'Kumbh' is not a political issue, 'Stop politicising Kumbh', says Juna Akhara's Swami Avdheshanand
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Haridwar, May 19: A day after BJP accused the Congress of designing a toolkit to malign Kumbh as "super spreader" COVID-19 event, Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of Juna Akhara Swami Avdheshanand Giri Maharaj urged people not to politicise the religious event. He alleged that the culture, rituals, faith and traditions of the nation are being tarnished in a "well-planned manner".
In a video message, Swami Avdheshanand said, "A toolkit has been spreading propaganda that Kumbh was the reason behind the spread of COVID-19 cases across the country. While the Kumbh was ongoing in Uttarakhand, the cases in other states were already on the rise while the situation was not severe in the state (Uttarakhand)." "The culture, rituals, faith and traditions of the nation are being tarnished in a well-planned manner. Politicising the Kumbh is not good. The saint-community highly condemns this," Maharaj said.
The BJP had on Tuesday alleged that the toolkit has instructions for social media volunteers of Congress to call the new COVID-19 mutant as "Indian strain" or "Modi strain" against the World Health Organization (WHO)'s instructions. Swami Avdheshanand pointed out that the Kumbh was ended just after Prime Minister Narendra Modi requested for symbolic Kumbh in the view of rising coronavirus infections. "Have faith in the values and traditions of the country you are born in. Politicising Kumbh is not right," he added.
On April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appealed that the Kumbh Mela "should now only be symbolic amid the coronavirus crisis", stressing that it would give a boost to the fight against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The first Shahi Snan of Kumbh was held on March 11 on the occasion of Mahashivratri, while the second and third were held on April 12 and 14. The last snan took place on April 27. The duration of the Kumbh has been shortened to 30 days this year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.