A shocking and unexpected incident took place on Friday when the members of Ganga Bachao Movement led by Rajendra Singh along with other activists including Prof. G.D.Aggarwal, Ved Pratap Vaidik, Om Veer Singh Tomar, Prem Nivash Sharma, Major Himanshu and others were attacked by some anti-social group at Dhari Devi Mandir near Alakhnanda Hydro Project, Srinagar.
In a press conference today, Rajendra Singh revealed that, they were on the way to Badrinath, when they halted to visit the Dhari Devi temple and after their visit when they were indulged in a calm discussion with the villagers, some people joined the crowd suddenly and started anti-social activities using obscene languages for the members. The incident took place on 22nd June at 8 a.m. in the morning. They confirmed that, the visit had no relation with Ganga Bachao Movement and was just with a purpose of holy visit to the holy river.
"Though police came suddenly when the incident took place but instead of taking any action against the attackers they took us away from that place and we were being tracked by the attackers for 19 kms. We were shifted to Dev Pragraj forcibly and were handed over to another police group" said Mr. Rajendra Singh.
He suspected the attacked was been planned by the J.V.K group, a construction company in Uttarakhand involved in the construction of Alakhnanda Hydro Project.
"The attack was just like it was done during the rule of East India Company," he added.
Addressing the press conference, Radha Behan Bhatt (Director, Green Peace Foundation), said "People of Uttarakhand are innocent and being a daughter of Uttarakhand I can bet that, they cannot do like this of their own. But whatever has happened is really shameful and not acceptable".
"Companies are dominating the state now, which is really a matter of concern. Ganga is for all and we will have to fight together to save the river. The Govt. should be ashamed that the visitors to the holy place are been treated like this. The Govt. should take the charge of the state activities and the companies should be thrown out", she added.
She also assured that she would write a letter to the state Govt. regarding all this.
Talking about the whole incident, Ved Pratap Vaidik, who was also a member of the tour, explained, "People of Uttrakhand are known for their best hospitality and these kinds of activities are not expected with them. There was no political intention in this visit and it was solely spiritual and instant".
He said, "Congress should be ashamed if the attackers are not arrested. These types of activities are not acceptable at all".
Sardar V.M. Singh said "I was not very much shocked with the incident as the day we started the movement at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, I had a clear image that things are going to be difficult for us in future. But despite of any hindrances we are ready to support the movement ".
Mr. Om Veer Singh Tomar while addressing the media said, "Himalayas is responsible for maintaining the environment of the whole country and damaging Himalayan region can have severe effects. Democracy does not allow such type of attacks by any company to any people. And Govt. should not take this lightly as the movement will proceed in a large scale in future."
"Govt. cannot challenge the 5000-year's history of Ganga as they are much younger than Ganga. Ganga was there when there were no Chief Minister's or Prime Minister's and will be even present when there will be no Chief Minister's or Prime Minister's", said Major Himanshu.
"Jal hi Jiwan hai, Jal sirf H2O nahi hai", he added.
At the end, Rajendra Singh suggested that by implementing few things, Govt. can save the river and these things will cost nothing. First, a proper river resolution policy for the rivers, secondly proper encroachment policy for the banks of river and lastly stopping the Mining of sand, stones and white ash.
He also added that the shiver water should not be mixed with the river water.
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