Plea seeking ban on translated version of Gita dismissed

Moscow, Mar 21: A Russian court today dismissed a petition seeking a ban on a translated version of Bhagwad Gita for being "extremist", bringing cheers to followers across the world.

"The court in the Siberian city of Tomsk has dismissed the plea," Sadhu Priya Das of Moscow ISKCON told PTI soon after the verdict was announced. State prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk had filed an appeal against a lower court's dismissal of their original plea seeking a ban on "Bhagavad Gita As It Is", written by A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

They claimed that the text was "extremist" literature full of hatred and insult to non-believers which promoted social discord. The higher court in Tomsk "kept the verdict of the lower court intact," a joyful Das said.

As the judge dismissed the plea, the followers in the packed courtroom burst into applause, he said. "We are grateful to the Russian judicial system," Das said. Brajendra Nandan Das, Director ISKCON media communication in India, expressed happiness over the verdict. "We have won. The petition seeking a ban on the book has been dismissed," he told PTI. The case had drawn a flurry of criticism from Hindus across the world.

PTI