Visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor by Canon Guy Wilkinson
Canon Guy Wilkinson, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Secretary for inter Faith relations, visited the Temple on 19th April following correspondence with the Archbishop, Dr Rowan Williams about the very distressing events of 13th December. Canon Wilkinson was shown around the farm and dairy and was able to see the bulls at work ploughing the vegetable field and the calves and cows in their stabling. He said: ‘ I am very impressed by the way in which the Hindu understanding of the value of the whole of creation is lived out practically in the work, service and worship of the community here. This, together with the warmth of affection and respect given to the individual cows and bulls at the farm, poses challenges to industrial - economic methods of farming”
Later, Gauri Das and Ramesh Kallidai explained to Canon Wilkinson the sequence of events that had taken place on 11th, 12th and 13th December and made clear their profound distress and concern at the killing of Gangotri by RSPCA personnel and the manner in which it had been brought about, which they consider to have been illegitimate. Gauri das spoke about taking part with many other Hindu religious leaders in the scattering of Gangotri’s ashes in the Ganges. He also described to Canon Wilkinson the ways in which the wider Hindu community was in discussion with Members of Parliament, The Minister of State at DEFRA and many other organisations and indivdiuals. He explained their hopes for a code of practice to avoid any repetition and for special provision to protect animals at Hindu holy sites.
Canon Wilkinson said that he would be willing to assist in the discussions on these measures and would inform the Archbishop fully about the visit and the issues and concerns that had been raised. He thanked Gauri Das and all at the Temple for their warm hospitality and courteousness.
On conclusion of the visit Ramesh Kallidai commented that “We were delighted that Canon Guy Wilkinson visited the temple at the request of the Archbishop to assess the situation regarding Gangotri. The support and understanding from the Archbishop has been most encouraging to our community. We hope DEFRA will reciprocate to our concerns about the future safety of animals cared by Hindu temples”
