Tag: Save the Ganga

Seers Working for the Ganga Accuse Government of ‘Insulting Hindu Saints’

“The seers have put their lives on the line for the Ganga and a government which claims to treat the river as holy is not treating them with any insensitivity. In fact there is a kind of hostility.”

New Delhi: An organisation of saints, working for the better health of the Ganga, has accused the government of ignoring their demands and ‘insulting Hindu saints’. This is the Haridwar-based Matri Sadan, whose patron G.D. Agarwal, a scientist, saint and Ganga activist, had died in October 2018 after fasting since June that year. His demands – chiefly, a clean and free-flowing Ganga – had not been met by the government

Now, the Matri Sadan has said that the government’s response to its seers who are presently fasting has been as indifferent. “The seers have put their lives on the line for the Ganga and a government which claims to treat the river as holy is not treating them with any insensitivity. In fact there is a kind of hostility,” said Swami Shivanand Saraswati, Agarwal’s spiritual guru and the founder president of Matri Sadan.

Aatmabodhanand and Padmavati. Photo: Matri Sadan

As of now, 23-year-old Padmavati and 27-year-old Aatmabodhanand are fasting for the Ganga. Padmavati began her fast in December 2019 while Aatmabodhanand began his in late January after Padmavati was picked up by the police and taken to Doon hospital in Dehradun and force-fed, she has alleged. She also accused the hospital administration of ‘defaming’ her by claiming that she was pregnant and must break her fast for that reason.

Subsequently, she wrote a letter to the prime minister seeking his permission to “peacefully sacrifice her life for the Ganga”.

“What could be worse mental harassment for a woman that she is told that she is pregnant when she is not? On behalf of the administration, this is an attempt to discredit the ashram so that somehow it can be destroyed,” said Saraswati.

Now both Padmavati and Aatmabodhanand have been admitted to the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) by the government. The Matri Sadan has said that it is concerned for the safety of its seers.

“As long as our saints are on hunger strike in the ashram, they are perfectly fine and as soon as the police forcefully take them to a hospital, their condition starts deteriorating and eventually dies in suspicious condition,” Saraswati said, referring to the death of Agarwal which occurred when he was in AIIMS Rishikesh where he was taken against his wishes by the Uttarakhand government.

Also read: If Modi Really Loves Sanyas, Why Won’t He Talk to Sanyasis About the Ganga?

Social activist Medha Patkar, who was also present at the press conference organised by Matri Sadan, said, “It is so strange that during the rule of a Hindutva government, sadhus are putting their lives on the issue of conservation of Ganga and not only the government but also society is sensitive not enough to show any sympathy with them.”

Medha Patkar and others at the press conference. Photo: Dheeraj Mishra

Over the last two decades, several seers of the Matri Sadan have protested and fasted, demanding that the government take proactive steps to revive the river considered holy in Hindu mythology.

Their key demands include a ban on illegal sand mining around the Ganga, cancellation of proposed hydroelectric projects on the Ganga and maintenance of a free-flowing river. Successive governments have been reluctant to give in to these demands.

Now the Matri Sadan has once again reiterated these demands and also demanded that the Central government meet and speak with the fasting seers.

PMO Sat on G.D. Agarwal’s Letters for Two Months, Chose Not to Respond: RTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to tweet his condolences after Agarwal’s death but the PMO chose to pass the buck with Agarwal’s complaints when he was alive.

New Delhi: G.D. Agarwal, who died on October 11 after a 112 day fast to ‘save the Ganga’, had written three letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He urged that ‘Ganga putra’ Modi act to stall hydroelectric projects along the river to ensure it was restored to its free-flowing status.

According to information received through a Right to Information (RTI) application, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) chose not to respond to Agarwal after even two months as the engineer-turned-activist remained on a fast unto death.

Nonetheless, Modi had been quick to offer condolences on Twitter after Agarwal’s passing – within hours, in fact. “Saddened by the demise of Shri GD Agarwal Ji. His passion towards learning, education, saving the environment, particularly Ganga cleaning will always be remembered. My condolences.”

In its RTI response to Ujjawal Krishnam, an activist with the NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace, the PMO acknowledged it received two of Agarwal’s letters addressed to the PM dated June 13 and June 23.

Also read: G.D. Agarwal’s Third and Final Letter to PM Modi on Saving the Ganga

On August 20, the PMO forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR) and closed the complaint. The following note was attached with the letter: “A letter/gist of oral representation dated 23/6/2018 received in this office from Shri Swami Gyanswarup Sanand is forwarded herewith for action as appropriate. Reply may be sent to petitioner and a copy of the same may be uploaded on the portal.” (The name in the letter was an alias of Agarwal.)

According to Swami Shivanand Saraswati, Agarwal’s spiritual guru and the founder president of Matri Sadan, the ashram that was Agarwal’s home, no reply has been received from the MoWR so far.

‘Needed PM to respond’ 

In Agarwal’s letter dated June 13, he addressed Modi as ‘his younger brother’ and accused him of not acting or responding to any of his previous letters. He had sent his first letter in February. Agarwal also said that the Modi government was responsible for causing ‘harm’ to the Ganga.

He had demanded that a draft 2012 Bill that he had helped create for the Ganga’s conservation be enacted. He also asked that all proposed hydroelectric projects in the upper streams of the river be suspended. Third, he wanted all tree cutting and mining along the Ganga to be stopped as well.

“The letters were very clearly addressed to the Prime Minister,” Saraswati told The Wire. “They demanded that he take action, instead he just washed his hands off it and left Swamiji to die.”

Further, according to Saraswati, Gadkari had spoken to Agarwal over the phone in July after Uma Bharti, the Union minister for drinking water and sanitation, had paid him a visit. “Gadkari was very rude to Swamiji. He did not want to listen to what he had to say,” Saraswati said.

‘No authority to act’

Despite the PMO’s letter asking the ministry to “take action as appropriate”, the MoWR had said it couldn’t because it didn’t have the power. This emerged in a meeting that had been arranged in September with Agarwal’s representatives and other NGOs working to protect the Ganga.

The Wire spoke to three people who were present at the meeting. All confirmed that Gadkari had said that he did not have the power to act vis-à-vis fulfilling Agarwal’s chief demand: stalling the hydroelectric projects along the Ganga.

Also read: Narendra Modi Could Have Learnt so Much From G.D. Agarwal. But It’s Too Late Now.

“The minister of water resources informed us that he doesn’t have authority to  decide upon the cancellation of under-construction hydropower projects,” said Mallika Bhanot of Ganga Ahvaan, an Uttarakhand-based forum working on conserving the river.

Paritosh Tyagi, ex-chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board and co-drafter of the 2012 Bill, was also present at the meeting. “The minister said that he could only act on certain things and does not have the power to act on some demands like stopping the projects,” he told The Wire.

According to Bharat Jhunjhunwala, former professor of economics at IIT Bangalore, Gadkari had said that he could simply “try and redesign” the projects to minimise damage to the river. “And he said that he can’t do anything to stop the power projects,” Jhunjhunwala said. “But the ministry has done nothing on even redesigning the projects.”

Gadkari had also apparently remained non-committal on the two other demands that Agarwal had raised – end mining in the Ganga basin, and enact the 2012 Bill.

According to Tyagi, “He did say that they will stop sand mining in the Haridwar kumbh area. Even that notification has not been issued till today.”