A bad precedent

It is heart-rending to read that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s grand cultural fest came at the cost of farmers’ livelihood as standing crops were destroyed to build approach roads to the festival venue without compensating the farmers adequately. This when the Central government boasts it will double farmers’ incomes in five years. Why was the World Culture Festival given the go-ahead by the Centre This apart, it is unbecoming of the spiritual leader to have challenged the authority of the NGT by refusing to pay the '5 crore penalty upfront.

Sandipan Khan

Via email