By IANS
Yavatmal (Maharashtra) : Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Tuesday described the Tehelka expose on the 2002 communal carnage in Gujarat as shocking and said that the terrible violence was contrary to Hindu religious ethos.
“If what they have revealed is true, it is extremely shocking because Hindus are not known for such acts. It is not in the character of Hindu society to kill and burn others,” the spiritual guru told reporters during his visit to Maharashtra’s Vidarbha district, an area affected by a large number of suicides by distressed farmers.
“I congratulate the reporter (of Tehelka magazine) who has done this (the sting operation in which the perpetrators of the violence have been caught on camera admitting to the killings) and would like him to undertake similar operations on the anti-Sikh riots (of 1984) and Naxalite violence in the country,” Sri Sri said.
Describing the Maoist violence in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra as the biggest threat to the country’s internal security, Sri Sri urged the media to address the serious problem.
“I would appeal to the media to insist on the introduction of moral and spiritual instruction in the school curriculum as that would ennoble the young, impressionable minds,” he said, attributing violent tendencies to the disappearance of spiritual content from instruction at homes and schools.
“This is particularly true of the Hindu society today, which is why you will generally find Hindu youths among Naxal cadres,” Sri Sri said, pointing to the presence of Maoist rebels in Nepal but their absence in Bangladesh.