Naga saints to campaign against global warming in Kumbh Mela
By IANSMonday, January 4, 2010
KOLKATA - Hundreds of thousands of Naga saints have decided to use the Kumbh Mela, 2010 as a platform to kickstart a green campaign against global warming.
“Since the Kumbh Mela is the largest spiritual gathering, we have decided to do our bit to save the planet from global warming,” Shri Soham Baba, Mahamandalesvara of Juna Akhara, who is said to be the commander-in-chief of 250,000-odd Naga saints in the Himalayas, told a media conference here Monday.
“There will be a huge presence of international communities and press during the fair. We’ll utilize the occasion to generate a ’save the planet’ campaign worldwide,” he added.
“We get to realise the impact of global warming first as it causes glacier melting in the Himalayan region. I felt the impact of global warming almost 25 years back. It’s not a very new phenomenon. Just that we are now making a lot of noise about the issue as the entire world has woken up and realized the problem,” he said.
Soham said the Naga communities would also carry out an anti-global warming signature campaign during the fair in various regional and international languages.
“We’ll take out religious rallies with placards and banners saying - ‘Stop Global Warming, Save the Himalayas’, or, ‘Plant Trees, Save the Planet’. We’ll also organise an exhibition of photos we have clicked regarding global warming and the melting Himalayan glaciers. These snapshots are currently preserved in archives in Hardwar,” he said.
