The history of International society for Krsna consciousness in Soviet Union can be divided into two periods — the period of underground activity and persecution (1971–1988) and the period of rapid development (1988–1991), while the first period includes several stages: 1971–1980 — Prabhupada's visit to the USSR and the appearance of the first Soviet Vaisnavas; 1980–1982 — the stage of the beginning of preaching and spreading the movement of Krishna consciousness in the USSR; 1980–1988 — the stage of repressions and active preaching in conditions of persecution.
Keywords: USSR, KGB, CPSU, ISKCON, RSFSR, CIA.
Beginning
In June 1971, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acarya of ISKCON (1896–1977) visits Moscow for a five-day visit. During this visit, he meets with doctor Grigory Kotovsky (1923–2001) and discusses with him the sacred writings of Ancient India. There was also a meeting with Anatoly Pinyaev (1948–2013), who later (in 1973, by correspondence) has got from Srila Prabhupada an initiation into the tradition of Vaisnavism and a spiritual name — Ananta Shanti das. During the 1970s, he mastered the philosophy and spiritual practice of Krishna consciousness and then manifested himself as a preacher [3].
In the meantime, at the suggestion of the socialist member states of the Warsaw Pact in 1973, a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe was convened. It took place in Helsinki (Finland) on July 30 — August 1, 1975. The heads of thirty-five states, including the USSR, signed the Helsinki Accords, which enshrined a number of interstate agreements, in particular, the participating states pledged to «respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief, for everyone, without distinction of race, gender, language and religion». Following this, in 1977, a new version of the Constitution of the USSR was adopted, in Article 52 of which it was stated that the citizens of the USSR are guaranteed «freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess any religion or not to profess any, to worship or conduct atheistic propaganda. Incitement of enmity and hatred in connection with religious beliefs is prohibited». It should be noted that in comparison with the similar article of the Constitution of 1936 (Joseph Stalin’s times), this article was supplemented by a statement that agreed with the text of the Helsinki Accords about the inadmissibility of enmity and hatred on religious grounds. However, even in this formulation, the article still did not recognize the right of the citizens of the atheistic Soviet state to preach religious preaching and therefore does not recognize their right to freedom of conscience in its entirety.
Repression
Back in 1952, the State Security Committee of the USSR (KGB of the USSR) was created, the activities of which were guided by the Regulations of 1959. According to this Regulations, the KGB of the USSR was supposed to «keep a vigilant eye on the secret intrigues of the enemies of the Soviet country, expose their plans, and stop the criminal activities of imperialist intelligence services against the Soviet state». All this activity, according to the same Regulations, was carried out under the direct guidance and control of the Central Committee of the CPSU. By a resolution of July 17, 1967, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU formed the Fifth Directorate in the KGB of the USSR, responsible for counterintelligence work to combat ideological sabotage by foreign capitalist states. As part of the Fifth Directorate there was a Fourth Department, which was engaged in work in the line of religious organizations [5].
Until the end of the 1970s, the KGB of the USSR did not evaluate the activities of the followers of the Krishna Consciousness Movement as a threat to the socialist system due to their small number. The period of 1980–1981 became a turning point. In 1980, the devotees began to actively preach among student youth and intellectuals. In the same year in his memorandum addressed to the Central Committee of the CPSU, Yuri Andropov, the chairman of the KGB, assesses their activities as follows: «The International Society for Krishna Consciousness» seeks, by denying the communist ideology and the socialist state, by fighting them, to lead its adherents away from participation in socio-political and labor activities towards mysticism. At present, the followers of this organization have appeared in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, as well as in Moscow, Leningrad and some other cities in the form of small groups of coreligionists... Exploiting the interest of young people and a certain part of the intelligentsia in the ancient Eastern religion and philosophy, fanatical followers of this movement are trying to convert them to their faith. To realize these plans, they seek to influence a wide audience by showing films brought from abroad, slides, reading lectures, organizing these events in premises owned by public organizations, obtained by fraudulent means. Such facts were noted in Moscow, Kyiv, Vilnius, Riga. Up to 100 people took part in gatherings of this kind.».. [8]. According to the memoirs of the first Soviet Hare Krishnas, preaching programs in Moscow were also held in apartments, in the dormitory of the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University; once a yoga program was held at Moscow State University itself.
