Russian court dismisses case seeking Gita ban

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Russian-court-dismisses-case-seeking-Gita-ban/articleshow/12350943.cms

NEW DELHI: A court in Russia has dismissed a case that sought a ban on the Gita.

Hindus in Russia on Wednesday won the case when Tomsk city court in Siberia dismissed the plea from state prosecutors.

The court rejected the appeal against a Dec 27 verdict given by a lower court in Tomsk.

“We have won the case. The court has dismissed the state prosecutors’ appeal,” an elated Sadhu Priya Das, a devotee of the ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) in Russia told IANS over phone from Tomsk.

The case relates to Tomsk state prosecutor’s filing a petition in June 2011 seeking a ban on a Russian translation of “Bhagwat Gita: As It Is” written by A.C. Bhaktived Swami Prabhupada, founder of ISKCON, claiming that it was “extremist” in nature and spread “social discord”.

The Gita was first published in Russia in 1788 and since then it has been republished many times in various translations.

The controversial Russian translation of “Bhagavad Gita: As It Is” was carried out by founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The book was translated into more than 60 languages.