The Sanatan debate is growing while important issues are getting ignored. Amidst the heat of this debate there are issues being sidelined or sidetracked by all. Of course, all that is happening despite hosting G-20 or sending our mission Chandrayan on the moon, things at home reflect a growing attempt by the ruling elite to push people back to old system where caste hierarchies work accordingly and every superstition is considered as 'culture' and 'tradition'.
The problem is not when the illiterate or rural folks speak about a tradition and support superstition because lack of health care system and inability of a welfare state to help people. The shame is when those running our institutions which should have been inculcating the scientific spirit, are actually pushing our students and children into irrational beliefs. Nothing can be more shameful and disgusting than those who should have been speaking about rational thinking, now advocating idiotic things. How can India's science be 'world leader' if our scientists are made to be a subservient to irrational religious thoughts.
Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh had seen the most horrendous rains this year. Himachal Pradesh faced the bigger losses of life and livelihood. The rivers were swelling in anger and swept away anything that came on their way. Frankly, the rivers removed the 'encroachment' on their way. We all know that the region for such a calamity are not 'natural' but man made. Our 'developmental model' is meant to strengthen a few business houses and cronies with little help to local people.
Cutting the mountains to create four way lanes, building big resorts, Chardham yatra project, train projects, numerous dams, destruction work in the Himalayas in the name of 'development' are a few to name. There are ample evidence as why rivers swelled in Himachal and various reports suggest that much happened due to unorganised and incompetent water management in various dams in Himachal. The same thing happened that flooded Delhi without Delhi having rains. Our water management through these dams is unorganised and incompetent.
It is disgraceful that the Director of IIT Mandi, Himachal Pradesh gave a new twist, perhaps to protect his masters in Delhi, to Himachal floods and destruction. The video of his 'speech' at the auditorium of IIT Mandi is widely circulated now. He is seen telling the students, “Himachal Pradesh will have a significant downfall if the innocent animals are not (saved from being) butchered. You are butchering those innocent animals. That has a symbiotic relationship with the degradation of the environment, which you cannot see now but it will have (an effect). It is having. The mass-scale landslide and so many other things… cloudbursts that you see again and again… these are all effects of this cruelty,” the video clip that went viral on social media platforms shows him saying.
“Himachal Pradesh will have a significant downfall if the innocent animals are not (saved from being) butchered. You are butchering those innocent animals. That has a symbiotic relationship with the degradation of the environment, which you cannot see now but it will have (an effect). It is having. The mass-scale landslide and so many other things… cloudbursts that you see again and again… these are all effects of this cruelty,” the video clip that went viral on social media platforms shows him saying.
“Himachal Pradesh will have a significant downfall if the innocent animals are not (saved from being) butchered. You are butchering those innocent animals. That has a symbiotic relationship with the degradation of the environment, which you cannot see now but it will have (an effect). It is having. The mass-scale landslide and so many other things… cloudbursts that you see again and again… these are all effects of this cruelty,” the video clip that went viral on social media platforms shows him saying.
"Himachal Pradesh will have significant downfall if innocent animals are not saved from being butchered. You are butchering those innocent animals. They have symbiotic relationship with degradation of environment which you can not see now but it will have an effect. The mass scale landslide and cloudbusts are all the effect of this cruelty." Can you imagine, you are not listening this from Baba Bageshwar or any othe Babas who tell people eating garlic, onion everything is Tamsik apart from meat eating etc.
The Himalayas have always been liberal in food habits and even man woman relationship. They are far superior in many aspect of human relationship and meat eating is a part of their life. Now, you want to make us believe that what has happened in the Himalayas because people eat meat and not because such so called scientists are not merely being 'irrational' but use religion cleverly to protect the business interest of their masters. So on the one side, we will have these Babas, shouting brigade, championing Hindutva blaming meat eating for the landslides and flooding and the other hand we will have these 'scientists' who will destroy whatever little is there in the mountains particularly in terms of farming.
It is well known that the Himalayan communities have been rearing sheep and goats for centuries. That had been their traditional occupation and a majority of them have left this work but still there are communities engaged in this work. The beautiful Bugyals in the Himalayas are protected by the communities but now communities are blamed for destruction of the Himalayas and not your massive destruction work, cemented structure, huge tunnels and so many thing in the name of industries.
This is not the first time these things are said so. During the Kedarnath crisis in 2013, a Baba blamed atheists for this. Now such idiotic and mischievous statement are only meant to protect the business interests of the power elite who funds these Babas and IITs. This is the reality. The hill people must ask questions and stop these big resort, hotels in the Himalayas. Yes, we need roads but we dont need heavy structure in Badrinath and Kedarnath. Why are big construction works undertaken? For the current leaders, profit comes first. Everything for them is a business. They are not ready to stop their business of destroying nature. Look at what is happening in Badrinath and Kedarnath. Old structures have been demolished and contractors are building up artificial structure. You have destroyed the old beauty of these structure. Even a gold plate was given in Kedranath which later on found out was impure.
If the IIT in Himachal Pradesh is suggesting that floods and landslide happened due to people eating meat then such IITs should be converted into Gurukul as that will save government money. Why do we need IITs to tell us whether the cow urine is better than water or any other medicine. Is Ramdev not enough?
The government has done it. It has destroyed our institutions which we all were proud of. The IITs are only producing 'best' brahmanical team to serve the business interest of the same class who oppose reservations in these institutions. It is a disgrace that such officials are heading our institutions who should have been guiding the government about rabid concretisation of the Himalayas and stop this uncontrolled 'development'. Rather than suggesting scientific alternatives, the manuwadi scientist is only preaching gospel of brahmanism to his students and there is nothing scientific about it.
Protect Himalayas, stop the destroying mountains in the name of development. Dont blame local people for the faults and crimes of the crony capitalists who want to exploit the beauty and serenity of the Himalayas for their business interests.
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*Human rights defender
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