Vijay Das, a seer who had immolated himself during a demonstration against illegal stone mining in the hills near Deeg in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district, succumbed to his burn injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi early on July 23. He was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition with 80% burns on Thursday.
Mr. Das was initially rushed to Jaipur for treatment on Wednesday but shifted to the hospital in New Delhi the next day. After the postmortem examination, the body will be taken to Barsana in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district for cremation.
BJP MP from Bharatpur Ranjita Koli said that Vijay Das had fallen victim to the activities of the powerful mining mafia playing havoc with the ecology in Bharatpur. “The protest against this by our seers and common people will be reason for the downfall of Congress government in Rajasthan,” Ms. Koli tweeted.
While former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident, saying it had exposed the “anarchy” prevailing in the State, BJP national president J.P. Nadda appointed a four-member committee to visit Bharatpur and ascertain the facts. Headed by BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, the committee will have three MPs as its members.
This comes two days after the seers called off the protest, having been assured by the State government that a notification would be issued within 15 days to mark the entire region as forest area. The government has since decided to transfer 662.25-hectare land in Sikri tehsil and 95.15-hectare land in Pahari tehsil to the Forest Department with the instructions to carry out an intensive plantation. The over 40 mines that were operating in the region will be moved elsewhere.
The hills of Kankachal and Adi Badri near Deeg form part of the famous Braj Chaurasi pilgrimage circuit. Seers looking after the pilgrimage had long since been demanding the removal of stone quarries; they wanted the entire region declared as a forest area through a notification to stop any kind of mining activities.
(Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling any of the following numbers: Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health - 011-4076 9002, Monday-Saturday, 10 am -7.30 pm)
