What used to be a tenuous, undercover tie between the BJP and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living (AOL) organisation, blossomed into an openly flaunted friendship when Narendra Modi graced the spiritual guru’s vaudeville on the flood plains of the Yamuna in Delhi last Friday.
To the prime minister, the carnival — a “private party” for the world, according to the godman —was a Kumbhmela of culture. To the mela’s critics, however, it was a frontal assault on the region’s delicate ecology since it could not but have a devastating effect on the fragile ecosystem of a river which is under severe stress because of the diversion of water for irrigation in the upper reaches and the dumping of waste lower down.
The iron barriers that have been built to prevent the people from throwing flowers, leaves and other items of worship into the river are not enough of a deterrent. The result is that the river is reduced to no more than a narrow stream except during the monsoon.
Only time will tell how whether the Yamuna will be able to survive the extravaganza organised by the AOL or suffer irreversible damage. But, for the environmentalists, the “cultural” pageant was the worst thing that could have happened not only because of the damage to the river, but also to a bird sanctuary only a kilometre away from the site of the festival.
It was these fears which made the National Green Tribunal (NGT) raise the red flag for the show and relented only after imposing a puny fine of Rs 5 crore.
But it was in this context that the bonds of camaraderie between the yogi and the saffron commissars were starkly revealed when the godman said he would rather go to jail than pay the fine.
Only someone sure of official and political patronage could have been so brazen about defying the law of the land. It was like the unruly pro-BJP lawyers who nonchalantly beat up the JNU student leader, Kanhaiya Kumar, in the Patiala House Court, for they knew that they will face only token punishment for their offence.
It’s a relief, therefore, that the NGT hasn’t been called anti-national by Mohan Bhagwat or Amit Shah and its office-bearers booked for sedition.
Now that an earlier favourite godman of the BJP, Asaram Bapu, is in legal trouble, the party has become dependent on two replacements – Baba Ramdev and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
While the former is a successful businessman, the latter has cultural pretensions. But both seem to believe that their non-divine enterprises will not prosper in the absence of help from the materialistic powers-that-be.
Arguably, Sri Sri has been roped in by the BJP to boost its prospects in the forthcoming elections, especially in UP next year where his appeal to the Hindu voters should be effective.
But there is probably another reason. The BJP may have realised that a muscular approach of the kind preferred by the RSS towards suspected anti-nationals is unlikely to pay dividends at a time when the concept of uninhibited freedom is being aired.
Since unleashing the police on alleged seditionists is not quite the option, the BJP apparently wants to use the soft approach of a cultural czar. Whether the JNU will allow him to hold a “private party” of song and dance on its specious lawns is not known, but Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s choice of the Yamuna river bed was not the wisest decision.
The government and even some of the regulatory authorities may turn a blind eye to the violation of environmental norms – as they did with regard to the construction of the Akshardham temple and its adjacent buildings – but the green brigade is unlikely to leave the godman alone.
The NGT, too, has suffered a loss of face. It has shown itself to be typically toothless when dealing with powerful politicians and their friends. There is little doubt that the cowing of the NGT is yet another instance of the government bending autonomous institutions to its will.
None of this reflects well on Modi. The world is all too aware these days of everything that happens anywhere. And nothing arouses as much concern as wilful disregard for the basic environmental norms by the rich and powerful.
Using bulldozers to flatten a riverbed to build a stage and pathways will not enhance the prestige of the callous organisers or the unmindful visitors. The critics are bound to note that President Pranab Mukherjee chose to stay away from the event.
Similarly, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari of Nepal and former President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan were among those who ignored AOL’s invitation.
In Delhi, there were not a few who welcomed the rains last Friday in the hope that the downpour and strong winds will disrupt the proceedings. The AOL interpreted the showers, however, as a sign of heavenly benediction. But the massive traffic jams caused by the show are unlikely to have added to the numbers of the godman’s followers.
