RAIPUR: When the prisoners cannot go to the Maha Kumbh for a dip, the Ganja Jal comes to them in the prison. That’s what happened in the jails of Chhattisgarh as ignoring ridicule by Congress, Home Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vijay Sharma, brought Sangam water and distributed it to the state’s jails for 18,000-odd inmates to “cleanse” themselves.
The water was mixed with regular water in 33 prisons, including five central and 20 district jails and eight sub-jails. The inmates took a joint ‘dip’ (read ‘snan’) as ‘Har Har Gange’ chants rent the air. The jail administration is nursing the hope that the ‘snan’ with Ganga Jal would inspire the prisoners to change for the better.
The home minister justified his action: “I recently went to Prayagraj, brought Ganga Jal, and distributed it to all state jails. The Ganga snan in all jails kindled the sentiments of Mahakumbh and our cultural traditions. The prisoners got to cleanse themselves spiritually with Ganga Jal.”
Opposition Congress questioned the initiative and dismissed the government organising the event as a “political gimmick.
The Leader of the Opposition, Charandas Mahant, mocked the government, saying: “When the Ganga Jal is considered to cleanse all sins, then through such an event, all registered criminals lodged in the jail can be deemed to have washed away their wrongdoings. So I think that after all these paapis (sinners) have taken a bath from sacred waters and purportedly getting cleansed of all their sins, there should be an arrangement to set these criminals free from prisons
The Congress reminded the ruling party that many criminals guilty of grave offences were lodged in jails, suggesting their sins wouldn’t go so quickly. The BJP countered, saying that Congress was known to play politics over Ganga Jal.
State Congress president Deepak Brij shot back: “It is a strange tamasha of the BJP. Can bathing with Ganga Jal turn criminals into sadhu-sant (saints)? It’s better if the chief minister and state ministers take Ganga Jal bath to purify their karma.”