TOMSK, Russia, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- A court in Siberia turned down a petition Wednesday to ban a translation of the Bhagavad Gita promoted by the Hare Krishna movement.
Prosecutors in Tomsk said the book "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" contributes to "social discord," RIA Novosti said. The book combines the translation with commentary by the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
The court was asked to add the work to a list of "extremist" works that includes "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler and books about Scientology and the Jehovah's Witnesses. The judges ruled the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most important Hindu religious texts is not extremist.
"We expected a fair decision -- we got it. It shows that there are still sanity and open-mindedness in Russia," Alexander Shakhov, a lawyer for the Hare Krishna movement, said.
The case had been closely watched in India. S.M. Krishnan, the Indian minister for external affairs, called the complaint against the book "patently absurd," the Press Trust of India said.
