International Green Raksha Bandhan Celebrations
August 18, 2016
The first ever International Green Raksha Bandhan was held at Talkatora Stadium, Delhi. It was conceived and led by Mananiya Indresh Kumarji, National Executive Member of RSS, and HH Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji. The theme of the celebration was World Peace & Preservation and Protection of the Environment, organized jointly by DSF and FANS. More than 100 groups with participants from more than 40 countries participated.
Pujya Swamiji said “There can be no protection of our sisters, our mothers and our daughters without simultaneously ensuring that they have adequate, safe and clean sanitation facilities. This is why the motto for this Raksha Bandhan should be to every brother ‘Tilak Lagao, Toilet Banao.’ If his sister already has a toilet then a toilet in her name should be built for another sister, another women, who doesn’t have this basic facility. Therefore, let our mantra be: Raksha Bandhan Manaye Lekhen Sauchalaya Bhi Banaye.”
Sadhvi Bhagawatiji emphasized the importance of understanding what actions could truly protect our sisters and mothers in modern times and she shared that adequate WASH is definitely the first and most important. She shared that nearly 600 million people in India are forced to defecate out in the open and nearly half of them must be women. She shared that when women are forced to risk the dark of night to defecate out in the open she is subject to threats to her dignity and her well being, hence safe and sufficient WASH for every women is vital.
All leaders also emphasised that Raksha Bandhan is a celebration of our ties to each other, as one world family, and with Mother Nature. By tying a sacred Rakhi or “Safety Band” over the wrist of someone, we are tied together in a divine bond of love and compassion.
