Hare Krishna!

Respected GBC’s of Kolkata.

Please accept our humble obeisances at your lotus feet.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

PRAYER TO ALLOW ASHRAYA GAURANGA PRABHU TO PREACH IN KOLKATA AND CONTINUE BEING OUR SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY AND GUIDE

We have been taking spiritual guidance from HG Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu since more than a decade and have wonderfully blossomed as congregation preachers & members.

Under his guidance we have tasted the nectar of vedic scriptures like Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam & Chaitanya Charitamrita and still want more.

He has taught us the process of surrender to Guru & Krishna by continuously polishing us, grooming us, guiding us, helping us, correcting us, side-lining our faults and working on our devotional service aspects.

However, since the month of July 2019, we have been deprived of all this due to his suspension based on some allegations by some brahmacharis in the Kolkata Temple management.

There was a rumour that Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu had misused funds of Bhakti Vriksha Bhavan built in Mayapur by transferring them for his personal benefit. On 11th August, when the Temple President met various servant leaders of Kolkata congregation along with the temple authorities, he clearly stated that Ashraya Gauranga Das is an honest person as far as monetary dealings are involved and he personally has full faith in Ashraya Gauranga Das that he has not cheated anyone even a single rupee. Also he has a clean character while dealing with women.

However, due to reasons best known only to the authorities, he was transferred to Howrah extension centre after a suspension period of 3 months with the condition that he would not be allowed to continue preaching activities in Kolkata. The Temple President in a meeting with Circle/Servant leaders in September clearly mentioned that all those devotees who wanted to take spiritual guidance from Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu can do so but they need to send an email to the temple authorities. However, they can still continue rendering various services in Kolkata Temple. We, 800+ Bhakti Vriksha devotees officially got connected to Howrah extension centre (by informing the Temple Management) and chose Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu to be our spiritual guide.

In the month of January, a group of 30 congregation devotees in Howrah wrote a letter to the Temple President that they don’t want Ashraya Gauranga Das in Howrah and so he was not allowed to preach there as well (we are still unaware of the letter contents).

How could the Temple President of Kolkata dismiss a person in-charge of an extension centre and disallow him from preaching without doing any official investigation on the so called complains of only 30 people (few of them signed on blank paper)?

How could the Temple President dismiss the extension centre which was inaugurated by His Holiness Jayapataka Swami Maharaj and also passed in EIDC?

Why did not the Temple President CONSULT us (Circle Servants/ Servant Leaders/ Bhakti Vriksha members who are officially connected to Howrah Center & Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu) in this matter?

Although we had officially informed the Kolkata Temple authorities on our decision of choosing Howrah extension centre & Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu why were we not officially COMMUNICATED about this decision?

Why is not the Kolkata Temple authority giving us any guidelines on how to get continued spiritual guidance from Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu? What arrangements have been made for this purpose? Does the Kolkata Temple authority actually care for we 800+ suffering devotees?

Why does not the Temple President have the capacity to accommodate an honest preacher like Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu who has developed the congregation preaching thereby turning thousands of people into devotees?

If the Temple authority feels that travelling with His Holiness Bhakti Purusottam Swami Maharaj is going to benefit Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu spiritually then we are really happy with it but not at the cost of our complete disconnection with him. We painfully tolerated the wounds created by the initial suspension of 3 months and now we are forced to bleed again for the next six months.

Please forgive us for writing statements which may sound harsh. This is only because of the sufferings we are going through. This petition is to bring to your kind notice that we (800+ devotees) want Ashraya Gauranga Prabhu to continue being our spiritual authority and guide and that he should freely preach in Kolkata (without any area restrictions). In this vast city of Kolkata, a new project can always be taken up by him and we all will whole heartedly support it.

Given below is some information provided by us while signing this petition.