By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Former Union Minister Dr Murli Manohar Joshi has invoked the most sacred Hindu scripture Gita as he made a passionate appeal for saving nearly 6000 deodar trees which are proposed to be axed in Jhala-Harsil-Bhaironghati belt in the Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand.
Speaking at a recent Raksha Sutra (protection thread) event in Harsil village organized to protest against the proposed felling of over 6,000 cedar trees for the widening of the Gangotri National Highway between Jhala and Bhaironghati in Uttarkashi district, Uttarakhand, Dr Joshi said the Lord Krishna has clearly stated in the Gita that the Himalayas must be protected.
He said that Lord Krishna described himself as the Himalayas among mountains and Bhagirathi or Ganga among rivers, and therefore, the God’s clear command is that the Himalayas must be protected.
By invoking the Gita, Dr Joshi has apparently tried to send a strong message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, independent observers said.
In a video message sent to the Raksha Sutra event held on Sunday to save deodar trees on the Gangotri National Highway in Harsil, Joshi said any injustice to the Himalayas would also be construed as an injustice to the whole environment. “If the Bhagirathi disappears, the standards of our rich (Sanatan) culture will disappear,” he said.
He said that he believes that if development and security are essential for India, the Himalayas are paramount. “While programs should be implemented for the protection and security of our country, we must also ensure that we do not destroy the security system itself. We must not burden the Himalayas in the name of development,” Dr Joshi emphasized.
In this regard, he stated that the Himalayas are burdened by tourism and dams, including the Tehri Dam. He stated that if the Himalayas are not there, life will cease to exist, and therefore, the Himalayas are paramount for India.
Referring to several past disasters, he said that we are making people’s lives in the Himalayas unsafe, and all these devastating catastrophes highlight human intervention.
He also stated that he had submitted a petition signed by 100 people to the Supreme Court to save the cedar trees. He stated that no decision has yet been reached on this issue, and that another petition will be submitted in the future if necessary.
