ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner Gauranga Das along with Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at the event |
A person following his religion peacefully in any country should be respected, said ISKCON’s Governing Body Commissioner Gauranga Das referring to the recent arrest of ISKCON monk Chinmoy Das in Bangladesh. At a conference org.sed by ISKCON’s Govardhan EcoVillage, Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan also said that Das should not bow down to the evil forces.
Govardhan EcoVillage, a project of ISKCON Chowpatty, org.sed LiFE 2024, a conference on ‘Bharatiya Perspective on Sustainability’ at the National Stock Exchange in Bandra Kurla Complex on Wednesday. Over 200 delegates, from administration, academia, industry and social impact sectors, from across the country attended the conference.
Talking about the arrest of senior ISKCON monk Chinmoy Das in Bangladesh, Das said, “While India and Bangladesh are discussing the matter on government level, ISKCON is also holding discussions in Bangladesh at its level. Any person in any country who is following his religion peacefully should be respected. ISKCON has thousands of followers in Bangladesh and we hope that the tense situation will end soon.”
Amid rising instances of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh, Chinmoy Das was arrested by the Dhaka Metropoliton Police on Monday. While Hindus in Bangladesh and across the world have opposed the police’ action, India’s Ministry of External Affairs also called the arrest “unfortunate” and said that a peaceful religious leader was detained while perpetrators of attacks against minorities remain at large.
Speaking at LiFE 2024, Maharashtra Governor Radhakrishnan also raised concerns regarding Das’ arrest by Bangladesh authorities. “I feel very bad about swamiji’s arrest. Although his time in prison will give him a lot of pain, it will lead him to do many good things. We should never bow our head in front of evil forces,” he added.
The conference on ‘Bharatiya Perspective on Sustainability’, focused on themes like consciousness, culture and sustainability as well as leveraging sustainability economics. A structured approach to develop the Indian Knowledge System on sustainability, centered around Indian traditional roots, wisdom literature, scientific yet practical outlook and nature-friendly living was proposed at the conference.
Gauranga Das, who is also the director of Govardhan Ecovillage, said that the Bharatiya perspective of sustainability revolves around seven aspects that include adopting a healthy lifestyle, responsible food consumption, responsible water consumption, responsible energy consumption, responsible waste management, responsible plastic waste management and responsible e-waste management.
“The first phase will focus on change in desire of Indian lifestyle, second will focus on change in supply from industry and the final phase will be the change in policy making. Currently we are trying tochanging people’s desire for lifestyle after which the industry will change its supply trend and accordingly we will urge the government to make necessary changes in policies for a sustainable future,” added Das.
S Gurumurthy, a director on the central board of the Reserve Bank of India, outlined a four-pronged approach to advancing India’s journey towards sustainability. He called upon concerned individuals to unite in transforming development into a greener, more sustainable endeavor. He also reflected on India’s traditional way of life, which emphasizes harmony with nature and minimal resource consumption, contrasting it with the consumption patterns of the West.
Raman Kant, who is known as the River Man of India, said, “Traditional Indian societies were based on the banks of rivers and rivers have been a part of our religious, spiritual and social events. However, since rivers started drying, polluted and encroached, we have moved away from them. We need to rejuvenate our rivers and recharge ground water for a sustainable future.”
Notable academicians, authors and researchers including IIT Mumbai professor Varadraj Bapat, IIT indore professor Ganti Murthy and IIT Mumbai professor Ganesh Ramakrishnan also joined the conference.
