Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Ji Insan,
the Spiritual Master of DeraSachaSaudainaugurated the cleanlinessmegadrive“HoPrithviSaaf,MiteyRogAbhishaap”along
witha large number of volunteers who responded to his call with a humongous sea
of brooms.Guruji flagged off the drive by releasing balloons and wielding the
broom himself accompanied by his children, and then flagging off the huge crowd
to start their work. Several Bollywood celebrities led by Bollywood veteran
PahlajNihalani joined Guruji on the podium, notable actress PoonamDhillon, star
wife and social worker PoonamSinha, singer Udit Narayan, director JeetuArora, actress
Flora Saini, Universal Music MD DevrajSanyal, Music director ShameerTandon
among several others.
At the very outset, Guruji
observed that He had been talking about a son of the soil coming at the helm
and transforming the country, with the emergence of the present Prime Minister,
Sh.NarendraModi, that statement that he had repeatedly made in the past, had
rung true.Guruji also added that inspite of the fact that the Dera’s drive had
started 3 years ago, with the emergence of the PM’s initiative he was open even
to the adoption of all of the Dera’s 104
initiatives by the government, and would be happy even if their names were
changed to those deemed suitable by the government.
Guruji called for suitable
legislation and the introduction of fines to act as a deterrent to India’s
penchant for creating insanitation.In a frank exchange with the media, Guruji
lamented that in a country where no one sought permission for urinating in the
open, spitting or littering, cleanliness drives were subjected to unnecessary delays
and procedural red tape. Guruji urged the government to simplify the procedure
so that intimation and adequate notice should be enough to embark on a Mega
cleanliness drive.
The MMRDA grounds in BandraKurla
complex were swarming even as similar
crowds converged around in around 25 locations all over Mumbai at locations
like Azad Maidan, Oval Park, Shivaji park, Santacruz, Goregaon, JJ bridge,
Chembur, Govandi, Sion, Kurla etc. The entire Mumbai is slated for a sanitation
drive facelift today. The followers from various states have been divided into
separate blocks and are posted in different areas for the drive.Even the Prime
Minister, NarendraModi, had recently praised the Dera’s commitment and
dedication to the cause of cleanliness in a mammoth event in Haryana.
Today’s drive
The day’s campaign divides the
city into 22 zones where different teams were working actively. Apart from
various Indian states,some volunteers have also come from overseas for the
event. Even as Guruji was interacting with the media, the huge BandraKurla
grounds were totally cleaned up by volunteers and rid of the huge expanse
of garbage within minutes.
Dustbins for Mumbai
A significant feature of the
drive is that 600 dustbins are being
installed at significant vantage points. This would be a significant first, as
no one else has done it so far. In addition, the brooms and implements like
spades, shovels etc are carried by all volunteers who started off from their
homes with them. Colored olive green, the dustbins will serve as a reminder not
to litter, said Guruji.
Say No to diseases
Guruji said that the advent of
new and more dangerous illnesses made it imperative to pay attention to
community sanitation and hygiene issues. Guruji observed that illnesses like,
“Swine Flu, Bird Flu and now Ebola are particularly worrisome as they are
transmitted through saliva, secretions etc which means they are spread by
spitting. Dengue and malaria mosquitoes also breed aplenty due to wet sewage.
Tuberculosis, typhoid, plague, cholera and other infectious diarrhoeas are
traditional killers. Insanitation is a killer as even a dropped banana peel
could maim or kill.”
Bollywood against insanitation
All the Bollywood attendees, led
by senior producer PahlajNihalani, lauded Guruji’s effort where people had
travelled thousands of kilometres to clean a far off city.
Blood donation
The Deputy Director of the
Maharashtra state blood transfusion council requested Guruji for a blood
donation drive, which Guruji announced would be organised the today evening. He
also mentioned the 25 world records including several Guinness world records
that the Dera had established in humanitarian sectors like blood donation.
Asking for newer laws
The question of 125 crore people
littering the surroundings and expecting a few lakh people to clean it all up
is indeed a vexatious one, said Guruji. No religion sanctions deliberate
environmental pollution, he added. Guruji said that like Singapore and other
developed countries, India too needed to impose stringent fines on people who
spit and litter, since the advent of newer illnesses had made hygiene a
question of survival. The movement by Guruji also includes a strong behaviour
change message by making onlookers sign pledge forms.In this campaign, a strong
advocacy movement to ask for stronger laws against making surrounding dirty
would also be initiated.
Cause of disasters
Guruji said that spreading filth
and various forms of chemical compounds were also contributing to the depletion
of ozone layer, leaching into subsoil water and a steady spread of cancer
causing chemicals apart from disease causing germs. The advent of polythene was
also causing serious ecological issues. In all, Guruji concluded that there was
a serious contribution by insanitation to climate change and adverse weather
events.
This will be the 28th such drive
in the country. Saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan, who teaches free
spiritual meditation at DeraSachaSauda, holds 17 humanitarian Guinness World
Records apart from a 104 ongoing social initiatives.He has achieved remarkable
success in weaning away 50 million people from alcohol and drugs.
Guruji has chosen unconventional
means to press home his message for society. His music has been widely
acclaimed and published by Universal Music, while he is also starring in an
upcoming film, MSG-The Messenger of God, to augment his anti-drug crusade.
Trending on twitter
The hashtags of the drive
#HoPrithviSaaf and #AriseGoForthConquer were trending at the fourth and fifth
position by 11 am.The campaign is causing a stir online through retweets by
people like DevrajSanyal and music director ShameerTandon. The campaign also
innovatively invites locals designating them as the most important long term
allies of the program. The ones who are said to arise, are the ones who sign
sanitation pledges; theones who join the drive in addition are said to be Going
Forth, while the Conquerors will act as advocacy leaders and participants on a
long term basis.
Gender issues
Guruji spoke out against social
evils like female feticide, prostitution and gender discrimination and outlined
various initiatives likes rescue and amalgamation of prostitutes and
transgenders, body and eye donations etc, which were being actively taken up by
the Dera and had translated into Guinness World Records.
