Pulling down of Krishna houses jeopardizes Kazakhstan image - legal expert

Almaty. June 22. Kazakhstan Today - The authorities of Karasay region of Almaty oblast destroying houses and structures of the Society for Krishna Consciousness jeopardizes the image of Kazakhstan. The Director of Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights Evgeniy Zhovtis said on Thursday at the press conference in Almaty.

"The rights of religious minority is the most sensitive area and Kazakhstan throughout a year has been undermining everything created propagandizing interreligious tolerance," the legal expert added.

E. Zhovtis does not agree with the statement of the representatives of the Committee for Religion Affairs that the conflict has no "religious component." "There is clear division - only Krishna houses are being destroyed. Nobody goes and destroys house of other people that have precisely the same documents," he explained.

The legal experts and the community members are concerned that in the near future the authorities of the region will pull down the temple of Krishna. "Now the situation is really at a deadlocked, none wants to resolve it," E. Zhovtis concluded.

As it was informed earlier, the conflict around Krishna community has been lasting since 2004. In November 2006, local authorities pulled down 14 houses of the community, on June 15, 2007 - 12 more houses.

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