Bhaktivaibhava Swami

ISKCON Toronto announced on 29 April 2010 that Bhaktivaibhava Swami would debut the film there that Sunday, describing it as made with the producers of his earlier documentary Mother Ganga and “inspired by the story of H.H. Lokanath Swami”. The film’s credits, as published with the full film by ISKCON News in April 2020, read “Producer: Gunar Raimann (Bhaktivaibhava Swami)” and “(c) 2009 Veda Vision studio, ISKCON Czech Republic”, and describe Lokanath Swami as a “proud resident of the remote Indian village Arawade”. His GBC biography lists Lost Village among his documentaries.

A GBC committee had handled the complaint against Lokanath Swami in 1993. The GBC confirmed Bhaktivaibhava Swami as a full GBC member in 1997. That year Bir Krishna Goswami emailed the GBC (“Dear GBC members, It is my duty to inform you of the actions of a special GBC subcommittee that dealt with a confidential investigation of Lokanatha Maharaja”; Appendix H of the GBC case panel’s appendices, pp. 46–48). Whether he read that email, and what he knew of the case when making the film, is not shown. The film is about rural depopulation and does not mention the case.

No public statement by him about the film in connection with the case has been found.

April 2000. Writing to GBC members, he said he had wanted to withdraw his pledge of $1,000 to the Child Protection Office and explained: “I also have strong sentiments for the senior devotees in our movements, especially H.H. Bhaktividya Purna Maharaja who helped me and others in so many ways. I still consider the agreement between the CPO and BVP Maharaja to be a punishment on the latter.” His objection, he wrote, was “not at all related to the CPO’s procedural dealings with BVPS” but to the fact that he was being removed from the gurukula in Mayapur (“life-long as I was told”) and forbidden to lecture in any ISKCON centre.

Replying to an email which said that teachers had passed semen on food and forced boys to eat it “under his authority as director of the school”, he wrote: “Why is only he held reponsible? Why not the local GBC’s too. They are as responible for such an important project as he is. I want to see some balance in light of his outstanding service he has rendered over the many years. He certainly is responsible for those horrible crimes but what about the many good things he has done.”

In the same emails he wrote of his “strong emotional feelings about the torture that has been done to our children”, said he would “certainly try” to give his pledge, and wrote that he agreed with the need to protect children. No later public statement by him on the matter has been found.