A Hindu Ashram in Russia, ‘Shri Prakash Dham’, is under threat from radical Christian organisations, claims Prasun Prakash, Director, Public Affairs, Centre for Conservation of Indian Culture, Shri Prakash Dham. Shri Prakash Dham has presence in Russia, Eurasia, Europe and the UK.
According to Prakash, radical Christian organisation not only gave them threats, but also carried out physical attacks. Prasun, who was born in Moscow, Russia, originally hails from Patna, Bihar. He has masters in international relations specialising in Russian administrative services from Moscow State University.
Prakash said, “About four years back, my family and our organisation was under attack from the nationalist orthodox Christian goons. It all began with slander on the internet, TV and radio and even included physical attacks on me personally.”
Alexander Dvorkin, an anti-cult activist in Russia and member of a group that harasses any religion that competes with Russia’s orthodox Church, reportedly started a campaign against the spiritual guru. As per the reports, the Guru has been living in Russia since 1990. He had reached Russia to study medicine, but eventually became a spiritual leader.
According to Guru Prakash, people pretending to be journalists were first sent to his house. The ones who opposed them came pretending to be their supporters and devotees. These fake journalists would then take images and videos of the ashram and spread fake propaganda.
He alleged that the radical Christian groups refer to yoga and meditation as ‘hypnosis’ and claim that the devotees of Shri Prakash are under the influence of hypnosis and straying from Christianity.
“Our first lawyer was a very renowned pro-Putin hard liner who got pressurised by the hooligans in the Russian FSB (the modern short form of KGB). As the matter progressed we saw great support from the Russian communist party and Islam. We even spoke about this matter in the walls of the UN and the Russian Parliament,” said Prasun Prakash.
He added that currently the situation is under control as they recently won a case against the radical outfit. “Our new lawyer, who is a famous muslim personality in Russia and my very good friend also played an important role in this victory. I met him through our common Muslim friends who are like brothers to me,” he added.
Prasun Prakash says that Russian President Putin and Prime Minister Modi are also aware of their situation. He said that some time back he had met the then minister of state of external affairs, General V K Singh, had visited Russia and raised the issue. Prasun Prakash added that he is hopeful the government of India will intervene and take action against the threats they are receiving.