Author: Arun Mohanty, Moscow
Publication: India Abroad
Date: May 12, 2001
The Russian Orthodox Church, which
is playing an increasingly important role in post- Soviet Russia, has blacklisted
eight India-based religious organizations, including ISKCON and the Brahma
Kumaris who have a strong presence in this country.
The Russian Orthodox Church, the
dominant religious institution in multi-religious Russia, has for the first
time publicly released a list of organizations -- based in this country
and abroad -- that it considers "harmful sects". The list was released
at a conference, titled "Totalitarian sects: Danger of the 21st century",
held in the Russian city of Nizhni-Novgorod under the patronage of the
church.
According to the Moscow weekly journal
Profile, the blacklisted India-based groups are the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the Ananda Marg, the organizations
associated with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Sahaja Yoga, the sect of Shri Chinmoy,
Brahma Kumari, the sect of Satya Sai Baba and Osho Rajnish's organization.
While ISKCON and Brahma Kumari appear to have a relatively strong following
in Russia, the other organizations in the list have a marginal presence
in this country.
Two India-related religious organizations
that have escaped the axe of the Orthodox Church are the Ramakrishna Mission,
which at one point of time had trouble in getting registration, and the
Moscow Gurdwara Committee, possibly because they do not resort to conversion.
While a representative of ISKCON
told IANS that it was a registered organization and had no legal problems
in functioning in Russia, experts on religious affairs say official support
to the outfit is waning fast, perhaps under pressure from the powerful
local church.
The inclusion of these organizations
in the list of "socially dangerous sects" means the Russian Orthodox Church
would not like its followers to maintain relations with representatives
of these groups, a church spokesman told IANS.
Those who wish to come back from
"totalitarian sects" to the fold of orthodox Christianity must go through
special re-conversion rituals in the church, the spokesman said. The Orthodox
Church has a rehabilitation center for the victims of the "harmful sects",
the spokesman added.
Though state and religion, under
the secular Russian Constitution, are separated from each other, Russia's
powerful orthodox church enjoys massive support from the state and exercises
strong influence over the political establishment of the country.
Worried by the rapid penetration
of "dangerous sects" into Russian society in the aftermath of the Soviet
collapse leading to "spiritual degeneration" of the Russian people, the
Orthodox Church has been exerting pressure on the political elite to limit
such organizations' activities. The law on religion, adopted by the Duma,
the lower house of Russian Parliament, includes provisions for limiting
and even banning activities of pseudo-religious organizations considered
harmful to Russian society.
