Regarding your article, ”Ex-Hare Krishna leader gets 30 years for fraud,” June 21:
Keith Ham, known as Bhaktipada, is not simply an ”ex-leader” of the Hare Krishna Movement, but was in fact expelled from our religious
institution-the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)-on March 16, 1987, four years prior to his conviction. He was also forbidden to participate in any ISKCON functions.
Official church records document that he was expelled in large part because our own investigations determined that ”numerous illegal acts (had)
occurred within his jurisdiction.” Due to the seriousness of his legal, moral and religious deviations form our teachings, all of Mr. Bhaktipada`s followers were similarly expelled in February 1988.
It is also a matter of public record that ISKCON leaders assisted the government fully in its investigations of Mr. Bhaktipada.
To avoid fanning the fires of prejudice, fear and mistrust against our sometimes misunderstood minority religion, please set the record straight. From Judas to Jim Bakker, every religious organization has had its rotten apples. We threw this one out of the basket four years ago.
