In Father’s footsteps

A scene from a play held on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti at Sherwood Public School in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photo: Anil P Rawat

Greetings from Guv, CM
Dehradun: Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand, has greeted people on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, which will be celebrated on October 2. In her message, she said Gandhiji’s life was dedicated not merely to attaining freedom from foreign rule, but also to creating a just society in which individual freedom and human dignity were guaranteed.

SAF Winter Games
Ice hockey to be demonstrated
Dehradun, October 1
People of Uttarakhand for the first time will witness ice hockey, which will be played as a demonstration sport during the coming SAF Winter Games, to be held in the state. Technical Committee vice-president of the SAF Winter Games RK Gupta stated this in his recent communication to Organising Committee of Winter Games member secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, who also holds charge of secretary sports.

Ganga closure: Protests begin as flow stops
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 1
The flow in the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri has been stopped for 20 days for upgrading and cleaning of ghats. The closure began on Dussehra night and will end on the eve of Diwali.

The Ganga closure has been a norm for many years. But this time, many arrangements for the Maha Kumbh would also be made during this period.

The closure will come in handy in the construction of new bridges at Damkoti and other places. Also the flow in the Ganga Canal, which flows from Mayapur to Kanpur, will also get affected due to the closure and will resume only on Diwali.

In 1916, the Britishers and the Ganga Mahasabha, which conducts the operations at Har-ki-Pauri, had a written agreement that during the Ganga closure, water would not be dried up at the Har-ki-Pauri so that rituals don’t get affected.

Para 1 and 2 of Section 32 of this agreement clearly states that there will be no disruption in the natural flow of the Ganga at the religiously important Har-ki-Pauri and if the need arises, Hindu organisations’ consent would be taken.

This time, the area has been divided into 10 sectors for the cleansing of the river and the cleaning operation started today with the Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad, Ganga Sabha, mela administration and several other social and other organisations taking part.

Additional mela officer VS Dhanik said that the waste accumulated would immediately be taken away by vehicles of the Municipal Committee and Irrigation Department of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand so that reconstruction and other works can be done within the stipulated time frame.

KP Singh, assistant engineer, Ganga Canal, said that minimum water flow was being maintained at Har-ki-Pauri.

The Uttar Pradesh Irrigation Department carries out this work and considering the number of pilgrims that visit Haridwar, it is imperative that the floor of the river and the ghats be cleaned at regular intervals.

Yet, it has not gone down well with traditionalists, purists, traders and a vast segment of society which still protests and caveats are put on the department for the closure.

This year too, the opposition to the Ganga closure has come from various sections. The Ganga Sabha had made sure that the flow of water isn’t completely stopped at the Har-ki-Pauri while teerth purohits have warned of an agitation if there is no availability of water at the ghat.

Several organisations and traders have been opposing the Ganga closure during the festival season. Terming it as an anti-Hindu move, they have warned the administration and state government to backtrack from the decision. They have threatened a massive agitation against the closure which, they say, is hurting the sentiments of Hindus and affects pilgrim and tourist flow in the city during festivals.

The highly auspicious period between Dussehra and Diwali brings in a lot of tourists and pilgrims to the holy city. This translates into a lot of profit for priests and traders in the area.

This is also the Bengali festive season and people from Bengal throng the city in large numbers. The protesters in Haridwar fear that the news of the Ganga closure may put many of these visitors off.

The Teerth Maryada Raksha Samiti has been continuously opposing this move and has burned effigies of the Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh governments blaming them for playing with the sentiments of crores of Hindus.

“During the Narain Dutt Tiwari and BC Khanduri-led regime, assurance was given that there will not be any closure during festivals, but no heed has been paid to it. The closure, during festival season this time, is a blow to the faith of Hindus who come in lakhs to Haridwar,” remarked Sanjay Chopra, founder of the Teerth Maryada Raksha Samiti.

Similarly, the Dharamshala Raksha Samiti has come out against the closure and termed it as an unethical and unwanted move. Lending support in opposing the closure, several other outfits have joined hands which include the Traders Union, Human Rights Samiti, Tata Sumo Union, Rikshaw Union and scores of traditionalists and Hindu organisations.

While there is opposition to the Ganga closure, it is proving to be a boon for many, especially the excavation mafia. They have already started excavating sand illegally along the river where water has dried up.

Last year, there was an incident of firing between the sand mafia and local villagers in Roorkee area as villagers protested against the mafia’s tractors and trollies traversing their fields to ferry the sand.

Also, many persons were seen hunting for coins and other articles that people put in the river during rituals.

But whatever the opposition, the cleaning of the ghats is essential as was evident by the garbage accumulated beneath the ghats and the dilapidated condition of the ghats and bridges.

Devotees appear to have nothing against the cleaning as they know it is for the long-term benefit of the river. But they question the timing of the closure.

