BJP’s ‘Yagna’ Model of Governance: Gujarat Government to Conduct Yagnas for Monsoon

In the face of a water crisis, the Gujarat government has decided to seek divine intervention to invite good monsoons. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Vijay Rupani, will hold 41 “parjanya yagnas (a ritual of igniting holy fire to solicit monsoons)” on May 31 in all the 33 districts and eight major cities of Gujarat, to appease the gods Indra and Varuna who are believed to be masters of rain, according to the Hindu mythology.

It has been reported that along with a particularly hot summer, the state’s 204 reservoirs have dipped to being only 29 per cent full, as opposed to 40 per cent at the same time last year. The present water levels are sufficient for a month. However, if the monsoon doesn’t arrive on time the state could face an acute water crisis.

The decision to conduct the yagnas was taken at the state cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. Deputy CM Nitin Patel said, “The government has decided to organise parjanya yagna on May 31 to pray for good monsoon in the state. The yagnas will be held at 41 places across Gujarat after which prasad will be distributed. I along with CM Vijay Rupani, state ministers and senior officers will take part in the yagna, which will be followed by a public meeting."

All the district collectors have been instructed to organise the yagnas in their respective districts and senior IAS officer A M Tiwari has been put in charge of the event. “It has been decided to bring special ‘kalash’ from Muradabad, Uttar Pradesh, and distribute it on large scale and motivate villagers and city dwellers to join the yagnas,” a top source in the secretariat was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

This most recent instance of conducting yagnas in the name of bringing about solutions to environmental issues, at times by using government funds, comes on the back of various such moves by BJP governments and Hindutva outfits.

Just earlier this month, the Gujarat government conducted a yagna inside the Gir forest purportedly for the benefit of the wildlife. Somehow a yagna of 108 pits, conducted in the Kankai Mata temple - deep within the Gir wildlife sanctuary, was supposed to benefit the wildlife within the sanctuary. CM Vijay Rupani did not attend the event, however, sources within the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) were quoted as saying "It is not due to any protest, but he has a tight schedule and everyone is concentrating on the water crisis.”

In March, an organisation in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh – ruled by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP – burnt 500 quintals of mango wood, to supposedly reduce pollution. A spokesperson of the organisation (Shri Ayutchandi Mahayagna Samiti) tried to provide ‘theological’ proofs to substantiate his arguments. He is reported to have said ''Yagna leads to purification and removal of pollution. Mango wood burnt after pouring ghee made from cow milk helps in reducing pollution." However, he had also added, “There is no scientific evidence to it yet because no research has been done so far."

Another member had claimed, "It only purifies the air, according to a scientific report, the Ozone layer above our country is the least damaged because yagnas are done here frequently.”

The BJP has also organised yagnas for other absurd reasons. In March, they had organised a “Rashtra Raksha Mahayagna” or a yagna for national security. This was attended by various union ministers and senior BJP leaders. East Delhi BJP MP Maheish Girri, who had conceived and organised the Mahayagya, said that it will “not only ensure the security of the country’s borders, but also pave the path of prosperity”.

Article 51A of our constitution says “It shall be the duty of every citizen of India to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reforms”. One can only wonder as to how a government which holds yagnas for every issue will enable citizens to carry out this fundamental duty. What the nation is witnessing is the reinterpretation, by the BJP, of “good governance” as governance through yagnas. It is also a mockery of the idea of a secular India that government funds are being directed towards conducting such yagnas.