I see ulterior motives behind protest against Yamuna event, says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

"Let me make it very clear that we will never do anything which will damage the environment. When we got the permission to host the event at that place (Yamuna riverbed)... it was already damaged. There was filth around the area...we have not cut a single tree. We will not accept it (the fine), we will contest it in the Supreme Court," Sri Sri said.

     A day after the National Green Tribunal slapped a fine of Rs 5 crore on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living foundation over damages to the environment for the controversial World Culture Festival to be held on the banks of Yamuna in New Delhi, the spiritual guru came out in defense of the mega event.

   Sri Sri Ravi Shankar spoke strongly against those criticising the three-day culture fest. Sri Sri insisted that the AoL will never do anything that will harm the environment and said that he will appeal against the Rs 500 crore fine in the Supreme Court. "Let me make it very clear that we will never do anything which will damage the environment. When we got the permission to host the event at that place (Yamuna riverbed)... it was already damaged. There was filth around the area...we have not cut a single tree. We will not accept it (the fine), we will contest it in the Supreme Court," Sri Sri said. "We have taken all the necessary permissions. We started preparations for the event only having the green signal for it. We would have shifted the venue had there been any opposition to it 5-6 months back. But it all started when the stage has come up," he added.

Why Yamuna?

Reiterating that the event will not damage the Yamuna plains, Sri Sri said that the river bed was selected as the venue as no stadium or auditorium has the capacity to host such a mega event. "We will assure that the place will be as clean, as bio-diverse as it was before. In 2010, we launched a campaing 'meri Dilli, meri Yamuna', to clean the river. We removed tonnes of filth from the river. We have so much passion for Yamuna, how could anybody think we could damage the river?" he said "37,000 artists are going to perform, lakhs of people are going to attend. Which closed auditorium can host such a huge event?" Sri Sri asked.

"I see ulterior motives"

"I just have one question for those making hullaballoo over the event. Why are you not concerned about the environment at Batla House? Commonwealth Games village was also built ... two wrongs can't make one thing right but what I am saying is that there is some motive behind this sudden protest against the event. Some ulterior motives...," Sri Sri said.

"Don't politicise the event"

Responding to the charge by the Opposition parties that the government went out of its way to grant permission for the World Culture Festival, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, "I request them not to politicise this. We haven't taken any favours. This is an event of very big magnitude. It is bigger that FIFA, World Cup ..."

"PM Modi to attend the event"

Some reports said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi may not attend the event starting March 11 but Sri Sri confirmed that the PM will certainly be inaugurating World Culture Festival. Earlier this week, President Pranab Mukherjee pulled out of the event without giving any specific reason for it. "The President cannot attend the function due to unavoidable circumstances," an official of the Rashtrapati Bhavan had said.