Agarwal sacrificed for Ganga
The comic staging of sweeping the roads on the occasion of 150th commemoration of Gandhi Jayanthi. Modiji pretended to sweep the road himself and tried creating awareness among people.
But something very tragic happened that may have mocked the fasts that Gandhiji undertook as part of his nonviolence movement. G D Agarwal, who was on a fast to save Ganga, died on indefinite fast that he was on, since June 22. His death, in some way, is also an indication of the result that would be, even if Gandhi sat on a fast.
Gandhiji’s movement could succeed with the British since they respected him. He upheld the values of cleanliness and non-violence. But during Modi’s time, fasting has lost its value because the government does not care anymore.
Professor at Kanpur IIT G D Agarwal had dedicated his life for the cause of Ganga river. He changed into Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati after he finished his stint with IIT Kanpur and he had undertaken numerous fasts for the causes he believed in.
As a result of his fast, government had to drop many mega industrial projects it had planned on the banks of Ganga. In the recent times, he had sat on a fast for about 109 days seeking a law to allow uninterrupted flow of Ganga from Gangotri at Uttarakhand to Uttarkashi.
His fast was not politically conniving ones like the politicians do. He had dedication and commitment towards the cause he believed in. His fast did not make as much noise as the fake babas’ events around causes of rivers.
BJP has sought votes in the name of Ganga, stating it is one of the agendas of the party. Crores of money has been released for the cause. Minister Uma Bharti has been giving out many declarations regarding this. Environmentalists have said Ganga water is totally unfit for consumption. Govt should have taken the fast by Swami Swaroopananda with more seriousness since this was a pertinent issue. He had become a thorn in the flesh since he always drew the attention of govt towards something relating to Ganga. The govt probably wished for his end.
Finally, a major interruption to raising money in the name of Ganga has been removed.
By the way, Swami Swaroopananda is not the first one to lose life over Ganga. Swami Nigamananda had fasted to oppose mining around the Ganga water table. The government didn’t budge even when he fasted for 73 days. He was removed from the place forcibly and he died under mysterious conditions in the hospital.
Unfortunately, when Nigamananda staged a genuine fast, Baba Ramdev was staging a fake fast at Ram Leela grounds. Police entered the place and assaulted the fake protestors and Ramdev tried escaping from the place dressed like a woman, but was caught.
Media outlets praised Ramdev and never even turned their focus on Nigamanand’s fast. Nigamananda died in the same hospital where Ramdev feigned ignorance and got admitted.
Mostly as a reparation, Uttarakhand received torrential rainfalls and cities drowned in the deluge. Now Agarwal followed the same path as Nigamananda.
On one hand, human rights activists are arrested in the name of Urban Naxals. The government finds fault with their sympathy towards naxals. Then why do genuine people like Nigamananda and Agarwal die? Why did the government reject their genuine protest and fast? Their movement was very much aligned with government’s focus and plans. Why did the govt that spends thousands of crores on cleanliness drive advertisements and collect cess from people, not find Agarwal’s fight worthy of attention? Why could it not be complete?
The ingenuity of this government towards causes is lying in the open with Agarwal’s death. Modi government can never ignore this blood on its hand.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
