Renowned social activist Swami Agnivesh passes away

Swami Agnivesh: My ideal of social justice runs counter to the casteism of Sangh Parivar

He was elected to the Haryana Assembly in 1977 and was made education minister after two years. He, however, resigned from the post in protest against the Haryana government’s inaction against police who had opened fire at workers protesting bonded labour.

Swami Agnivesh also led several initiatives to foster peace and interfaith harmony in Kashmir at the height of militancy, his website notes. In 2010, he was tasked by the Congress government to open a dialogue with the Maoist leadership. A year later he was part of the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare. He was forced to split from the group after a video surfaced allegedly showing him speaking to a minister from the Congress government. It was around this time that Swami Agnivesh appeared on reality TV show Bigg Boss as a guest.

Swami Agnivesh, who was president of World Council of Arya Samaj till 2014, had also angered Hindu groups for his comments on Amarnath shrine in Jammu & Kashmir. Agnivesh, they alleged, insulted Lord Shiva by saying that the ice stalagmite doesn’t hold any religious significance.

In 2018, he was attacked by protesters allegedly belonging to the BJP’s youth wing in Jharkhand. Videos of the attack showed protesters asking Agnivesh to “go back” while calling him a “Pakistani agent”.

A month later, Agnivesh was assaulted on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in New Delhi on his way to pay tribute to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.