Unnao gold excavation an act of sheer madness: Pawar

Says it was strange and unfortunate that the govt agencies should undertake digging work at behest of a sadhu

Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar has hit out at the government-sponsored gold excavation in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.

“Those in office should not lose their sense of proportion. They need to tell people in no uncertain terms that there is no alternative to hard work. Those in power should be the first to follow this principle. There is no short-cut to wealth and prosperity. Politicians should do well to remember this, and political parties too. People will follow them,” Pawar said.

The NCP chief argued that religion is a matter of personal choice. “However, we will succeed in nurturing our Generation Next only if we succeed in upholding secularism and in promoting scientific temper,” he noted.

According to him, it was strange and unfortunate that the government agencies should undertake the digging work at the behest of a sadhu who, it is said, dreamt of a treasure chest concealed in the dark interiors of a medieval fort.

“Doing so may send wrong signals to the people and give further credence to godmen. Consequently, the entire country will have to pay a heavy price for this,” he observed.

The Unnao incident had thrown up several interesting asides. “For instance, an official statement claimed that the excavation has been prompted not by a sadhu’s dream, but by scientific data based on the findings of a team of geologists. However, the fact remains that the sadhu helped the experts draw up the boundaries of the fort. Worse, the excavation work was flagged off with great fanfare and ceremony. What are we up to? Isn’t this sheer madness?” he said.