Tuesday, November 1, 2016

RE: Why is the GBC Protecting Ramai Swami?

[PADA: Ramai Swami is another person who preaches that God's successors are deviants, ok and this would make God a deviant, since the successor is qualitatively the same as the original item (God). Why is this preaching allowed at all? 

Isn't teaching children that God's successors are deviants illegal corrupting the morals of minors? Isn't this criminal fraud? And is this why we also cannot show porno to children for the same reason, its illegal to say the successors to God are illicit sex, its corrupting their brains. Yet a bunch of younger aged BHAKTI VIKAS SWAMI followers were telling PADA very recently -- that it is quite common for Krishna's guru successors to fall down left, right and center. So the GBC are preaching to younger persons and even children that God's guru successors are quite often -- fallen debauchees.

Preaching that God's successors are deviants, which makes God a deviant because He is shaksat hari equal to His successors, is not ISKCON? Where does Srila Prabhupada say that the successors to the Supreme Lord are deviants, falling down left, right and center? And if God is shaksat Hari with His successors, then God is falling down left, right and center too? Is this ISKCON?

We should nail them on this issue, we still have suicidal children because they believe at least de facto that God is a deviant because His gurus and successors are deviants, its makes people supremely depressed. If the successor to God is a debauchee, or even God is a criminal because He is equal to criminals, this is a hopeless life for anyone less than the successor ... how can anyone improve if the direct shaksat hari person is a also often a deviant?

This is destroying thousands and thousands of children. They are STILL corrupting children by teaching them that the successors to God are often debauchees, and we should make this more the issue. Teaching that God's successors are often sexual predators, makes this molester problem basically unsolvable, if the successor to God is a sexual predator, its sort of like a licence for anyone less than the successor to be a sexual predator. ys pd
]

======================

Where to start?

Everything in this report is fact. WHEN, not if, these matters go to court, every statement will be confirmed by witnesses who have sworn to tell the truth.


Dear readers, before you feel tempted to comment on this post, PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE WITH AN OPEN MIND. I certainly regret that this is not at all palatable.

Keep in mind that some names can not be mentioned on social media. This is usually for one of the following reasons.

1. There is already a court case going on.
2. Survivors or witnesses are still fearful of reprisals by Ramai Swami
OR
3. Survivors do not wish to be identified because they are heroically moving on with their lives and there is the danger that they will become retraumatised by these reports.

In all instances, I attempt to be sensitive to the feelings of those who have already endured so much. Still, as you will see, we have plenty of information that can be revealed.

Let us go back to 1991. Ramai Swami was, as stated in his profile on the Official GBC Member ISKCON website, the National Secretary for Australia and New Zealand. In 1991 i returned to Australia with the 3 children from my first marriage. Indeed i was fleeing an abusive marriage that had escalated to horrifying levels of violence and other forms of abuse. Desiring my children to attend a nice Krsna Conscious School, i settled in Bambra, a country area near New Nandagram in rural Victoria, so they could receive a spiritually oriented education.

New Nandagram was a unique community in that the members were sincerely trying to manage it themselves in a cooperative way without just one dictatorial Temple President. As a family, we were happy in those early days.

Soon however, a devotee well known in Australia, arrived to be the Temple President. His name will not be mentioned so as to protect those who have survived his abuses, (please also do not mention his name if you choose to make a comment).

I was a parent and i was not informed that this person had actually molested a child in his previous temple. None of the members of the community were informed not even the Principle of the school there, Chakra das (Chris Ellis).We all found out considerably later. It is known that Ramai Swami, as the National Secretary, had full knowledge of the offences of this man and it was he, Ramai Swami, who organised to have him transferred to New Nandagram, a community where there many young children. We have witnesses who will come forward and state that they were in the room when Prabhavisnu, Paul Burrows, the new GBC and others were discussing what to do with this sex offender. Some were calling for his complete removal. Ramai Swami's comment? " No. He is my mate.".

Especially disturbing is that simultaneously with shuffling a known pedophile to a community with children, Ramai Swami, as National Secretary, was pushing through a new initiative made by the International GBC. That was the formation of an Australian Child Protection Office. Disturbing.

Later on the sex offender in question would be incarcerated for sexually abusing his own family members.

However before even this, a senior devotee has disclosed to me that in the late eighties, she was serving in Sydney Temple. At the time her son was a toddler. She would sometimes bring her son into the temple while she worked in the office. It was helpful at the time that a devotee, recently arrived from New Zealand, Vanamali das, was very friendly with her son and would often play with him, would have him sitting on his knee etc. Considerably later, she learnt that Vanamali had been transferred from New Zealand after being accused of sex offences there. Who organised this transfer? Yes. Ramai Swami.

It can be confirmed by Atmarama das, (Andre Melis), who became Temple President of Sydney sometime later and "inherited" Vanamali, that at no time was he given any information that Vanamali had been accused of sex offenses in New Zealand.

Vanamali went on to committ sex abuses that were reported and finally left ISKCON. However, because Ramai Swami, who by now was the GBC, failed to ensure that Vanamali was prosecuted through the courts, and that therefore there was no police record, Vanamali was able to get a job as a gardener in a facility for disabled children. Later on, this came to the attention of a senior godsister who reported it to the managers. However, as there was no police record, they could not legally remove him.

