcement. We've all had some internal
catching up to do, to make sure that all his many services were adequately
covered.
The temple management continues as before, with weekly senior management
meetings where we thoroughly discuss any major policies, projects or
festivals before arriving at a decision.
Gauri's stepping down came at the conclusion of a prolonged process
of enquiry concerning allegations of 'excessive corporal punishment'
made by some of his former students while he was a teacher at our Vrindavan
Gurukula School in India in the mid 1990s.
As you probably know, ISKCON takes any allegations of this nature very
seriously and has an international office set up for dealing with
these matters. Whilst Gauri submitted that corporal punishment was indeed
used, in keeping with many schools both in India and England, he stressed that
it was not'excessive.'
… and is not
at all procedurally correct. This defence HAS BEEN REJECTED. To now repeat
it is, as I said, to mitigate for a man found guilty of serious misconduct. It
is also to make a nonsense out of the procedure. You may suggest that you are
simply giving a balanced point of view, as made clear by your next paragraph,
but I find this a highly Orwellian presentation. The scales have already
tipped. The time for balance has now passed. Praghosa often says that there are
always two sides to every chapati. That's very true in investigating such things
initially but then at some point, one side always gets buttered.
However, the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection
concluded that he should not continue to serve as temple president or
hold any other office for a period of three years.Gauri may choose to
appeal this decision, but his resignation was a mandatory condition issued by the
office.
***This is, at best, a badly constructed paragraph. To examine things
from a grammatical perspective, by placing the statement "Gauri may choose to
appeal this decision" before the statement "but his resignation was a
mandatory condition issued by the office", several distinct and misleading
impressions are created in the mind of the innocent reader, namely:
a) the resignation is merely a procedural formality whilst Gauri
builds his case for an appeal: this is misleading, since the resignation is the
result of the CPT rejecting Gauri's defence and finding him guilty of serious
misconduct;
While the decision finds Gauri Das responsible for excessive corporal
punishment, it also goes on to give him credit for "many positive
accomplishments" while he was at the school.
***Again, the positioning of praise AFTER the statement of the verdict
(followed by the subsequent word "regret" below) attempts to mitigate for the
culprit (and I use the word, again, advisedly). This is a highly sensitive
situation. The wording of the official ISKCON statement issued on Dandavats only just remained on the right side of APPROPRIATE balance in the situation,
without lessening the impact of the judgement. But it achieved that balance.
This wording, however, DOES seek to lessen that impact and thus mitigate for the
culprit, with many consequent issues arising as I've set out above
(lack of consideration for the victims feelings, lack of publically displayed
respect for the authority of the CPT, or for the nature of the issue at hand)
We regret that Gauri Das will not be able to continue as an officer
of our temple, but we also recognize the important need of the Office of
Child Protection to acknowledge problems in the care of children in the
past, and to address those issues.
We are pleased that Gauri Das has indicated that he would like to
meet with the former students in the hope of further reconciliation.
***I find the use of the word "further" to be misleading. Since
Gauri's position to date (and possibly in the future, since he tends to appeal)
is that his behaviour was not excessive, and since this is to argue against the
position of the victims, then where is the question of reconciliation? How can
there have been any reconciliation when Gauri has not accepted that he has
acted wrongly? This is not at all accurate, and again serves to paint Gauri
whiter than white two weeks after a lengthy investigation into his serious and
repeated misconduct, which, lest it be forgotten, found him guilty.
Therefore, I find your response to my initial email to be an extension
of this kind of inaccuracy, which I find objectionable. Your argument to me
was something like that many people find Gauri to be a nice person, and
that they also need to be considered when making such a statement. My argument
in response is that Gauri should have been suspended at the outset of this
investigation, as would be standard in any comparable organization.
Thus people's feelings might have been better protected in the matter,
rather than becoming yet more bewildered at this moment after seeing him on
regional TV conducting the opening ceremony of a government funded school, so far
into an investigation of this nature.
I hope this clarifies my position. I am sorry that I should feel the
need to act in this regard, but I really don't feel I can "let this one
go". I think there's been far too much of "letting this one go" for my liking
during my time in ISKCON, whatever people say to try and advise me to just chant and
be happy and forget all about it.
