Union ministers meet ailing Ganga activist
Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand has been hospitalised at AIIMS after fasting for Ganga clean up
| New Delhi | March 20 2012
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In a show of solidarity with the cause of Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand to make the river Ganga clean, members of the Sabal Bharat group did a sit-in protest on Tuesday at the private ward gate of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Chairman of the organisation, Ved Prakash Vaidik claimed that Ganga is the “mother of various civilisations.” “It is associated with all the major religious beliefs and festivities in the country. But it has become a victim of the dirty politics in the country,” he added. "Kumbh is scheduled for next year. And a religious man cannot take a dip in the Ganga because it has become very polluted. The condition of the river is such because of the dirty politics,” Vaidik reiterated.
Jagdish Chandra Sharma, former secretary, ministry of external affairs said that nearly 45 crore population depends upon water of river Ganga. But the degree of pollution makes it unusable. "Bio-diversity of the areas along the river has been disturbed, the source stream is thinning, and the river is heavily burdened with sewage. The Congress government in the 90s started a big project which failed, and the government of the same party is inactive today," he said.
A representative from World Islamic Cultural Centre said that the purity of the river has been depicted in various Islamic literature where it has been mentioned that Akbar used to drink water of river Ganga only. He also said that the water from river Ganga was exported to Daulatabad for Mohammad bin Tughalq. "The river is not only related to one religion, it is related to the whole of mankind. People across the religious domains should come out and show solidarity with Swamiji for his cause," he said.
Meanwhile, union cabinet minister Sriprakash Jaiswal and parliamentary affairs minister V Narayanswamy met Swami Sanand and his guru Swami Swaroopanand at AIIMS. Jaiswal said that he had come with the directions of prime minister to talk to hospitalised Swami and that they are going back with his reply. Jaiswal refrained from divulging any further details.
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