In 1981, the KGB turned to active repressive actions against the Vaishnavas. A kind of signal and justification for these actions was the article of the First Deputy Chairman of the KGB of the USSR Semyon Tsvigun «On the intrigues of imperialist intelligence», published in the 14th issue of the «Сommunist» magazine for 1981. In his article, the author, with reference to the report of the XXVI Congress of the Central Committee of the CPSU, announced an increase in the activity of «propaganda means of the class enemy» and noted that attempts were being made to “create in our country groups of a religious-mystical persuasion that abound in the West («The Church of the Prophet», «White Brotherhood», «International Society for Krishna Consciousness» etc.)» [6]. Following the publication, in September 1981, Srila Prabhupada's disciples and US citizens Harikesha Swami and Kirtiraj Das were detained in Riga and expelled from the country. They were banned from entering the Soviet Union.
According to a study by S. I. Ivanenko, at first the KGB officers tried to influence the followers of Krishna consciousness by methods of persuasion. From the end of autumn 1981 until the spring of 1982, KGB and police officers began to break into private apartments where secretly organized meetings of Hare Krishnas were held. They intimidated some, collected dirt on others, those who were more stubborn . Invitations for interrogations to the KGB began [2].
November 12, 1982, after the death of Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982), Yuri Andropov (1914–1984) became the official leader of the Soviet Union. In 1967–1982 Andropov was a chairman of the KGB of the USSR. During his reign, repression against any dissent increased significantly. As a result, on September 6, 1982, the Moscow Helsinki Group, a public group for promoting the implementation of the Helsinki Accords in the USSR, was forced to announce the termination of its activities. On November 17, 1983, Yuri Shikhanovich (1933–2011) was arrested, resulting in the cessation of publication of the Chronicle of Current Events, an uncensored human rights newsletter of which he was editor [10].
In 1982, in the Fifth Directorate of the KGB, a special group 'Poisk' (Search) was created to counter the involvement of Soviet citizens in religious organizations created by foreign intelligence services on the territory of the USSR to undermine the socialist system. In practice, the main efforts of the 'Poisk' group were focused on identifying members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness and organizing show trials against them. In the USSR, demonstration trials of Hare Krishnas were organized — three trials in Moscow, two trials each in Krasnodar and Sukhumi, and one each in Leningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Yerevan (Armenia) and Kaunas (Lithuania) — a total of eleven trials. Basically, Hare Krishnas were charged with Article 227 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (the creation of a group whose activities, carried out under the pretext of preaching religious beliefs, associated with causing harm to the health of citizens; the maximum punishment was an imprisonment for a term of five years). Some fifty followers of the Krishna Consciousness Movement were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. An invaluable source of information about this period in the history of Soviet ISKCON is published in Munich in 1978–1991 by human rights activist Kronid Lyubarsky (1934–1996) in his Bulletin 'USSR News Brief' [7].
Perestroika
On March 11, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) became the leader of the Soviet state. At the XXVII Congress of the CPSU (February 1986), Gorbachev read out a political report in which he noted that at this stage of the USSR development it is necessary «to find ways of closer and more productive cooperation with governments, parties, public organizations and movements that are really concerned about the fate of the peace on Earth, with all peoples for the sake of creating a comprehensive system of international security». For this, according to the speaker, in international politics it is necessary to be guided by a number of principles, in particular, in the humanitarian field, it is necessary to eradicate any «national or religious exclusivity, as well as discrimination against people on this basis». On February 4 of the same 1986, giving an interview to the French newspaper L'Humanité, Gorbachev, in response to a question about the fate of political prisoners in the USSR, said: «We don't have them. As there is no persecution of citizens for their beliefs. We are not judged for our beliefs. But every state must protect itself from those who encroach on it, call for its undermining or destruction, who, finally, spy for foreign intelligence services. These actions, according to our laws, are qualified as state crimes. Recently, as I was informed, in the USSR a little more than 200 people are serving sentences for all types of such crimes» [1]. One of the Soviet political prisoners, academician Andrey Sakharov responded to this interview. In his letter to Gorbachev, he argued that many political prisoners are innocent. The academician asked to consider this issue at the highest state level: «The decision to release prisoners of conscience would have met with the support of a significant part of the Soviet intelligentsia… would greatly contribute to the authority of our state at the current stage of its development, would facilitate international contacts at all levels... would have an essential humanistic, moral, political and, I dare to say, historical meaning)!» [9].
At first, Gorbachev turned to the prosecutor's office with a demand to investigate each case indicated in Sakharov's letter. Also on September 26, 1986, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to release those of them who renounced hostile activities towards the USSR. Twenty-one people were released. In 1987, there was a massive release of political prisoners, and only in early 1988 Soviet sitizens imprisoned for their beliefs including all previously convicted Hare Krsnas were released from prisons and psychiatric hospitals.Later they were rehabilitated «due to the absence of a crime event». It is how the 'Poisk' (Search) group failed, not finding ISKCON's connection with the secret services of the imperialist states. ISKCON is a religious organization, not a branch of the CIA, and devotees in the USSR were looking for the meaning of life, for genuine religion and philosophy, without pursuing any political goals.
