Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati of Jyotish Peeth has held a press conference. He has presented his side regarding the controversy that took place on the festival of Mauni Amavasya in Prayagraj. Also, most of the people are not able to understand why this happened?
Apart from this, on the controversy regarding his holding the post of Shankaracharya on Jyotish Peeth, Swami Avimukteshwarananda Saraswati said that it will not be decided by the Prime Minister, President or Chief Minister of the country whether we are Shankaracharya or not. I have received the approval of two Shankaracharyas, Dwarka Peeth and Sringeri Math and the third one is the tacit approval of the Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth, Puri.
He said that we gave him full opportunity to rectify the mistake so that when the administration comes, we can take bath. No one from the administration came. If the administration had come and made us take bath on Mauni Amavasya, nothing would have happened, we would not have supported this. At present, Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has said that he will remain sitting on the palanquin like this till Maghi Purnima. He says that unless the administration corrects its mistake. Their protest will continue.
The first allegation is that the barricade was broken, then make CCTV public: Shankaracharya
He said that the first allegation is that the barricade was broken, then the CCTV footage should be made public. We left our camp for a bath along with the local police administration. The police had said that we have been appointed to give you a bath. He has gone with us from the ashram to the Sangam banks. Where the barricade was installed, he himself talked to the police and got the barricade opened. If our people were being unruly then why did no one come and tell us? We have always followed the rules and will do so in future also. Now will any saint saint Sanatani have to take permission and take bath in Ganga?
He said that there is no question of permission in this, does any child take permission to meet his mother Ganga. People come here to atone for their sins and get the benefit of virtue, but Shankaracharya does not have such intentions. Lakhs and crores of people come here to see our dip. We inform about our movements so that there is no chaos. The information that was to be given was given from our camp. The complete program is being written and given 3 days in advance. Is this information itself considered as permission?
We will not take Ganga bath without permission: Shankaracharya
Shankaracharya said, ‘We will not take permission to bathe in the Ganga. Check out the history of the entire Magh Mela. Shankaracharya has always gone to bathe in a palanquin. Even today Shankaracharya’s palanquin goes to our Badrinath, and even when the doors are closed the palanquin comes down. It has been our tradition to go in palanquin to Kumbh Mela or Magh Mela. We ourselves have been going to the Magh Mela for the last 2 months. On the other hand, while performing a stunt for some saint, he went till Sangam. We have no opposition to them, have there been two types of saints? One saint who flatters and the other who will not flatter.
He said that the administration of this fair should be changed. Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has made a big allegation that we would have died tomorrow. We cannot forget what we saw from the palanquin from 9.47 am to 5 pm. After taking us out of the palanquin, their soldiers would push and stampede and we would be killed. The stampede in the Kumbh Mela happened because the officials of the fair administration started chasing away the sleeping people and started hitting them with sticks.
Our Dandi Sanyasi was beaten, dragged by the hair: Shankaracharya
He said that stampedes are organized in the fair. First we were stopped, then our Dandi Sanyasi was taken away and he was beaten up. First he was dragged by his hair and hit with shoes, the old man was hit with shoes. Perhaps even Ravana would have shown mercy but our saint who came from Nepal was caught and killed by the top of his head. Shankaracharya showed a scarf stained with Batuk’s blood and explained how the fight took place. He said that the administration wants that the third battle of Panipat had taken place in 1762. In that war, when Vishwas Rao saw his nephew surrounded, he jumped from the elephant. The army thought that our commander was killed and because of which Ahmed Shah Abdali won the war. In the same way, these people wanted to do such an incident by taking me out of the palanquin. If I had remained away from the public eye, the enemies would have succeeded in their conspiracy.
He said that we are not fond of palanquin. Whenever the Prime Minister arrives, he is made to sit in an elevated carriage so that the public is satisfied by seeing him from a distance. In this entire Magh Mela, I am going on foot to every sadhu for cow protection. Even when Shankaracharya passed away three years ago, he continued to go like this. When we went on foot normally, there was a rush among the people and chaos. Then, for the last two years, we have been traveling on the same route in a palanquin.
