Noted campaigner for conservation of the Ganga, Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand alias GD Agrawal has accused Sri Vidya Math of Varanasi of subjecting him to slow poisoning. Sri Vidya Math monastery is headed by Swami Abhimukteswarananda, a disciple of Swami Swaroopananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Sarada Peeth in Dwarka. He is also the Shankaracharya of one of the two monasteries at Jyotir Math (Joshimath) in Uttarakhand. Swaroopananda had lately been in news for opposing Narendra Modi, though deciding not to campaign against him. Interestingly, he is also the guru of GD Agrawal. It was him who initiated GD Agrawal into monkhood (Sanyas) in 2011 at Sri Vidya Math. But the relationship between the master and the disciple has soured since then. Agrawal realised that Swaroopananda’s commitment towards conservation of the Ganga and Himalayan eco-system was duplicitous. Even the indifference of the Congress Governments at New Delhi and in Dehradun towards the tragedy in Uttarakhand last summer has not stirred the Shankaracharya. The Shankaracharya is considered close to the Congress establishment. He would do nothing to displease the grand old party.
Scientist turned monk GD Agrawal has undertaken fast several times against despoilment of the Ganga by dam builders. In 2013, his fast extended beyond 100 days, with little coverage in the media and was subject to Government’s monumental apathy. In 2012, he ended his fast on the 15th day (March 23, 2012) after the Government agreed to convene a meeting of National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). The UPA Government had declared Ganga as the national river. But the NGBRA, headed by the Prime Minister, has a notorious track record of convening meeting. It went without meeting for full two years.
Two days after Agrawal undertook his fast in March 2012, three members of the NGRBA had quit, protesting UPA Government’s indifference to Ganga’s health. This was seen as a major embarrassment for the UPA Government.
GD Agrawal’s accusation pertains to the same 2012 fast at Matri Sadan in Haridwar. Sri Vidya Ashram was apparently supplying with Makardwaj, an Ayurvedic health supplement during those days. But Agrawal claims there was unusual presence of a red-coloured substance. He reportedly got it tested, whereby presence of cadmium was revealed. Sri Vidya Ashram’s head Swami Abhimukteswarananda has rejected the charges. But, it has sharply polarised the monk fraternity in Varanasi, just few days before the crucial May 12 polling. This is particularly because GD Agrawal has pinned his entire hope on Narendra Modi to save Ganga from extinction. Several influential monks like Narendranath and Jitendranand feel that charges are serious.
Swaroopananda was recently in news for opposing the pro-NaMo slogan –‘Har Har Modi, Ghar Ghar Modi’. He reasoned that it would demean Lord Shiva. It forced the BJP to dissociate itself from the popular slogan. Earlier this year, he had slapped a television journalist who had asked him his opinion about Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India.
