Venkaiah backs Sri Sri event: ‘India’s prestige at stake’

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu speaks in the Lok Sabha in New Delhi. (PTI photo)

Attacking those who are trying to ‘block’ the mega gathering organised by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation on the banks of the Yamuna by raising environmental concerns, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said Thursday that they were doing so because it sought to glorify Indian culture.

“Anything that is Hindu, India, Bharatiya, you object,” Naidu said while talking to reporters at the Parliament.

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In an apparent allusion to Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he had expressed his solidarity with Leftist students accused of raising anti-India slogans, Naidu said the Congress vice-president “can go to Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon concert. But since Ravi Shankar is from India, so there are objections”.

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While pointing out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to attend the inaugural function of the World Culture Festival, Naidu said, “the prestige of the entire country is at stake…Nearly 35 world leaders are expected (to attend the festival).”