Conclusion
The most important document that officially formulated the state policy of the USSR in relation to religious associations was the decree «On the separation of church from state and school from church», adopted on January 20, 1918. Two provisions of the Decree severely infringed on religious organizations. Article 12 forbade them from owning property and deprived them of the rights of a legal entity, and Article 13 declared all the property of religious societies «public property», providing, however, for the transfer to them for free use of items intended for liturgical purposes «by special decrees of local or central authorities». This decree lost its legal force only with the entry into force on October 25, 1990 of the Law of the RSFSR «On Freedom of Religion». According to Article 3 of this Law, freedom of religion in the RSFSR now included «the right of every citizen to freely choose, have and spread religious and atheistic beliefs (highlighted by us — M.M.) , profess any religion or not profess any and act in accordance with their convictions, subject to the laws of the state». Thus, Soviet legislation secured for the citizens of the USSR the freedom of conscience in its entirety.
On May 20, 1988, the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR registered the first Moscow Society for Krishna Consciousness in the USSR. The followers of the Krishna Consciousness Movement had previously unsuccessfully tried to register the religious organization in 1981, 1985 and 1987, but in all these cases they were refused; moreover, the attempt of 1981 became one of the immediate reasons to start the repressions against them.
Vaisnavas withstood persecution for their faith in the USSR with honour. This was facilitated by the peculiarities of their dogma and ethics. Reliance on the ancient Vedic tradition, combined with detailed religious and philosophical principles and refined theological argumentation, attracted into the ranks of the Krishna consciousness movement people who think, gravitate towards spirituality and selflessness, who have an acute need for a consistent worldview, ready to defend their convictions, go against the materialistic ideology prevailing in the USSR.
References:
- Mikhail Gorbachev. Answers to the questions of the «L'Humanite» newspaper, February 4, 1986 — Moscow: Politizdat, 1986. — 31 p.
- Ivanenko, Sergei Igorevich (1953-). The tree is known by its fruits [Text]: on the 25th anniversary of the registration of the Society for Krishna Consciousness in Russia / S. I. Ivanenko; Research Center for the Study of Hindu org. at the Assoc. Indians in Russia. — Moscow; St. Petersburg: Alfa Neva, 2014. — 464 p.: ill., portrait; 21 cm; ISBN 978–5-8205–0237–8
- Piskarev, Vladimir Alexandrovich (1981-). Krishna consciousness movement in the USSR. Essays on the history of 1971–1989 [Text] / Vladimir Piskarev. — Moscow: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 2017. — 1006 p., [8] p. illustration, portrait, fax, color ill., portrait; 22 cm; ISBN 978–5-906941–00–8: 3000 copies
- Stetskevich, Mikhail Stanislavovich. Religious tolerance and intolerance in the history of European culture [Text]: [monograph] / M. S. Stetskevich; St. Petersburg State. un-t. — St. Petersburg: Philological faculty.: Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, 2013. — 429 p.; 22 cm; ISBN 978–5-8465–0921–4.
- Tsvigun, Semyon Kuzmich. Secret front [Text]: On the subversive activities of imperialism against the USSR and the vigilance of owls. of people. — [Moscow]: [Political Publishing House], [1973]. — 399 p., 4 sheets. ill.; 17 cm
- Tsvigun, Semyon Kuzmich. On the intrigues of imperialist intelligence. Kommunist, N 14 1981: N 14 1981 / Tsvigun S. // Kommunist — 1981 — Kommunist N 14 1981.
- Bulletin 'USSR News Brief' (News from the USSR) — https://kronid.wordpress.com and https://vesti-iz-sssr.com/
- From the note of the KGB chairman Yuri Andropov to the Central Committee of the CPSU, 1980 / Memorable messages. — Magazine «Kommersant Power» No. 31 dated 10.08.2009. — https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1218354
- Letter from Academician A. D. Sakharov to the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev dated February 19, 1986 — https://www.sakharov-archive.ru/sakharov/works/pismo-generalnomu-sekretarju-ck-kpss-chlenu-prezidium-verhovnogo-soveta-sssr-m-s-gorbachevu/
- The Chronicle of Current Events (USSR, 1968–1983). Archive (Russian language): http://hts.memo.ru
