http://www.whyaretheydead.net/phpBB2/vi ... =4855#4855
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Vasudevanand is the successor of Shri Shantananda Saraswati. Shantananda was SES?s original ?guru? and for a time the Shankaracharya of the Northern Seat at Jyotirmath (or Badrinath), a major religious position. Since Shantananda?s death in 1997, Vasudevanand has engaged in a legal, verbal and physical battle with other claimants of this religious position, which carries great prestige and fund raising abilities. A summary of this rather nasty succession dispute can be reviewed at:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/position/ ... ascii.html .
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Far from being a reclusive holy man altruistically advising spiritual seekers, as SES would like to believe, Vasudevanand has a long history of very public political involvement with right wing ?Hindutva? fundamentalist groups such as BJP, RSS and VHP. He is in fact the most senior religious figure who regularly associates with them. These groups advocate dissolving the secular, multicultural modern India, and returning that country to a religious state governed by and for the Hindu majority, including reinstitution of Hindu religious law and the caste system, and suppression of minorities. A key rallying point for their efforts has been the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 followed by the relentless, polarising and even violent attempts of these influential Hindu groups to build a temple to the Hindu god Rama on this site.
For background on these points, see:
http://www.awaazsaw.org/ibf/ (Section 1 especially)
http://www.southasianmedia.net/Magazine ... ndutva.htm
http://www.abo.fi/comprel/temenos/temeno32/tamminen.htm
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=19557
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~dludden/Hindutva1.htm
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/08/20/st ... 611000.htm
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These fundamentalist groups have been accused of misleading fund raising in the UK and the US, for example see:
http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-wilson260703.htm
http://www.flonnet.com/fl1925/stories/2 ... 502700.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story ... 75,00.html
http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/in ... ts/hss.asp (regarding Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, Registered Charity No. 267309)
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To their most faithful adherents, SES represent Vasudevanand as their spiritual leader, though they do not admit this publicly. They collect and send funds to him through their own charity, the Jyotirnidhi Nyasa Trust, Registered Charity No. 1075831, whose details can be reviewed at http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/re ... no=1075831 .
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Herewith a partial web based chronology of Vasudevanand?s (VD) involvement in politics and his fight for the Shankaracharya?s Seat. Draw your own conclusions.
19921205: VD makes inflammatory speeches in Ayodhya, the evening before Muslim Babri mosque is destroyed, in company of right wing political groups such as RSS, VHP and BJP
http://www.sabrang.com/cc/archive/2001/jan01/docu.htm
19930125: VD (here Vasudevacharya) joins 3,000 VHP / BJP religious supporters in a meeting calling for the building of the Ram temple at Ayodhya and a return of India to a Hindu theocratic state.
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1 ... 4-01.shtml
19971003: VD, featured at a mammoth RSS rally, urges crowd to chant slogans along with him for the cause of Ayodhya [the Ram temple], Kashi and Mathura. He praised RSS leaders and called upon Swayam Sevaks [RSS agitators] ?to fight for upholding Dharma and the rights bestowed to the people by virtue of pursuing one of the oldest faiths in the world.?
http://www.ofbjp.org/news/1097/0008.html
19971207: VD (here Basudevananda) present at funeral of his master Shri Shantananda Saraswati, along with senior leaders of the VHP, but apparently no one from SES
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1 ... 3-22.shtml
19980328: VD followers implicated in physical assault on rival claimant to Shankaracharya seat at Badrinath
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1 ... 9-12.shtml
19980328: Web summary of riots and assaults by rival claimants and BJP / VHP members, VD followers implicated
http://courses.missouristate.edu/jel807f/riot.html
19980331: Religious leader criticises BJP / VHP leadership for role in riots, misusing religion and interfering in the Ram temple issue at Ayodhya
http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/aug/31shan.htm
20001015: Muslim paper?s explanation of VHP?s involvement in religious and Ram temple matters, including misuse of temple donations
http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15 ... /Art14.htm
200101: India News Digest explaining VD?s ties to VHP (Item #6, ?BJP, VHP ? made for each other?)
http://listserv.indnet.org/cgi/wa.cgi?A ... &S=&P=1486
20010104: VD (here Basudevanand) notes that the Ram temple issue will be discussed during the Kumbha Mela at a Dharma Sansad
http://us.rediff.com/news/2001/jan/04kumbh1.htm
20010122: VD endorses ?hardline Hindus? call for immediate construction of Ram temple in defiance of government arising from Dharma Sansad
http://www.islam-online.net/English/New ... le11.shtml
20010215: Opposing Shankaracharyas set up alternate organisation for Ram temple, call for resolution of issues with Muslim groups
http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/15022001/Art09.htm
20010405: VD files court case against Shankaracharya Swaroopananda, charging his followers with assault and death threats at the Mela (?Case lodged against Dwarka Shankaracharya?)
