It was an agitation for the issue, by former Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Harish Rawat, which never existed. Shri Rawat staged a dharna and observed fast in Haridwar and later apologised from the saints for his protest. He tried to mislead the people of Uttarakhand but could not. He observed a fast in Haridwar against the so-called renaming of Har Ki Pauri after second RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Guruji. He organised the protest in spite of the clarification by the state government that it has no plan to rename the Har Ki Pauri after anyone.
Without going into the facts Shri Rawat even alleged that the attempt to change the name of Har Ki Pauri by the BJP Government was ?an attack on the faith of millions of Hindus?. Recalling that Har Ki Pauri was known all over the world and millions of pilgrims visited it each year, its original name could never be changed at any cost.
He urged all Congressmen to join him on the issue. He stated that he would also keep a fast in January at Kurukeshetra, Pushkar, Ujjain, Ahmedabad and some other places across the country in protest against the renaming of the Har Ki Pauri. He also said to hold a similar dharna and fast on January 14 in Bageshwar.
Harish Rawat'saction received sharp reaction from the saints of the state. In fact the saints of Haridwar had proposed to rename a ghat of the Ganga in Haridwar after former RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Guruji during his birth centenary year celebrated last year across the world. There was no proposal or demand to rename the famous Har Ki Pauri.
Reacting on it, Swami Hansdas, national general secretary of Sant Samiti, accused the Congress of misleading the public on the issue. He claimed that it was the ghat from Kangra Bridge to Bhimgauda Bridge that was to be named after former RSS chief. He reminded that the proposal to name the unnamed ghat after Guruji Golwalkar had been passed on September 9, 2006 at the Ganga Himalaya Chintan Shivir during the Congress rule. He said when the Sant Samaj passed the proposal the Congress had opposed it and had also claimed that the ghat was already named after Sanjay Gandhi. This proved that it was not the Har Ki Pauri, which was being renamed but a ghat.
Mahant Durgadas said the Congress was only misleading the people and no one could even propose to rename Har Ki Pauri. Baba Hathyogi said it was ironic that the Congress, which never raised an issue related to Hindus in general, had suddenly become so sympathetic to Hindu feelings that it was raising a bogey.
Having seen the ire of the saints, Harish Rawat begged pardon from the saints for his fast and staging dharna and protest against the renaming of the ghat. He realised that the saints were right in criticising him for misleading the people.
