Dear ___(Members of the Press)____,
We were very interested to see your news segment on Radhanath Swami's recent visit to your area. While you're probably not aware of it, the Swami is at the center of a great deal of controversy within the movement he operates in, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
As you may know from your background research on Radhanath, he represents himself as a swami on behalf of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, our preeminent Acarya in the current age, who departed in 1977. Out of the more than 8,000 direct disciples of Srila Prabhupada, over 90% of them left the Society after his departure because of what happened when a small group of followers took over. The Sampradaya Sun counts among its regular readership a significant percentage of those disenfranchised disciples.
Radhanath Swami is at the center of an ongoing drama about a murder that took place at one of our temples a number of years ago. Very serious allegations have been made that Radhanath Swami was involved in arranging for the murder, and in helping the murderer and accomplice to leave the country afterwards. Although brought before a Grand Jury on the matter, Radhanath Swami avoided prosecution and left the United States shortly after. You will note that none of these events are discussed in his book, which stops short of describing his activities during this particular era, and beyond, although this period represents almost the entirety of his actual spiritual career.
Please read this article, published on the Sun a few days ago: "Radhanath Swami's Alleged Involvement in Sulochan's Murder" by Hrishikesh dasa (Henry Doktorski), who is in process of publishing an extensive historical study of the New Vrindaban Krishna community Radhanath lived in before fleeing to India. (New Vrindaban was at the center of the exposé book, Monkey on a Stick.) The Sun article offers citations on various testimonial evidence of Radhanath's implication in the murder, which was initiated by the leaders of New Vrindaban while Radhanath lived there.
You can find additional information in our Editorials Archive, by searching on the page for the term 'Radhanath' (or 'Radhanatha'), or via the Google engine on the Sun's front page.
It is our request that your news organization make an effort at balanced reporting of this story. There are many devotees and friends of the Society who are appalled at the Swami's big 'book tour' and all the positive press and glorification he has been arranging for himself (which, by the way, is the antithesis of the behaviour of a true renunciant or sannyasi). And in this case, Radhanath is alleged to have been involved in activities so grievous that if you do not offer fair and balanced reporting of that fact, advising your listeners of the controversy associated with this person, than anyone who is influenced to join him as a result of your story, and who suffers as a result of associating with him, will be the ethical and karmic responsibility of those who chose not to balance the story for their listeners.
Thank you for considering our concerns.
