02 Dec 2008
Bandra in crowded Mumbai becomes a flash point for locals as the Brahma Kumaris encroach upon public spaces to build mediation centers.
The BKs have gone as far as banning children from playing football and badminton. Paradoxically, badminton was a favorite exercise of their founder and primary medium, Sindhi millionaire Lekhraj Kirpalani.
Residents around Katrak Park are complaining against the Brahma Kumaris for converting the recreation ground into a meditation centre and banning the activities of their children. Spreading their influence into even publicly owned space, the BKWSU has now adopted 20 such gardens in the city turning but then turning them into Brahma Kumari meditation and recruitment centres on the basis a verbal consultation with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Local residents' representative, Shyama Kulkarni, reported that when the agreement was made, certain regulations were laid down. It is claimed all of these have been flouted by the Brahma Kumaris. Many complaints have been received from parents that their children were being forbidden from running and playing in the public park now taken over by the local BKWSU to promote their religion.
The 2528 square metre recreation ground has now has a meditation centre, four toilets, a washing area and two rooms constructed for the Brahmakumaris but, as per policy, only 10% construction is allowed on plots reserved for public recreation grounds.
The BKs have gone as far as banning children from playing football and badminton. Paradoxically, badminton was a favorite exercise of their founder and primary medium, Sindhi millionaire Lekhraj Kirpalani.
Residents around Katrak Park are complaining against the Brahma Kumaris for converting the recreation ground into a meditation centre and banning the activities of their children. Spreading their influence into even publicly owned space, the BKWSU has now adopted 20 such gardens in the city turning but then turning them into Brahma Kumari meditation and recruitment centres on the basis a verbal consultation with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
Local residents' representative, Shyama Kulkarni, reported that when the agreement was made, certain regulations were laid down. It is claimed all of these have been flouted by the Brahma Kumaris. Many complaints have been received from parents that their children were being forbidden from running and playing in the public park now taken over by the local BKWSU to promote their religion.
The 2528 square metre recreation ground has now has a meditation centre, four toilets, a washing area and two rooms constructed for the Brahmakumaris but, as per policy, only 10% construction is allowed on plots reserved for public recreation grounds.