Poor get poorer
As always, given the inequities built into the global economic system, the poorest people in the world have been the…
Will the Art of Living Foundation pay the Rs.5-crore fine slapped on it by the National Green Tribunal? It seems the outfit, led by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, is in no mood to yield. On Thursday the AoL founder sounded defiant and said that he would rather go to jail than pay the fine for perceived environmental violations over a cultural event to be held on Yamuna floodplains.
“We have not done anything wrong. We have been taintless and will remain so. We will go to jail but not pay a penny,” Ravi Shankar said. He also tweeted that AoL was not “satisfied” with the verdict of the NGT and would appeal against it. He urged political parties not to “politicise” the event.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar also denied that any tree at the venue was felled and claimed that the trees had only been pruned and all they had done was level the floodplain. “Not a single tree was felled. Trees were only pruned and we levelled the floodplain,” he said.
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“This is like a cultural Olympics. About 37,000 artistes from all over the world would come together at one single platform. This is an event to bring people closer to each other. Event of this magnitude should be welcomed,” he said.
Notwithstanding the raging row over environmental damage due to the three-day festival, the NGT on Wednesday gave its go-ahead to the event to be held on the Yamuna floodplains from March 11, expressing its helplessness in banning it because of “fait accompli”. But it imposed a fine of Rs.5 crore on AoL as environmental compensation after coming down heavily on the Foundation for not disclosing its full plans.
The green bench also criticised the DDA and Union Environment Ministry for their role.
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