KEJRIWAL WRITES TO PM, DEMANDS BHARAT RATNA FOR BAHUGUNA

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the central government to consider awarding Bharat Ratna — India’s highest civilian award — to environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna, a founding member of the Chipko movement.

The CM initially raised the demand on July 15 while commemorating the legacy of Bahuguna at Delhi’s Vidhan Sabha where the government installed a portrait and a stone to remember the environmental activist.

In his letter to the PM, written on Friday, Kejriwal said, “In the 75th year of India’s independence, when we are working to honour our freedom fighters and legends who drove our nation towards the right direction, I request you on behalf of the Delhi government that Sunderlal Bahuguna be honoured with the award of the Bharat Ratna. We believe that conferring Bharat Ratna on Sunderlal Bahuguna ji will be an honour for the Bharat Ratna award itself. I hope that you will consider this request of the Delhi government and take an appropriate decision in this direction at the earliest.”

Uttarakhand native Bahuguna, aged 94, died of Covid-19 at a hospital in Rishikesh on May 21.

A recipient of India’s secondhighest civilian award, Padma Vibhushan, Bahuguna’s work revolved around people’s rights over forests in the Himalayas.

The Aam Aadmi Party had earlier announced that it plans to contest all 70 seats in the Assembly elections in Uttarakhand next year.

“Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Bahuguna spent his childhood fighting for the freedom of the country...after Independence, inspired by Sant Vinoba Bhave, he committed himself towards the goal of Bhoodan and Gram Swaraj Yojana. When the world was blindly engaged in the environment’s exploitation and the sense of environmental protection was not even a part of the international discourse, sensing the threat upon the nation and the entire world, Bahuguna dedicated himself to the cause of protecting the environment,” Kejriwal said.

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