Are ISKCON devotees CIA agents?

If not, why do people think like that?

Thank you Hare Krishna Question Are ISKCON devotees CIA agents If not Why do some people Consider Them to be so Answer No Not at all ISKCON devotees are not at all CIA agents In fact If we see A large part of ISKCON Membership is not even Americans And in the Early days of the Krishna Consciousness movement It had started in America And most of its pioneering members And leaders were from its Initial ranks, were from its Initial American members And when these devotees came to India Krishna Consciousness Movement started in 1966 In 1966 Srila Prabhupada, the founder was from India He lived in India throughout his life And then he went to America Because he felt that Indians were not so interested Although he tried to spread Krishna Bhakti Yoga in India also And then when he went to America And he brought the Americans back to India In 1968 He brought them And then he kept bringing them again and again And then people started building temples People started appreciating And temples started getting built over here And the devotees stayed over here Now because some of the Because most of the initial members Were Americans And because at that time There were hostility The relationship between India and America Was not so Enable That time the cold war was At its Frigid coldest And And Although India had Officially been A part of the non-alignment movement And it had not allied with either side Of the cold block But for practical purposes India was considered To be allied with Russia With USSR What was at that time Soviet Russia And Pakistan had allied With America And it was thought That at that time That America was actively Helping Pakistan And one of the ways it will help Pakistan Is by penetrating India By planting CIA agents in India So Soon after in that time itself The war which Eventually led to the formation of Bangladesh happened And so there was a lot of Political tension between India and Pakistan And because America was at that time Helping Pakistan at a political level Not a military level So Indians were quite suspicious of Americans So devotees who came to India It was thought that Some people thought that these might be CIA agents Because they thought these are Americans And they have come to India And if they take the garb of Sadhus then Indians will not be suspicious at all Indians have a very Lot of trust in Sadhus So by dressing as Sadhus CIA agents will be able to infiltrate anywhere And everywhere and maybe That’s how they have taken this garb Now actually this had Absolutely no basis in fact Because the initial devotees Initial people who became devotees In India, in America And who came to India as Leaders of the Bhakti movement They Were largely disillusioned with the American government They were disillusioned with What America considered to be the good life Living in material Prosperity and they were looking For spiritual growth And Bhakti Yoga, the chanting of the holy names Offered them an exciting And fulfilling Alternative spiritual lifestyle So for someone to become a government Agent that person has to be devoted To the government, dedicated to the government But the initial Members of ISKCON were not at all Were quite disillusioned with the American government So there was no question of them acting as CIA agents but At that time because of the Tension that was there between Political tension that was there between India and Pakistan and consequently India and America And further because The whole prospect Of devotees Of people from America Adopting The Bhakti culture And becoming Devotees was so Unprecedented, so unheard of That Many Indians just couldn’t make sense Of it And that’s why Some suspicious people, some self Interested people started Spreading the suspicion that These may be CIA agents and that notion Got spread And that’s how that notion came about But over time As the devotees Lived and practiced the life Of serious Bhaktas And how they had These American devotees, they had no interest In anything Material, they were interested simply In sharing Krishna Bhakti as much as possible Distributing Krishna’s books Chanting Krishna’s name Helping build Krishna’s temples So then even Indians started Realizing that far from these Being political spies or Political agents, these are Very devoted Very devoted Spiritualists and then They are very serious devotees And then they started respecting them and all the Suspicions went out and many Of these devotees have now become Prominent spiritual Leaders and even Indians Have actually taken initiation From many American Vaishnavas Who have become exalted gurus now So now practically no one Makes that suspicion Has that suspicion or makes that Accusation that This conduit is a CIA agent That is just a remnant that was there From a past When there was a suspicion at that time Which came because of The political tension And the sheer astonishment And incomprehensibility Of Americans becoming devotees So it is a baseless suspicion Which is now Entirely irrelevant