Art of Living Guru “Sri Sri” Not Interested in Political Office, Supports Anna Movement

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Washington, DC – India America Today caught up in Washington, DC this week with Darshak Hathi, the visiting International Director of the Art of Living Foundation and self-proclaimed core team member of India Against Corruption (IAC), as another indefinite fast was planned for July 25, 2012 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

Being an insider of the Art of Living movement, Hathi categorically denied any chances of Ravi Shankar accepting a government position in the future, saying, “No, of course not. That’s why if you see, right from the beginning he was a backbone of the whole movement. He has never come on the forefront. Except when Anna Ji was on the fast, and he was there to appeal Anna Ji to break the fast,” adding, “Right from the beginning, he’s always in the background.”

Noting that he himself is a committee member of Anna Hazare’s team, Hathi said about his trip to the US, “I was going around and meeting the IAC people who have contributed here, because we’re going for one more agitation on the 25th of July. So I had a couple of meetings in New York and New Jersey, and now today in Washington. So just exchanging the ideas and seeing how they can contribute to the cause.”

Asked to comment on how the Art of Living is involved in the latest agitation of Anna Hazare, Hathi, said, “Sri Sri is a founding member of IAC. Way back in 2011, he started the movement with Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal and Ramdev Ji. I still remember in January, we had the first press conference in New Delhi, and we launched the whole thing.”

Hathi said that the Anna movement is “strongly supported by thousands of volunteers of Art of Living, at every level, at the district level, the state level, to mobilize the people, to bring the different organizations together and work for it.”

The Art of Living has been working for the past two months, said Hathi, adding, “We are doing more people-to-people contact. We’re also organizing yathras in different districts. So we’ve covered more than 16, 17 states now in India. Again, making volunteers and inviting different organizations to participate. So Art of Living is just working for it.”

Hathi stated he felt that the way the media handles the July 25 agitation would go a long way in shaping up the course and that the organizers have permission until August 8 to hold the agitation and then “the team and Anna Ji decides.”

Commenting on actions planned after that, Hathi anticipated, “We’ll go for the Jail Bharo Andolan, or take up the agitation to the next level.”

On August 9, Baba Ramdev will start his agitation, he said, but when asked why Ramdev is having another agitation, Hathi explained, “Ramdev Ji has his agenda of the black money, and we’re fighting for Jan Lokpal. So if you see, the strategy is different. Here we are emphasizing on passing the Jan Lokpal Bill, and his attention is on the black money. But somewhere it is connected with one cause, that is corruption, so that’s where we’re coming together and working.”

On the question of the politicizing of the agitation and whether there was a shadow government with a projected prime minister and other positions being finalized, Hathi said, “As of now we have not decided to go for a political intervention. Of course we’re thinking in that direction. But we don’t have a strategy as of now. So we’ll see after this agitation how things are shaping up, and then we’ll decide, because we still have two years to think about it.”

“We’re not just talking about the corruption but about the larger picture. You know, reforming our India for the generations to come. So that is my appeal to all the Indians, to come together and work for the country,” concluded Hathi. (IATNS)

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