http://kasmirtimes.com/archive/0504/050401/india.htm
20010711: VD removed from ?cashiership? of religious group and from management of a temple due to his political involvement on behalf of VHP (?Sadhu akharas to be apolitical?)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010711/haryana.htm
20010820: VD hosts VHP meeting at his ashram to decide upon the date of Ram temple construction at Ayodhya
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 563173.cms
20011120: VD loses his case to overturn the High Court ruling of 22Feb99 against his right to proclaim himself Shankaracharya, based on a suit by Swami Swaroopananda
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 328053.cms
20020122: VD exhorts crowd for Ram temple at VHP political gathering
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 774248.cms
20020202: VD decries politicisation of Ram temple issue, wishes temple to be built (?Hindu religious leaders blast BJP?)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2002/20020202/nation.htm#3
20020316: VD (here Basudevanand) claims Prime Minister has deceived Hindus regarding Ayodhya, demands hurdles to construction be removed.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002 ... 811300.htm
20020930: VD criticises court ruling, declares court does not have jurisdiction, and exhorts crowd to be ?prepared for a struggle to liberate the Krishan Janamboomi and the Kashi temple also.?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 700629.cms
20021204: VD, VHP, RSS leaders meet to plan 10th anniversary of Ayodhya mosque destruction
http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/dec/04up.htm
20030216: VD presides over HVP meeting on Ram temple (?Dharam Sansad to take final decision on temple: Singhal?)
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/03feb16/news.htm
20030224: VD joins VHP gherao (?protest, encirclement?) of Indian Parliament to mark beginning of ?decisive battle? for construction of Ram temple
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030224/main1.htm http://www.kashmirlive.com/full_story.p ... t_id=18995
20030429: VD presides over VHP planning meeting on Ram temple, organisers threatening ?nationwide agitation? if demands not met
http://rediff.co.in/news/2003/apr/29ayo.htm
20030609: VD organises puja for Ram temple with VHP
http://hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2003/06/ ... 181200.htm
20030926: VD to attend VHP rally at Ayodhya to urge hand over of Ram temple land
http://www.hindu.com/2003/09/26/stories ... 081100.htm
20031015: VD to lead 45,000 devotees to rally in Ayodhya (?No written guarantee for peace: VHP?)
http://archives.zinester.com/76029/9309.html
20031015: VD speaks against restriction on devotees going to Ayodhya, VHP requests help in managing them
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thsc ... 5/&prd=th&
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2003/10/15/st ... 581100.htm
20031016: VD arrested leading 10,000 devotees from Allahabad to Ayodhya
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031016/main2.htm
20041010: VD addresses major RSS rally in Delhi, extolling tenets of Hindutva
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/module ... 48&page=23
20050209: VD and VHP leader speak at RSS meeting extolling Hindu unity (?Develop the feeling of unity among Hindus-Mohan Bhagwat?)
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/module ... 67&page=21
20050209: VD and Swaroopananda followers clash at Mela meeting over rights to Shankaracharya seat
http://www.hindunet.com/onps/showarticl ... =1&a=17246
20050216: VD locked out of Badrinath ashram; good summary of VD fights with Swaroopananda and Madhavashram over Shankaracharaya seat
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanheral ... 200541.asp
20050301: VD regains control over ashram, charges Swaroopananda with stealing items from temple
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanheral ... 005/n2.asp
http://www.rediff.com/news/2005/mar/29god.htm
20050406: Three way fight over Badrinath seat continues
http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/06/stories ... 270300.htm
20050407: Court stays arrest of Swaroopananda sought by VD
http://www.ipcs.org/Apr_05_indiaDomestic.pdf
20050410: Another summary of the fight over the Badrinath / Jyotispheeth seat
http://www.indianexpress.com/print.php?content_id=68075
20050626: VD featured at VHP meeting calling for Ram temple, limit on Muslim family size, establishment of Hindu state, etc.
http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/module ... =84&page=4
20050711: VD appointed to RSS / VHP committee for Ram temple in Ayodhya
http://203.200.89.68/pti_news.asp?id=152949
20050809: VD supports VHP, which aims to build temple with ?agitation? of the ?people who are more powerful than anybody else.
http://203.200.89.68/pti_news.asp?id=159291