Eye of an Eagle: Rally For Rivers - Issues Raised

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Rally For Rivers - Issues Raised - 1

When people cannot fight the cause, they start Ad-Hominem attacks on the person initiating it. That is exactly what seems to be happening with 'Rally For Rivers' initiated by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev from Isha Foundation.

I thought as an outsider and someone who takes pride in researching topics in-depth, why not attempt to address the issues one by one? So, here we are ..

(Concern #1) Why are movie stars required to endorse 'Rally For Rivers'?

First of all the premise is incorrect that only Film stars were roped in to endorse 'Rally For Rivers'. Many celebrities from all walks of life had been invited, most of the time personally by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. A few had not responded but majority did!

Am only listing a few here from many walks of life..

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw - MD of Biocon and One of the most successful women entrepreneurs of all time in India - has about 1.25 Million followers on Twitter

Kajol, one of the most charming Bollywood actresses - has about 1.1 Million followers on Twitter

Rana Daggubati - A popular Tollywood actor has over 3.5 Million followers on Twitter

Virender Sehwag - Former Indian Cricket Team captain with over 12 Million followers on Twitter

Anand Mahindra - Executive Chariman of Mahindra Group and one of India's foremost entrepreneurs is one of the primary sponsors of the Rally - has a little over 5 Million followers on Twitter

Sonia Gandhi - Supported the cause of this Rally through their INC handle on Twitter with around 2.4 Million followers

Yogi Adiyanath - Chief Minister of UP, with around 1 Million followers

Now that the premise of the question is removed, the basic question still remains about why so many celebrities are required. The answer lies in the numbers I just quoted above.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has in multiple TV interviews with popular channels has reiterated that the 'Rally For Rivers' is not a mere rally for publicity. And that it is to bring about a permanent policy binding both Central and State Governments to take concrete actions for rejuvenation of India's dying rivers.

Any such government action would yield results over a period of at least 5 to 10 years only since active afforestation & management thereof takes that much time! Trees don't grow to our whims and fancies unfortunately.

If a Government has to take some step with such a long-term commitment, they would need massive public support in numbers behind them. That, my dear friends, is the key!

Rally For Rivers requests for public support through a missed call to this number - 8000980009.

When such popular public figures endorse this cause openly on Twitter, there is a hope that at least 10% their followers might follow suit. Even that can happen only when the celebrities repeatedly post about it. So, this is about gathering as much public support as possible to force governments that refuse to take action towards our dying rivers.

Isn't that a good thing!? I mean, come to think about when national parties like Congress and BJP have openly endorsed any single cause and joined hands to work towards the nation's well-being!?

As of the time of writing this blog, this is no more a campaign from Isha Foundation. Common Public has taken it up in their own hands and are standing by this in a big way.