Swami Dayanand, a close aide and assistant of Ganga activist GD Agarwal, alleged on Thursday, 11 October, that he was murdered in ‘a well-planned conspiracy’ by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. Dayanand held Union Minister Nitin Gadkari responsible for his death.
Speaking exclusively to The Quint, Dayanand alleged foul play behind Agarwal’s death.
Listen to the full interview here:
The IIT professor-turned-environmentalist passed away on Thursday in Haridwar after having given up food and water in his quest to save River Ganga. Agarwal had been consuming only honey and milk for 109 days. On his last two days, he had given up those as well.
“This is, undoubtedly, a clear case of murder. He was fine all day and had also issued a press note saying he was ready to take the fruit intake and potassium intake prescribed by the doctors. The doctors then gave him some medicine after which they said he got a cardiac arrest. How is that possible? The cardiac arrest didn’t happen for 111 days when he was fasting. How did he die within 24 hours of being taken to the hospital? This is murder,” Dayanand told The Quint.
Holding Prime Minister Modi indirectly responsible, Dayanand said Water Resources and Ganga River Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari was primarily responsible for the ‘murder’, and that his ‘greed’ had deeply hurt Agarwal.
“The person responsible for this is BJP's Nitin Gadkari. He has been bestowed the responsibility of Ganga rejuvenation. Gadkari is the person responsible for his murder. Even PM Modi is responsible because Agarwalji had written letters addressing directly to the PM. But the person primarily responsible for this is Gadkari,” Dayanand told The Quint.
Also alleging a foul play in Agarwal’s death is Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, who claims something was “done to him” after he was taken to the hospital that caused his sudden death.
“Jab vo swayam keh rahe the ki me theek hu aur doctors ki dekh bhaal me the, toh achanak phir kya aisa ho gya? Pehle ye kaha gya aspatal prasashan ki taraf se ki Delhi AIIMS me refer kia gaya hai, baad me 2-3 ghante bhram me rakhne ke baad ye keh dia gya ki ab unka shareer nahi raha. (When he himself was saying he’s okay and was under doctor’s observation, what happened suddenly? He was first referred to Delhi AIIMS. Later. after having kept us in the dark for 2-3 hours, we were told that he isn’t alive anymore.)Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, Head, Shree Vidyapeeth, Kedargha
He also told the media that Agarwal knew he was low on potassium according to his doctor's report, and had agreed to a 500ml intake, both orally and through IV.
Agarwal’s aides are now demanding a post mortem, and that his body be handed over so they can donate it to Kashi Hindu University, as per his wishes.
On Wednesday, Gadkari had said, "We have accepted almost all his demands (on cleaning of the Ganga). One demand was to to ensure environmental flow and we have come out with a notification." The government on Tuesday had come out with the e-flow gazette notification.
The notification states the minimum environmental flows for Ganga river that is to be maintained at various locations on the water body.
The second demand, Gadkari said, was to bring legislation to protect the Ganga. He said the legislation has been sent to Cabinet for approval, following which it will be tabled in Parliament.
“The BJP calls itself dharm ka thekedaar. PM Modi had said that mother Ganga has called him and he wants to give the river as much as possible. But Gadkari knows nothing about the Ganga, he doesnt worship it nor have sentiments for it. He only considers it a means of earning money. Agarwalji was very hurt because of his behaviour,” Dayanand said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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