He was speaking during a session at the Jaipur Literature Festival.
"Indians worship rivers, particularly the Ganga, because of its life-giving properties. Rivers give water and have spiritual significance. If you kill the life-giving force, you kill divine nature," he said.
"The Ganga is a living river. Indians are killing the Ganga, and the Ganga in turn killing Indians. This is what is happening," he said.
Speaking at the session 'River of Life, River of Death: The Ganges and India's Future', he recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign had praised the river and promised to organise a clean up its polluted water.
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