American, Canadian, Brazilian and Singaporean citizens in India terrorized, residence destroyed by Indian officials for refusal to pay bribes

New threats for destruction on April 17-19, 2012

KITCHENER, ON, April 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - American, Canadian, Brazilian and Singaporean citizens at the Kriyayoga Institute in Allahabad, India, have tragically had their residence unlawfully destroyed by police and corrupt local government administrators seeking bribes. A group of 150 armed police with a bulldozer stormed the ashram facility on April 10, 2012 at 2 p.m. The government officials that led the operation refused to present any legal documents authorizing the destruction. Additionally, the officials deliberately ignored a court injunction protecting the meditation centre's property (stay order issued by Civil Judge of the Senior Division of Allahabad, U.P., India, Smt. Shobha Satyam v. Shivaraj Singh, Case # 1164 - 2010). The Kriyayoga Institute had acquired the Allahabad court restraining order several months ago as a result of similar threats of destruction.

"Although residents of the Institute have had some support from administration, they have been targeted for the past 30 years -- more vigorously in the past 10 years -- by local mafia and corrupt administrators.  They are perceived as an easy source to intimidate for bribes, and also because of religious intolerance towards the Institute which teaches Gandhian non-violence using a non-sectarian approach," said Dr. Zena Bedessee, President of Yog Fellowship in Kitchener, Ontario.

In addition, the Institute's property is situated on prime real estate near the Sangam (confluence of Ganges and Yamuna Rivers) which hosts an annual mela of 30 million pilgrims every year. The January 2013 Kumbha mela is expected to draw more than 60 million people.  "The local powers involved are clearly motivated by a commercial bias - that if they cannot get bribes from the Institute, then it is better to force them out by destruction and intimidation because of the potential high value of the property," said Scott Lynch, Executive Director and Vice-President of Kriyayoga Inc Ohio.

The Indian officials leading the unlawful demolition ignored the property stay order obtained by the Kriyayoga Institute by simply refusing to accept it. After breaking through the gate, 150 police officers beat, pushed, and dragged away residents within and around the handicapped access residence while the people protested in protection of their home and personal belongings. Even on the day of destroying the building, officials were requesting bribes to make the problem go away.

Featured in the destruction and protest video:

Dr. Anil Kumar M.D., D.C.H. (Swami Shantanand), American citizen, had his finger broken and body bruised by police despite his peaceful protest of lying down in front of the bulldozer-demolisher which reflects the non-violent approach of Mahatma Gandhi.

Canadian citizen Erin Mossop is seen with her crying children, including her 2-year-old son who was forcibly ripped from her hands by police.

dFor a fuller description of events by Dr. Anil Kumar go to http://www.kriyayoga-yogisatyam.org/News/CloudOfCorruption.pdf.

Graphic video of the event and testimonies are available on: www.youtube.com/StarNewsReal.

Note to Editors: The emboldened terrorists' new threats for heightened destruction on April 17-19, 2012 make this story extremely urgent.

SOURCE Kriyayoga Institute

Video with caption: "Video: Demolition at Kriyayoga Institute (India Attacked by India)". Video available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6oRspnFhE4&context=C4066782ADvjVQa1PpcFPTZAEzguuqThOdCJzeiq7-4C8JI8QRreE=