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2021-12-21T20:10:24Z

References

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{{Distinguish|Nigamananda Paramahansa}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}

{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name =Nigamanand Saraswati
|image =Nigamananda Saraswati image.jpg
|alt =Nigamananda Saraswati image
|caption =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_date ={{Birth date|df=yes|1976|08|02}}
|birth_place = [[Darbhanga]], Bihar
|birth_name =Swaroopam Kumar Jha "Girish"
|death_date ={{Death date and age|df=yes|2011|06|13|1976|08|02}}
|death_place =
|nationality = Indian
|guru =
|disciple =
|philosophy =
|honors =
|founder =
|sect = 
|order =
|literary_works = 
|influenced =
|signature =
|signature_alt =
|footnotes =
}}

'''Nigamanand Saraswati''' or '''Swami Nigamananda''' (2 August 1976 – 13 June 2011), often referred to as Ganga Putra Nigamananda, was a [[Hindu]] monk,<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news|last=India News|first=BBC|title=India activist Swami Nigamanand 'was not poisoned'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-16351472|accessdate=14 May 2012|newspaper=BBC News|date=29 December 2011}}</ref> who went on a [[hunger strike]] on 19 February 2011 to save the river [[Ganges]] from [[Pollution of the Ganges|pollution]] caused by [[Illegal mining in India#Illegal mining and stone crushing in the Ganges river bed|illegal mining in the river bed]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Press Trust of India|title=Swami Nigamananda's death: Story of a saint who sacrificed life for Holy Ganges|url=http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-nigamananda-death-story-of-a-saint-who-sacrificed-life-for-holy-ganges-2190017.html|accessdate=8 September 2011|newspaper=Dainik Bhaskar|date=15 June 2011}}</ref> He was born in Ladari, Darbhanga and died on 13 June, the 115th day of his fast.<ref name="Swaminigamnews1">{{cite news|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/swami-nigamanand-death-path-report-hints-at-poisoning/1/141550.html|title=Swami Nigamanand's death: Pathology report hints at poisoning|publisher=[[India Today]]|date=15 June 2011}}</ref>

The movement against mining in the river Ganges started in December 1997, and Nigamanand was a central figure of this movement.<ref name="Divine Message">{{cite journal|last=Message|first=Divine|author2=Swami Nikhilanand Saraswati |author3=Swami Nigamanand Saraswati |author4=Swami Sachchidanand Saraswati |title=Crusade Against Illegal Mining|journal=Divine Message|date=2000–2001}}</ref>

==Early life==

Swami Nigamanand Saraswati was born Swaroopam Kumar Jha "Girish" on 2 August 1976. His family came from Ladari village in [[Darbhanga district]], Bihar. Swaroopam was often referred as Girish by his mother Kalpana Jha and other close relatives and friends. He was preparing for engineering entrance in [[Delhi]] after his schooling in 1993–95. During the same time he left his place in ''search of truth'' on 2 October 1995. He just left a letter for his family based in the Ladari village under Keoti police station in Darbhanga.<ref name="Mail Today">{{cite web|last=Today|first=Mail|title=Nigamanand's family blames his ashram for death|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/nigamanands-family-blames-his-ashram-for-death/1/141644.html|work=Giridhar Jha|publisher=India Today Group|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref>
He did not divulge where he was going. The young Girish continued the life of a [[mendicant]] [[sadhu]] living on [[alms]] for a couple of years, and during this [[wikt:period|period]] he travelled in various parts of [[North India]] for seeking the Truth. After three years his parents came to know that Nigamanand (Girish) was living at Matri Sadan,<ref>{{cite news|last=Shrivastava|first=Jitendra Kumar|title=Crusader kin fret over body|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110616/jsp/bihar/story_14117125.jsp|accessdate=12 September 2011|newspaper=The Telegraph, Calcutta|date=15 June 2011}}</ref> a [[hermitage (religious retreat)|hermitage]] in the outskirt of Haridwar, founded and run by Swami Shivanand and his disciples Gokulanand Saraswati and Nikhilanand Saraswati.

