By Radhika Nagrath
Haridwar, 9 Aug: Three truckloads of disaster relief material were flagged off to Dharali, Uttarkashi, today by Patanjali Yogpeeth. Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna appealed to the people to come forward to help the people affected by this disaster.
On this occasion, Baba Ramdev said that no one can bring back the lives of those who have been lost in this tragedy, but for those who are very much affected by the floods, about 500 families are being sent essential items of daily use such as flour, rice, pulses, salt, spices, tarpaulin to protect from rain, utensils, toothpaste, brush, soap and other items to Harshil and Dharali village of Uttarkashi district.
He said that more help will be provided to the disaster victims when the weather becomes favourable. The Yoga Guru slammed the multinational companies saying that these companies come to Uttarakhand only to earn money, whereas, in times of disaster, they should extend a helping hand.
On the occasion of Rakshabandhan, he appealed to the people of the country to unite against the hooliganism of America. He said that a new world order is being formed. BRICS countries, India, Russia, China, Middle East, Europe and some countries of G-7 are coming together so that America’s hooliganism can be countered and the empire of the dollar can be ended. He appealed to the people to take a pledge to adopt ‘Swadeshi’ and take a pledge to strengthen India’s economic condition, strengthen the rupee currency and break the vicious cycle of the dollar. He further said that 250 years ago a foreign East India Company enslaved India and only 10 powerful people looted about 64 trillion dollars from here. Overall, in the past 250 years, about 100 trillion dollars of economic loot has taken place in India. Today, despite political independence, the country is immersed in economic slavery, slavery of education and medical care, ideological cultural slavery, guilt and filth. He said that the time has come to counter the hooliganism that America has done all over the world regarding tariff rates. He exhorted all to adopt the mantra of Prime Minister Modi’s self-reliant India and thereby strengthen India’s currency and economy as a whole.
He said that Uttarakhand has young fragile mountains. People have also settled in the foothills on the banks of rivers and waterfalls and streams coming from the mountains to attract tourists. For this, we will have to think about how the settlement of Uttarakhand should be, so that there is no loss of life even in adverse conditions and we do not have to face disasters and tragedies repeatedly.
On this occasion, Acharya Balkrishna said, “The meaning of Rakshabandhan is that we should be able to protect our sisters or any person of society according to our ability. Unfortunately, many people lost their lives in the terrible tragedy that happened in Uttarakhand. The Patanjali family has been in contact with the government-administration at the ground level since that day. Nearly 500 families are very much affected in this terrible tragedy.” He added, “We are initially sending essential material to those affected. Earlier also Patanjali has stood with the people in times of disaster. Since the tsunami in 2004, Bihar floods in 2008, Kedarnath in 2013, Uttarakhand floods and the Nepal earthquake tragedy, Patanjali is the first to come forward to help the affected. This commitment of ours will continue in the future as well.”
Earlier, Shravani Upakarma, Rakshabandhan festival was celebrated at Patanjali Yogpeeth. Sister Renu Srivastava, Sadhvi Devpriya, Dr Ritambhara Shastri, Sister Anshul, Sister Parul along with the students and Sanyasini sisters of Patanjali Gurukulam and Acharyakulam took the blessings of Raksha by tying Rakhi to Swami Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna. Also, Upanayana Sanskar was performed for the students of Patanjali Gurukulam and Acharyakulam.