‘If anyone tries to tarnish our tradition, we will not tolerate it’
Shankaracharya said that he went to Magh Mela in a palanquin like this, then who complained, was there any chaos or stampede. If someone tries to tarnish our traditions behind our backs, it will not be tolerated. We are not sitting here of our own accord. The administration took our people aside and then soldiers in plain uniform with pistols in their waists took us away. In the last 25 years, ever since I became a monk, I have never been alone. Yesterday was the first opportunity. When we were not with our people. We were taken near the fort. The public came after seeing us. We did not tell anyone that they were misbehaving. If they had done so, the public would have been outraged. They have kept the palanquin in the same manner as they left us. Said that we remained sitting till 1 o’clock in the night till the date of Amavasya. We are not sitting on any hunger strike or dharna. We will remain like this in the Magh Mela till Maghi Purnima and then come to the Magh Mela but will enter the camp only when the administration takes a bath in the Ganga. This is our take. We will enter our camp only when the bathing protocol for all the four Shankaracharyas and Vaishnavacharyas is not determined. Yesterday we tentatively thought that we would go back. But a call came from our senior guru brother Swami Sadanand Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Dwarka Peeth.
Government wants commercialization of religious events
He said that one should not leave the fair like this. The government certainly wants that religious events will be commercialized. There will be a big saint conference for cow protection in Delhi on March 11, the saints will make people realize their power. This happened because we talk about cow protection, while BJP governments are taking donations from those who kill mother cows. BJP governments are not able to protect cows. Yogi is the man who destroyed the temple. We went to every street of Kashi and set out to save the temples for 40 days. Never more than 100 Hindus came with us in 40 days. A bulldozer was doing encroachment work near Gyanvapi at night. Three bricks of Gyanvapi fell in it and 10 thousand Muslims had gathered. Blessed is the Muslim who sets out to protect his religion. A Hindu is a coward who does not go out on the killing of mother cow.
‘Commissioner gave misleading and false information in the media’
Shankaracharya showed the picture of Prayagraj Commissioner Soumya Aggarwal and said that if she had wanted, she could have handled the situation yesterday. They have given lies and misleading information to the media. Why didn’t he lie? When the Chief Minister can lie then why shouldn’t this Commissioner lie? Shankaracharya showed the photograph of Home Secretary IPS Mohit Gupta. He himself was in plain uniform, he looked the most handsome. I saw this Home Secretary himself beating the children with his own hands. Even yesterday there was someone who was watching all this. Showing the picture of Mohit Gupta, he said, is he a police officer or a goon. Showing the picture of Prayagraj Police Commissioner Joginder Kumar, he said that he is very stubborn and evil. He had said that I had got very hot, I will take it off now. The Police Commissioner stopped our chariot in the middle of the road. When I asked him to send me to the side, he said that the police’s shoulder is not for this, so he sent me from the police’s shoulder only.
Had the DM wanted, such a situation would not have arisen.
He showed the picture of DM Manish Kumar Verma and said that DM is a responsible post. He himself was there. Should they have allowed such a situation to arise? If it was said from above then it is okay, you are obedient. DM told wrong and untrue things in the press. He said that his name is Vineet Singh. This is the villain of the film. He was taking everyone inside and killing them. Was abusing. He kicked, he snatched the stick of our celibate and hit him. CO Vineet Singh said, we are disciples of Shankaracharya of Puri. It is trying to create a difference between us and Shankaracharya of Puri. Medical reports of all the injured are ready. All this was being done by high ranking officers. The inspector and sub-inspector below were saddened by yesterday’s incident. The administration had detained a total of 35 people. Medical examination of 12 people has been done, 3 people are still admitted. It is the legal cell of our Math that will decide what to do next. The petition will be filed in the High Court. If we are committing any crime then we have the right to take action. When my people were being caught, why were I not caught, why was no action taken, everything was happening under my leadership. People continued to suffer injustice for 5/7 hours with us.