Other instances of Ramai Swami failing to take action on known pedophiles, includes the case of Gaura Gopala. Ramai Swami was informed that Gaura Gopal had abused one child and was grooming more. He did nothing and Gaura Gopal went on to abuse more children.

Very alarming, is that Ramai Swami knew Gaura Gopala was a pedophile but did nothing to stop his arranged marriage to a woman who was not informed that her husband-to-be had a past history of abusing children. There is at least one other instance when Ramai Swami did nothing to halt the marriage of another sex offender to a woman who also was kept in the dark about her husband's past.

As GBC man, Ramai Swami has consistently refused to give help to devotees who suffered abuse. In one known case at New Govardhana, a pujari molested a young girl. The enraged father went and bashed the offender. Of course in the 21st century we must always advocate non-violence but it is surely a natural reaction for a father who hears that his young daughter was sexually assaulted. The father then got banned from New Govardhana and the pujari was retained. This pujari went on to abuse another young girl.

I was at New Govardhana in the early nineties when my godbrother Yasomatinandana, (deceased), informed me that a certain man in the community, who had a reputation for extreme violence against his then ex-wife, had approached him, Yasomatinandana, offering to pay him a large amount of money if he would murder his ex-wife and her new partner. Despite being informed, Ramai Swami took no action whatsoever and this maniacal ex-husband continued to come to the temple causing great disturbance.

Also at New Govardhana another young girl was sexually assaulted by a man named Braja Raja. Once again Ramai Swami did nothing to limit the movements of the offender and did nothing to assist the young girl and her family.

I have described in a previous post that i personally went to see Ramai Swami begging his help for a letter that would help my legal case in preventing my daughters being returned to their father who, my daughters had reported, was subjecting them to all kinds of abuse. Ramai Swami refused to write a letter saying that he "would not do anything against his godbrother." (Ganesh das)

Fortunately, i went on to win the court case without his help.

In another case still going, the adult survivor of child sexual abuse had cause to have email correspondence with Ramai Swami. Although other members of the Australian National Council, in particular Damodara Pandit, the Australian Director of the Child Protection Office, have been attempting to come to some sort of settlement with this survivor, including formal acknowledgement and apology, Ramai Swami told her he had reason to disbelieve her version of the story. He was more inclined to believe the story of the offender who, unsurprisingly, was denying the allegations.

Krsna Rupa, the Representative for Women on the otherwise all-male National Council of 21 members, recently informed me of what she thought i would find very pleasing news.

At the recent AGM held in May in Melbourne, a resolution was passed to employ the services of a Child Protection Training Agency, over 3 years, that would train the managers of ISKCON Australia in Best Practice methods of responding to child abuse in ISKCON. This was certainly a positive initiative. However i was disappointed to learn from several members of the National Council, including Atmarama the Director at Govinda Valley, that one member had abstained from voting in favour of that very worthy initiative. Who was this? Ramai Swami.
Of course, i have requested a copy of the minutes from this meeting from the National Secretary Aniruddha das, (Andrew Marsh) but he has refused to supply them to me. He also would not say why Ramai Swami abstained from voting in favour of this arrangement.

There is a lot more I could write but now let us get up to speed with the present situation in Adelaide. The Temple President, Adi Purusa Krsna, (Anand Krishnan), is still officially the Temple President. A co- Temple President has been added, Sita Rama Laxmana, who lives in Perth and flies in for just a few days here and there. He cannot do anything positive in the situation.

The son of the Temple President, who was engaged in the sexual harrasment leading to sexual assault of women in Adelaide Temple was given a 6 month suspension some months ago. He has spent this time enjoying himself in India some of it in the company of Bhaktisiddhanta Swami who is known to have written to one of the young women involved, pressuring her to drop police charges. The suspension period of the son, Satananda das, is almost up and devotees are worried that Ramai Swami will soon announce that this man is now free to resume his place as Acting Temple President. For more information on the Adelaide situation, please read my earlier posts.

As i said in the beginning, every single story in this report is true and in court will be backed up with all the required evidence and witness statements. There are also many other stories. I encourage Ramai Swami and other members of the Executive Council of ISKCON Australia to have me charged with defamation. Then we can proceed quickly to having these matters heard in court.

In the mean time, i am preparing a much more detailed report then this brief summary that will be sent to the police. It seems that at the least, Ramai Swami could be charged with Criminal Negligence in failing to provide members of the institution over which he presides, protection from the abuse of pedophiles and those who abuse women.

The case against him is even more compelling than the case against George Pell from the Catholic Church. Pell is still claiming he had no knowledge whatsoever of the crimes committed against children by priests he shuffled around. But Ramai Swami does not have the luxury of claiming ignorance. He knew EXACTLY the crimes of his mates and has shuffled them around and offered them all unreasonable support. This will come out in a thorough court investigation and most probably, he will face incarceration for his crimes against the women and children of ISKCON Australia and in many cases, the truthful and courageous men who attempted to speak out for survivors and found themselves persecuted, harrassed, alienated or banned completely.

It is well over time that Ramai Swami was made to account for his actions over the last 25 years or more.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.