Prabhupada: How will the sankirtan mission be spread all over the
world?
Disciple: By chanting Hare Krishna!
Prabhupada: (solemnly): Yes, but organization is also required.
That organization HAS TO include proper consistent procedures for
dealing with complaints, regardless of the status of the person being investigated,
proper procedures for suspending persons who are being investigated, and
proper procedures for communication of the facts to members and to the public.
It has to include redress of the balance between damage limitation and proper
protection of rank and file members.
You state that Gauri is entitled to dignity. I find this unpalatable.
In a court of law, that dignity would have meant being led off to the cells
in handcuffs. ISKCON has to wake up and smell the decaffeinated coffee,
before it's moves to act in the public domain in offering services to
government become the subject of intense media scrutiny should there be even a hint of
such issues at Harrow or similar future projects.
Your servant
Krsna dasa writes:
"Kripamoya das is the current Chairman of an executive board at the Bhaktivedanta Manor. This executive board has replaced the position of Temple President, occupied until recently by Gauri das.
In reading this letter, Kripamoya's callous insensitivity toward child abuse issues is evident. This very insensitivity, which is unfortunately a widespread phenomenon in our movement, is what allowed child abuse to occur in the first place, and what makes it difficult for victims to obtain any form of justice, even today.
It is concerning that Praghosa das, the current GBC for the UK, although a recipient of this letter, has not made any efforts to counter or make amends to Kripamopya's offensive and misleading propaganda. Perhaps it is the devotees who, in full knowledge of his past misconducts, appointed Gauri das, and now Kripamopya das as "worthy leaders" and representatives of Srila Prabhupada's movement in the UK, who need to be reassessed and possibly replaced."
From: Mahavisnu Swami (ACBSP) (UK/Africa/India/Nepal)
To: Kripamoya Das, Robert Edwards
CC: Praghosa (das) SDG (IRL)
Subject: Re:
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2008 3:59
I find Rob's points valid. (This line was written by Mahavisnu Swami)
The following paragraph was written by Bh. Rob.
Dear Prabhu (Kripamoya Das)
In order to clarify my position, I've replied below including your email to highlight the areas that I find objectionable:
This is the beginning of Kripamoya's letter.
On Sunday, July 27, 2008, at 07:37 PM, "Kripamoya Das" wrote:
Kripamoya Das
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Dear Vaishnavas,
This brief message is to inform you of the resignation of Gauri Das from the post of temple president at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
Gauri Prabhu has served as an excellent president for the past six years and has contributed in many ways to the numerous projects that make up the temple and its community. We are sad to see him move on from this position.
Rob's comments:
***This may be the case, but in response to a judgment of this kind, this is not the time or place to say so. When a man is convicted of such things in a criminal court, it would be deemed highly inappropriate for the solicitor to run out afterward and make statements to the press telling everyone what a nice guy he really is. The judgment has been made and it is for all to respect that and behave appropriately, with consideration of the feelings of the victims ( I use the word advisedly) the most important priority. It is this absence of consideration I find extremely problematic.
Kripamoya's letter continues:
His resignation was effective from two weeks ago and I apologise for taking so long to send you this announcement. We've all had some internal catching up to do, to make that all his many services were adequately covered. The temple management continues as before, with weekly senior management meetings where we thoroughly discuss any major policies, projects or festivals before arriving at a decision.
Gauri's stepping down came at the conclusion of a prolonged process of enquiry concerning allegations of 'excessive corporal punishment' made by some of his former students while he was a teacher at our Vrindavana School in India in the mid 1990's.
As you probably know, ISKCON takes any allegations of this nature very seriously and has an international office set up for dealing with these matters. Whilst Gauri submitted that corporal punishment was indeed used, in keeping with many schools both in India and England, he stressed that it was not 'excessive.'
Rob's comments:
***The repetition of this defense is highly inappropriate and is not at all procedurally correct. This defense HAS BEEN REJECTED. To now repeat it is, as I said, to mitigate for a man found guilty of serious misconduct. It is also to make a nonsense of the procedure. You may suggest that you are simply giving a balanced point of view, as made clear by your next paragraph, but I find this a highly Orwellian presentation. The scales have already tipped. The time for balance has now passed. Praghosa often says that there are always two sides to every chapati. That's very true in investigating such things initially - but then at some point, one side always gets buttered.
