Holy rage over Ganga.

(From The Times of India)

Byline: Manjari Mishra

LUCKNOW: A spurned Chanakya swore public vengeance approximately 2350 years ago, the history folklore records.

On Monday hundreds of seers, Dandi swamis and assorted godmen led by Swami Avimukteshwaranand- heir apparent to Swaroopanand Saraswati, the Shankarachrya of Dwarikapeeth- congregated at Rajendra Parasad Ghat in Varanasi and took a vow (sankalp) not to rest till they annihilate all conspirators out to tamper with the unhindered course of Ganga.

The weapon of assault in this ecclesiastical war against the Union of India, however, are Vedic mantras - non-violent but no less potent than all those deadly nukes put together, claimed Pandit Kameshwar Upadhyay, the president of Akhil Bhartiya Vidwat Parishad.

All the dharmacharyas based on the banks of the seven major cities of the Ganga, said Upadhyay will invoke their collective mantra shakti to ensure "samool vinash" (total elimination) of seven generations of those behind the Tehri project. We are also considering not to preside over or perform any Vedic ceremonies to mobilise a massive Hindu uprising against the dam, he told the TOI on Monday.

Apart from the mantras the arsenal with the Ganga Mahasabha, the newly formed body of holy men from Varanasi, Allahabad, Hardwar, Kanpur, Patna etc (not to forget the RSS which has latched on to the bandwagon) also includes a 89 years old agreement by the British designed to preserve the free flow of Ganga.