The Only Hindu Temple in Moscow was razed to the ground to make way for construction of a shopping mall by Moscow City Authorities.

Mayor Yuri Luzhkov had promised an alternative site for construction of a new Vedic Center. Following protests and violence by the Orthodox Church who protested the building of 'Pagan Satanic Temples' (as they aall Hindu Temples), Yuri Luzhkov has cancelled the earlier granted land and permission to build the Temple.

As of today, there will be no Hindu temple in Moscow although the city has a Hindu population of more than 15,000 including Indians, Russians and other ethnic nationalities.

A make shift Temple dedicated to Lord Krishna housed in a temporary Tin structure serves as the only place of worship for 500 regular devotees who flock to have darshan every day.

India is host to 12 Russian Orthodox Churches and the Government of India pays our tax money to maintain 6 of them.

During the Vaypayee regime, Putin had promised to look into the matter favourable. The present Congress Government has all but washed its hands of this matter.

Hinduism is one of former Soviet Union's fastest growing religions thanks to pioneering work done by Gaudiya Vaishnava Organisation, the ISKCON. However, only four religions: Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Buddhism and Judaism are official recognised and all other religious orders and followers will have to register themselves to avail of their otherwise fundamental right to worship and maintain places of worship. In the past few years, Hindus have been victimised by voilent Skinhead fanatics and the average incidents of Indians attacked by such neo-nazist groups has touched an all time hight of 497 (one Indian targetting atleast once a day).

On November 12, about 500 Devotees of ISKCON and Indian Expatriate Community went on a Hunger Strike to protest against the cancellation of the Land Grant for the temple.

Read more at Kommersant. If you have a blog, kindly mirror this news so that the plight of Hindus in the Russian Federation be highlighted.

Krishna Followers Go on Hunger Strike against Expulsion

The conflict related to construction of Krishna Followers Temple gained momentum Saturday. Moscow authorities voiced intention to take out the allotment allocated for building the Vedic Culture Temple, Krishna followers responded by a hunger strike.
More than 500 people went on a long-term hunger strike Saturday, November 12, 2005, said Sergey Andreev, leader of the Moscow community of Krishna followers, in a move to preserve the allotment allocated in Moscow for the temple construction.
As a religious organization, Hare Krishna was officially acknowledged in Russia in 1988. Now the country has 106 registered communities of Krishna followers and over 300 parishes.
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov sealed the ruling on constructing cultural premises for Krishna followers in Moscow in January 2004. The document sanctioned construction of the Vedic Center on the area of 1.05 hectares at 39 Leningrad Ave. to replace the two-store building demolished in Khoroshevkoe Avenue. To oppose construction, the orthodox followers staged a protest rally and vowed “to lie under bulldozers at the constriction site, “as this premise will desecrate Moscow,” they said.
As a result, Luzhkov called off his ruling on October 7. “We think the authorities may proceed with decisive actions to expel Indian and Moscow Vaishnavs from habitable land, in which they have invested a lot,” Andreev said. “We are truly concerned. We may be on the street deprived of even a temporarily temple.”