Skip to main content

ISKCON UK 'clarifies' after virus infects devotees, 5 die due to big temple meet

The Soho St temple and Govinda's restaurant before the pandemic
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), United Kingdom (UK), has admitted that at least 21 of its devotees were infected because of the spread of the coronavirus amongst the UK devotee community following the March 12 funeral and March 15 memorial of the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple president, in which about 1,000 people participated. Regretting that five of the devotees have passed away, the top Hindu religious in Britain body does not deny more may have been infected.
At the same time, ISKCON UK has sharply criticized “social media” claims that 100 devotees in the UK had contracted coronavirus.  A report in ISKCON News by Madhava Smullen quotes top ISKCON office bearer, Praghosa Das, as “clearing up” the impression, perpetuated “in some corners of the Internet, that management was irresponsible”. It blames unidentified devotees for "false" social media posts in this regard.
The report says that “the dates are very important” before putting the blame on ISKCON UK,  underlining, the “funeral and memorial were on the March 12 and 15. But Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, only issued the stay-at-home order on March 23.”
It continues, social distancing guidelines, recommending that people stay at least two meters away from each other, had not yet been issued in the UK, nor had stricter-than-usual limits on the amount of people allowed into a building at one time, adding, "Although other countries, such as Italy, Spain and France, did have such restrictions at the time, the UK did not…”
With 21 confirmed cases of those who participated in the 1,000 strong gathering at Bhaktivedanta Manor and Soho St in London, and five deaths, the report, significantly, calls ISKCON UK as "amongst the worst affected communities by COVID-19", adding, "Several are in critical condition, including younger devotees in their thirties and forties."
Even as expressing  "thoughts, sympathies and prayers" for those among the devotees who have suffered, a top ISKCON UK office bearer, Praghosa Das, has been quoted as taking strong exception to "some corners" of the Internet were seeking to create the impression that the management was "irresponsible."
“The dates are very important,” Das says, adding, “Srutidharma Prabhu’s funeral and memorial were on the March 12 and 15. But Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, only issued the stay-at-home order on March 23." And, at the  the events happened, people in the UK "were still going about their normal business, and there were no directives against holding such events."
While the "devotees and organizers at the events followed all then-current guidelines given by the UK government, including regularly washing hands – hand sanitizing gel was placed at various points around the venue – coughing into one’s elbow, and not shaking hands", Das asserts, "Social distancing guidelines, recommending that people stay at least two meters away from each other, had not yet been issued in the UK."
This was in sharp contrast to "other countries, such as Italy, Spain and France", which "did have such restrictions at the time", Das tells ISKCON News, even though admitting that the spread of "the virus amongst the UK devotee community can be traced back largely to the March 12 funeral and March 15 memorial of Bhaktivedanta Manor temple president Srutidharma Das – the former of which drew about 1,000 people."
The Bhaktivedanta Manor
ISKCON temples in UK have been closed since March 16, and all temple presidents and other leaders hold conference calls, the report says, claiming, ever since the tragedy struck the devotees, the management is "consistently reinforcing that everybody must follow all of the directives and guidelines from the UK government.”
Each temple has created its own coronavirus team, the report continues, adding, this includes the Temple President and other senior leaders; a devotee with medical training; and a communications person. The team meets on a regular basis online to assess their local temple’s situation, and the devotees who become ill are "immediately" self-isolated, but are offered "prasadam and all the essentials they require.”
Asking devotees not to take things, Das has been quoted as saying, “We are in the material world, there is a pandemic that is affecting the whole world, and there is no vaccine for it. It’s not that somehow or other by chanting Hare Krishna it’s going to stop us from getting this virus – we have seen numerous cases of devotees being affected by it and sadly passing away."
In the meantime, Praghosa appeals to the worldwide ISKCON community, “Please do not be harsh on the devotees in the UK yatra. They didn’t deliberately do something they shouldn’t have done. They thought they were following everything they had to follow. So please wish them the best, pray for them, and hope that they all fully recover.”

Comments

TRENDING

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Of lingering shadow of Haren Pandya's murder during Modi's Gujarat days

Sunita Williams’ return to Earth has, ironically, reopened an old wound: the mysterious murder of her first cousin, the popular BJP leader Haren Pandya, in 2003. Initially a supporter of Narendra Modi, Haren turned against him, not sparing any opportunity to do things that would embarrass Modi. Social media and some online news portals, including The Wire , are abuzz with how Modi’s recent invitation to Sunita to visit India comes against the backdrop of how he, as Gujarat’s chief minister, didn’t care to offer any official protocol support during her 2007 visit to Gujarat.  

Area set aside in Ahmedabad for PM's affordable housing scheme 'has gone to big builders'

Following my article on affordable housing in Counterview, which quoted a top real estate consultant, I was informed that affordable housing—a scheme introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi—has deviated from its original intent. A former senior bureaucrat, whom I used to meet during my Sachivalaya days, told me that an entire area in Ahmedabad, designated for the scheme, has been used to construct costly houses instead. 

Just 5% Gujarat Dalit households 'recognise' social reformers who inspired Ambedkar

An interesting survey conducted across 22 districts and 32 villages in Gujarat sheds light on the representation of key social reformers in Dalit households. It suggests that while Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo was displayed in a majority of homes, images of Lord Buddha and the 19th-century reformist couple, Savitribai Phule and Jyotiba Phule, were not as commonly represented.