Russia extricated itself from an embarrassing spat with India on Wednesday when a provincial appeals court definitively rejected an attempt to ban a version of the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy book.

An almost year-long legal dispute had been raised at the highest level between the two nations, traditional friends and partners. The case caused an uproar in the Indian parliament and was raised when Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, visited Moscow in December.

A group of Russian scholars, in a written appeal to the Kremlin, said the case “discredits Russia’s cultural and democratic credentials in the eyes of the civilized world and is driving a wedge in Russian-Indian relations.”

The controversy stemmed from attempts by prosecutors in the Siberian city of Tomsk to ban a version of the holy book that Tomsk University experts claimed “incites religious hatred, humiliates the dignity of people on the basis of sex, race, nationality, language, origin and attitude toward religion.”

Members of the Hare Krishna movement, whose founder Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada wrote the contentious version, rushed to its defense, claiming Russia’s 50,000 Hindus were being singled out for persecution by the state and the powerful Christian Orthodox church.

Sadhu Priya Das and the ISKCON lawyers

In the Tomsk case, the local district court in December ruled against the prosecution, prompting prosecutors to appeal. Hare Krishna devotees burst into applause at Wednesday’s hearing when the higher court threw out the case. The Indian press had reported anxiety and frustration among Russian Hindus ahead of the ruling.

“We are grateful to the Russian judicial system,” Sadhu Priya Das, head of the Russian branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, was quoted as saying.

Read more: http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/hindu-victory-in-russia-could-heal-indian-rift/

Addendum by ISKCON News:

Bhakti Vijnana Goswami, who was present at the trial commented: “The judges were well prepared and in their questions pointed out the weaknesses of the prosecutor’s appeal. The whole hearing took only one hour and it was clear that it will be in ISKCON`s favour. After just a few minutes the positive verdict upholding the decision of the lower court was announced. After the court, the media people gathered for the press conference, and the mood was very joyful. It was af if the media was selebrating the victory with ISKCON.”

Sadhu Priya Das is being interviewed after the court`s decision