Gandhian philosophy has few takers today
BD Kasniyal

Pitthoragarh, October 1
Gandhian influence in Uttarakhand is waning. Mahatma Gandhi set foot in the state in 1929 with a visit to Almora and the rest of the Kumaon region. The visit lasted more than 18 days. During his second visit in 1931, he stayed for six days in the Kumaon region.

Even before Gandhi’s visit, the principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and civil disobedience were seen at Bagheswar Uttarayani in 1921 when, after realising the power of Gandhian Satyagraha, Kumaoni freedom fighters revolted against the tradition of bonded labour known as “kuli begar” (forced labour) by the British.

After Independence, leaders like Victor Mohan Joshi, Shanti Lal Trivedi, Sarla Behn in Kumaon and Sunder Lal Bahuguna, Kameswar Bahuguna, Bhawani Bhai and Man Singh Rawat, besides Sri Dev Suman, Anusuya Parashad Bahuguna and Bhakt Darshan in Garhwal spend their lives following Gandhian principles and created some institutions as centres of Gandhian principles.

“But only a few of them are active today. The rest of the institutions became non-active after their founders died,” lamented Mohan Singh Rawat, a Gandhian volunteer in Pitthoragarh.

More than 20 gram swarajya mandals were set up in Uttarakhand hills by Gandhians after the Bhoodan Satyagraha of Acharya Vinoba Bhave in 1951.

After the death of the old Gandhians and as the younger generation was disinterested in running them, only five such institutions are still operational.

The Mahila Ashram at Muwani in Pitthoragarh district, which was run by famous Gandhian Sher Singh Karki, was closed after his death a decade ago.

The Saliyara Ashram, set up by Sunder Lal Bahuguna in Tehri Garhwal, is also not attracting the younger generation. “The younger generation is disinterested,” lamented Sunder Lal Bahuguna.

“We ran the Chipko movement in 1974 on the Gandhian principle of Ahimsa,” recalled Chandi Prasad Bhatt, a Magsaysay Award winner who is active in Gopeshwar area of Chamoli district.

Bhatt said the Gandhian principle that the Earth has enough for our need, but not for our greed remains true. The violation of this rule in Uttarakhand hills has created many problems like the receding of Himalayan glaciers and drying up of rivers.

Radha Behn, a veteran Gandhian and patron of Laxmi Ashram in Kaushani, believes that while governments in Uttarakhand were not following Gandhian principles, people in the state were living the Gandhian way.

“State governments are going in for newer technologies neglecting manual labour while the Father of the Nation talked about the labour-intensive employment. This error in priority is increasing unemployment in Uttarakhand,” said Radha Behn.

“If we want to save not only Uttarakhand Himalayas but also entire North India as well as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, we will have to adopt the Gandhian way,” said Radha Behn, who is spearheading the Nadi Bachao Abhiyan in the state.

It is only in Laxmi Ashram in Kausani, set up by Sarla Behn and now run by Radha Behn, that younger people are still flocking to.

It is running a nine-month sadhana course for women activists which is popular among the women of the area.

Neema Vaishnav, a Gandhian worker attached to Laxmi Ashram for the past 25 years, said that the Gandhian way was essential to understand the self and the hidden powers within. “Only Gandhian ideology can enhance the creative power within a women and make the hill women fully conscious,” she added.

IIT library named after Mahatma
Tribune News Service

Roorkee, October 1
On the eve of the 140th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian Institute of Technology today renamed its Central Library after the Father of Nation. “From now onwards, our Central Library would be known as Mahatma Gandhi Central Library,” announced the Director of the IIT-R, Prof SC Saxena, while inaugurating an exhibition on books and photographs related to Mahatma Gandhi.

Addressing a gathering comprising staff and students of the institute, Professor Saxena said the Mahatma was one of the topmost social reformers in the world and had dedicated his whole life to bringing about social reforms and uplift of Dalits.

“To mark the 140th Gandhi Jayanti, we have decided to name the library after our topmost personality,” said Saxena. He also exhorted all present to adopt the ideals of Mahatma in their lives.

Among others present there were Yogender Singh, Head Librarian, Prof Parag Chaturvedi and Prof Sushma Gupta.

Greetings from Guv, CM

Dehradun: Margaret Alva, Governor of Uttarakhand, has greeted people on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, which will be celebrated on October 2.

In her message, she said Gandhiji’s life was dedicated not merely to attaining freedom from foreign rule, but also to creating a just society in which individual freedom and human dignity were guaranteed. His focus was on the poor, the exploited and the rejected. Non-violent change was his philosophy.

Uttarakhand Chief Minsiter Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has greeted the people of the state on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti.

In his greetings, the Chief Minister said Gandhi Jayanti always delivers a message of brotherhood and equality. He said the policy of non-violence and ahimsa was very much revelant in today’s world scenario. Nishank held that Uttarakhand must lead the country in following Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of uprooting social evils and working for an equilitarian society.

SAF Winter Games
Ice hockey to be demonstrated
Raju William
Tribune News Service