Acarya Ramtanuk

It is much sadness that we share with you the passing away of respected family acarya Ramtanukji which took place 5am IST on 05 Jan 2012 at his home in Begu Sarai (Bihar). He was 75 and he died from prostate cancer.

He was one of the founding members of AMPS. Indeed Sri Ramtanuk ji was an elder statesman of the Marga and a respected brother to all.

He was a lawyer who faithfully defended Baba in the courts and verily for his entire professional life he represented the organization in countless legal battles. He was ever ready to serve as legal counsel for our AMPS. On numerous occasions Baba called upon Ramtanuk ji for this work.

Ramtanukji attended the first-ever Prout conference, 17 - 22 Oct 1959, and was one of six people taking notes which eventually led to the publication of Baba's book, A Discussion. That book stands as one of the very early elaborations of Prout philosophy, and has since been republished as Discourses on Prout and included in the Prout in a Nutshell series.

Here is a story that Ramtanukji told:
Namaskar,
“As a lawyer, I was quite involved in Baba’s court case during the Emergency period in India when He was unjustly incarcerated. In that case the prosecuting attorney – i.e the CBI lawyer representing Mrs Gandhi’s regime – was Mahadeva Babu. When the case opened and witnesses were being called, then Mahadeva Babu used to guide his witnesses while they were on the witness stand itself, right in front of the judge.
“As the designated AM lawyer, I vehemently made objection to this tactic, as it was against the ethic. After one such objection, Mahadeva told the judge, 'Ramtanuk is a margii – not a lawyer – that is why he is objecting. He has special interest in Ananda Marga.'
“Hearing this I became totally disturbed. At the first opportunity, I went to see Baba to inform Him of what was going on. During the Emergency I used to get approval from the court to go and see Baba in my capacity as a lawyer.
“I recounted to Baba all that was going on in the courtroom and in particular told Him of this the problem with attorney Mahadeva. Mentally I was thinking that Baba will give His solution.”
“Baba replied, 'The CBI agents are externally very polite but internally they focus on their agenda. You should also be externally polite but internally dedicated to your cause. That is the way to deal with these people.'
“Baba furthermore told, 'When any problem arises then remember your mantra and the proper answer will come.'
“I understood Baba’s message and guidance. Thereafter, externally I maintained good relations with CBI personnel, and internally kept strict vigilance to our AM discipline.
“One day when the court was in session, the CBI lawyer, Mahadeva Babu, was again giving explicit hints to his witnesses while they were on the stand. Seeing this I felt completely disturbed and started repeating my mantra as per Baba’s guideline. Then one idea came to mind.”
“I objected and said, 'Your Honour, Mahadeva Babu was an Ananda Margii but he left and now he is a CBI man. That is why he has special interest in this case and that is why he is coaxing his witnesses in front of you.'
“The judge smiled and nodded in affirmation. The judge replied, 'A new convert to Islam usually eats more onions to prove himself worthy.'
“Hearing this everyone in the courthouse started laughing. They understood that Mahadeva was formerly in Ananda Marga and now as a new convert to the CBI, he had to prove his loyalty. So he was doing extra, going beyond, and coaxing his witnesses in the court itself to show his allegiance to the government. Everyone clearly understood the joke that the judge was making. Mahadeva Babu kept quiet and drowned in shame.
“From the moment forward, the problem was permanently solved and Mahadava never hinted or coaxed his witnesses again while they were on the stand and he never lodged a complaint against me, Ramtanuk, for being a margii.”