Kripamoya's letter continues:
However, the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection concluded that he should not continue to serve as temple president or hold any other office for a period of three years. Gauri may choose to appeal this decision, but his resignation was a mandatory condition issued by the office.
Rob's comments:
***This is, at best, a badly constructed paragraph. To examine things from a grammatical perspective, by placing the statement "Gauri may choose to appeal this decision" before the statement "but his resignation was a mandatory condition issued by the office", several distinct and misleading impressions are created in the mind of the innocent reader, namely:
a) the resignation is merely a procedural formality whilst Gauri builds his case for an appeal: this is misleading, since the resignation is the result of the CPT rejecting Gauri's defence and finding him guilty of serious misconduct;
Kripamoya's letter continues:
While the decision finds Gauri Das responsible for excessive corporal punishment, it also goes to give him credit for "many positive accomplishments" while he was at the school.
Rob's comments:
***Again, the positioning of the praise AFTER the statement of the verdict (followed by the subsequent word "regret" below) attempts to mitigate for the culprit (and I use the word, again, advisedly). This is a highly sensitive situation. The wording of the official ISKCON statement issued on Dandavats only just remained on the right side of APPROPRIATE balance in the situation, without lessening the impact of the judgment. But it achieved that balance. This wording, however, DOES seek to lessen that impact and thus mitigate for the culprit, with many consequent issues arising as I have set out above (lack of consideration for the victims feelings, lack of publically displayed respect for the authority of the CPT, or for the nature of the issue at hand)
Kripamoya's letter continues:
We regret that Gauri Das will not be able to continue as an officer of our temple, but we also recognize the important need of the Office of Child Protection to acknowledge problems in the care of children in the past, and to address those issues.
We are pleased that Gauri Das has indicated that he would like to meet with the former students in the hope of further reconciliation.
Rob's comments:
***I find the use of the word "further" to be misleading. Since Gauri's position to date (and possibly in the future, since he tends to appeal) is that his behavior was not excessive, and since this is to argue against the position of the victims, then where is the question of reconciliation? How can there have been any reconciliation when Gauri has not accepted that he has acted wrongly? This is not at all accurate, and again serves to paint Gauri whiter than white two weeks after a lengthy investigation into his serious misconduct which, least it be forgotten found him guilty.
Therefore I find your response to my initial email to be an extension of this kind of inaccuracy, which I find objectionable. Your argument to me was that many people find Gauri to be a nice person, and that they also need to be considered when making such a statement. My argument in response is that Gauri should have been suspended at the outset of the investigation, as would be standard in any comparable organization. Thus people's feelings might have been better protected in the matter, rather than becoming yet more bewildered at this moment after seeing him on regional TV conducting the opening ceremony of a government funded school, so far into an investigation of this nature.
I hope this clarifies my position. I am sorry that should feel the need to act in this regard, but I really don't feel I can "let this one go". I think there's been far too much of "letting this one go" for my liking during my time in ISKCON, whatever people say to try and advise me to just chant and be happy and forget about it.
Prabhupada: How will the sankirtan mission spread all over the world?
Disciple: By chanting Hare Krsna!
Prabhupada: (solemnly): Yes, but organization is also required.
That organization HAS to include proper consistent procedures for dealing with complaints, regardless of the status of the person being investigated, proper procedures for suspending persons who are being investigated, proper procedures for communicating the facts to members and to the public. It has to include redress of the balance between damage limitation and proper protection of rank and file members.
You state that Gauri is entitled to dignity. I find this unpalatable. In a court of law, that dignity would have meant being led off to the cells in handcuffs. ISKCON has to wake up and smell the decaffeinated coffee, before it's moves to act in the public domain in offering services to government becomes the subject of intense media scrutiny should there be even a hint of such issues at Harrow or similar future projects.
Your servant
Rob
Kripamoya's letter continued:
Please drop me a line if you have any further questions.
Your servant
Kripamoya Das
