“If Chakra publishes this letter, let's see if they will bury it under an obscure section, like they did with so many other articles concerning Dhanurdhara Maharaja, or are they going to put it where it belongs, in the Child Abuse section or the in new Dhanurdhara Swami page.”

Editor's Note: Bhaktin Miriam seems to be unaware that we have started a Dhanurdhara Swami page. To get there, click on People on the menu, and then select Dhanurdhara Swami. We never buried any articles about Dhanurdhara Swami, and prominently placed all articles about him on CHAKRA's main, home page as we do with all our articles.

Dhanurdhara Maharaja Should Have Followed the ICOCP's Mandates
By Bhaktin Miriam

Dear Chakra readers,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Some devotees are saying that Dhanurdhara Maharaja has changed and that he is not the same person that he was 20-25 years ago when he committed child abuse. That is very true, however, in the last few months he has not been very sensitive towards the abused Gurukuli veterans, their parents and the rest of the Vaisnava community concerned with the Child Abuse issue in ISKCON. The reason why I say this is because he has not abided by all the terms of the "Official Decision on the Case of Dhanurdhara Maharaja" set out by the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection (ICOCP).

First of all, he chose not to follow the Child Protection Office's rulings by giving class in the Boston temple. Secondly, according to the decision of the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection (ICOCP), he was allowed to give initiations by mail or in certain places, but he chose instead to conduct the ceremony in a prohibited place (as we all know, a couple of days before the ceremony, the Executive Committee of the GBC decided to overrule that injunction). Last but not least, according to the ICOCP, Dhanurdhara Maharaja was supposed to ensure that his aspiring disciples read the Official decision and sent a signed statement that they did this to the ICOCP, before the time of initiation. He did not do this for many of the disciples whom he initiated in April of this year.

By not following with all of the rulings of the ICOCP, Dhanurdhara Maharaja has demonstrated disrespect for the ICOCP's mandates. Maybe he felt that he was justified in breaking some of the mandates. On the contrary, by submitting himself to all of the ICOCP's mandates it would have been a good opportunity to show that he was remorseful and humble enough to accept the consequences (punishment) for his past misdeeds.

By reversing the ICOCP's injunction for Dhanurdhara Maharaja, just a month prior to the Child Abuse lawsuit, the Executive Committee (EC) of the GBC had demonstrated irresponsibility and disregard for the abused Gurukuli veterans and for the rest of the ISKCON community. As the head of ISKCON, they should have been the first ones to show us and the rest of the world that ISKCON had a sense of order and control when it came to dealing with the misdeeds of our leaders. The ISKCON community had to know that even an initiating Guru would have been held accountable and punished for past wrongdoing. Instead, the Executive Committee of the GBC supported the accused (Dhanurdhara Maharaja). Going as far as to reverse one of the ICOCP mandates. Thereby disregarding the fact that it took the ICOCP many months of hard labor to come up with a balanced official decision regarding Dhanurdhara Maharaja.

Furthermore, throughout the years ISKCON leaders had missed many opportunities to resolve the child abuse problem. The Executive Committee's reversal of the ICOCP's injunction has left us wondering how serious are they in facing up to the child abuse problem. It is no wonder why the Gurukuli veterans think that whatever possible attempts they would have made to resolve the child abuse issue with the leaders of ISKCON would have failed in all fronts. We do not know what impact the Dhanurdhara Swami's case had on the class action suit, but it certainly gave the Gurukuli veterans one more good reason to mistrust our leaders.

By reversing the ICOCP's mandate of not giving initiation in a prohibited place such as New York, the Executive Committee of the GBC had shown us and the rest of the world that they are more concerned with Dhanurdhara Maharaja, his reputation and the status quo of Diksa Gurus then they are with the abused Gurukuli veterans and others who care about the child abuse problem. That is very shameful because it supports the idea that any leader in ISKCON who is confronted with an official ruling and has some sort of clout can have his/her high power friends reverse official decisions. That sets a very bad precedence for the future when another Sannyasi or other leader is accused of misdeeds, crimes or corruption.

To some devotees, giving initiation in a prohibited place seems like a such a minor infraction. But breaking any of the ICOCP's injunctions should not be considered minor. In this case we are talking about more than one infraction. Where do we draw the line? What makes it even worse is that the Executive committe of the GBC had to actually step in and take sides. And all of this took place in the midst of an upcoming child abuse lawsuit. Wouldn't it had been better if EC had remained impartial?

The GBC had established the ISKCON Central Office of Child Protection (ICOCP) to investigate child abuse cases and hand out appropriate punishment. The ICOCP has a set of well established procedures to deal with and punish child abusers. Why should anyone, regardless of his/her spiritual status or position be exempt from that? This office has tried very hard to be just, impartial, balanced, unbiased and free of "special interest groups" while conducting its business. It is our duty to do our part by lending our support to them.

The ICOCP has an appeals procedure in case a person does not agree with its decisions. According to the Child Protection Task force, it is questionable whether the EC had the prerogative to change that initiation mandate in the first place. Even if they did, they did not use "due-process" as they were supposed to. Dhanurdhara Maharaja never appealed the ICOCP's decision. Nevertheless, as I stated above, he chose not to follow several of its provisions. To me and to many other devotees that is very disconcerting to say the least.

Now, after the Executive Committee's ill-conceived actions, we somehow have to regain our sense of credibility with the world and showed them that we do care about our children's welfare. I suggest that we collectively and strongly protest the Executive Committee's overruling. Thereafter we should make sure that the Executive Committee of the GBC does not reverse any other ICOCP mandates.

It may be understandable that Dhanurdhara Maharaja's disciples and supporters felt that it was inappropriate for a man of his spiritual status to be disciplined as they say, "with so many petty, mundane, and annoying, impositions" They did not want him to be treated like a common child abuser. They insisted that he should have been allowed to apologize and show remorse in his own terms, preferably through some sort of "spiritual penance."

They claimed that Dhanurdhara Maharaja and his disciples had already suffered long enough, even before the formation of the ICOCP. They ask why should he (Dhanurdhara Swami) have to endure further punishment by having to undergo with the ICOCP's procedures and mandates. The ICOCP was more than well aware of all of these things and made sure to put them into account when they made their final decision.

But what about the victims, the abused Gurukuli veterans that have suffered for twenty years and more and will suffer for the rest of their lives because of Dhanurdhara Maharaja's past physical and emotional abuses that he inflicted upon them? Shouldn't they deserve that the ICOCP's mandates be enforced? We do owe them at least that much.

If Chakra publishes this letter, let's see if they will bury it under an obscure section, like they did with so many other articles concerning Dhanurdhara Maharaja, or are they going to put it where it belongs, in the Child Abuse section or the in new Dhanurdhara Swami page.

 yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktin Miriam

© CHAKRA 16-August-2000

Go to the “Dhanurdhara Swami Page”
Go to the “Child Abuse Page”