Search the Internet          Tips

Anxious ISKCON awaits court ruling

The International Society of Krishna Consciousness, better known as the Hare Krishna movement or ISKCON, is anxiously awaiting the outcome of a court ruling which could discreetly put an end to a year of controversy or climactically bankrupt the organization.

Seventy-nine former students of the group's gurukulas have joined together in a class action lawsuit seeking $400 million for horrific abuse they suffered in Krishna boarding schools while they were children.

Their allegations--which include rape, torture and the brutalization of children as young as 3 years of age--have not been categorically denied. But ISKCON disputes the extent of the charges and the idea that the organization as a whole is responsible for the crimes of its devotees.

The victims' case, filed last year in Texas federal court, is boldly prosecuting the group under the civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute--a legal cudgel usually reserved for the Mafia. Their high-profile lawyer, Windle Turley, is also taking the Catholic Church to task for the sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated by priests.

The Krishna case could be approved as RICO litigation any day now, spelling disaster for ISKON, or it could be dismissed, forcing the children to pursue individual abusers who are scattered and mostly penniless.

The lynchpin of their case is the argument that there was widespread knowledge of the abuse and an aggressive cover up in the upper echelons of the Krishna hierarchy.

"The leadership in ISKCON has long been aware of the mistreatment and abuse inflicted upon little children entrusted to it to raise," Turley declared when he filed his case. "Elements within this new religious movement have attempted to operate outside the child protection laws of a half-dozen states. As a result, a generation of ISKCON children are permanently, and many profoundly, injured."

Although Turley could not be reached for comment this week, Krishna spokesperson Anuttama Dasa reiterated the group's stance for rediff.com.

He said the organization is aggressively continuing its internal efforts to investigate and remedy the abuses through its child protection office and an independent service agency, called the Children of Krishna.

Dasa dismissed the RICO lawsuit as misplaced blame and profiteering on the part of Turley.

"I think it's simply a legal maneuver by Mr. Turley to implicate innocent people and punish congregations of devotees in communities for the deviant acts of individuals that were done in gross violation of our principles over 20 years ago," he said. "His claims that there was widespread awareness are absolutely false."

Dasa said that while ISKCON has been crushed by the revelations of its gurukula students, ultimately the responsibility lies on the shoulders of individual abusers, neglectful parents and, perhaps, the ignorance of the times.

"It's difficult to understand, but there weren't even laws against child abuse until 1977," he said. "People did not know the danger of child abuse, they didn't understand the signs of child abuse or how rampant is was, and they didn't understand how insidious it can be."

At its peak ISKCON had 11 gurukulas in the United States and 2 in India, which collectively housed and taught about 2000 students. The last Krishna boarding school in the United States closed its doors in the mid-1990s.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report