==Brief history of movement==
In 1997, a group of young activist monks gathered at right bank of the Ganges in Hardwar region of Uttarakhand. They have formed Matri Sadan, a socio-spiritual outfit to fight against corruption and destruction of environment and ecology. The group focused on the Ganges and the Himalayas. The inmates of Matri Sadan evolved a peaceful and nonviolent technique used by [[Mohandas K. Gandhi]] to protect the river from indiscriminate mining especially in the [[Haridwar Kumbh Mela|Kumbh Mela]] area of [[Haridwar|Hardwar]].<ref name="Holy Ganga">{{cite book|last=Kishore|first=Kaushal|title=The Holy Ganga|year=2008|publisher=Rupa & Co.|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788129114068|pages=244–245|url=http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/THE-HOLY-GANGA.aspx|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130108074111/http://www.rupapublications.co.in/client/Book/THE-HOLY-GANGA.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-01-08}}</ref> Their protest against mining continued for more than a decade. Nigamanand Saraswati along with his fellow companion launched a hunger strike in January 1998 and again in June of the same year. He fasted for over seventy days. Meanwhile, the organisation raised several [[satyagraha]], as they named the hunger strike, to eliminate indiscriminate quarrying in the Kumbh Mela area.<ref name="Holy Ganga" />

==Controversial death==
He again raised the illegal mining issue in February 2011, when he started his final hunger strike. He was taken to hospital on 27 April, the 68th day of his fast.<ref>{{cite web|title=Swami Nigamananda's death: Story of a saint who sacrificed life for Holy Ganges|url=http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-nigamananda-death-story-of-a-saint-who-sacrificed-life-for-holy-ganges-2190017.html|accessdate=21 February 2012}}</ref> On 30 April, he was allegedly given an injection by an unknown person dressed as a nurse.<ref name=Swaminigamnews1 /><ref name="The Hindu">{{cite web|last=Hindu|first=The|title=Swami Nigamanand buried|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2109755.ece|work=C. K. Chandramohan|publisher=The Hindu Daily|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref> At the Himalayan Institute Hospital (Jolly Grant), he was diagnosed with "unknown poisoning". He was treated with antidotes after the [[serum (blood)|serum]] report confirmed the poisoning.<ref name="Dinesh C. Sharma">{{cite web|last=Today|first=Mail|title=Swami Nigamanand's death: Pathology report hints at poisoning|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/swami-nigamanand-death-path-report-hints-at-poisoning/1/141550.html|work=Dinesh C. Sharma|publisher=India Today|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref>

He died on 13 June. A hospital spokesperson said prior to a [[post-mortem examination]] that the death was due to [[dehydration]]. Shivanand alleged that Nigamanand was killed on the orders of those whom he was opposing.<ref name="TV Today Group">{{cite web|last=Today|first=Mail|title=Sadhu dies after 115-day fast to save Ganga|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/swami-nigamanand-dies-after-115-day-fast-to-save-ganga/1/141435.html|work=Raju Gusain|publisher=Mail Today|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref> Nigamanand's grandfather Surya Narayan Jha claimed that Nigamanand was poisoned to death during treatment and accused the [[Uttarakhand]] government of insensitivity. He also sought a probe into the role of Nigamanand's guru, Shivanand, accusing him of forcing him to go on a fast.<ref name="Mail Today" /> The [[Indian National Congress]] Party was also quick to attack the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] over Swami Nigamanand's death. Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand assembly Harak Singh Rawat (Congress) had demanded CBI inquiry into the death.<ref name="Headlines Today">{{cite web|last=Today|first=India|title=Uttarakhand: Swami Nigamanand's death puts BJP in dock|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/uttarakhand-swami-nigamanands-death-puts-bjp-in-dock/1/141472.html|publisher=Headlines Today|accessdate=14 May 2012}}</ref> The pathological report of Nigamanand's serum sample showed evidence of [[organophosphate]] poisoning. The [[cholinesterase]] serum test is usually done to measure exposure to organophosphate insecticides. In the case of Nigamanand, doctors recommended it when his aides reported signs of poisoning.<ref name="Dinesh C. Sharma" /> The case was investigated by the CBI and a medical board but their outcomes did not satisfy Matri Sadan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbi.gov.in/pressreleases/pr_2011-12-28-1.php|title=CBI FILES A CLOSURE REPORT IN A CASE RELATING TO DEATH OF SWAMI NIGMANAND|type=Press Release, New Delhi |date=28 December 2011|accessdate=22 March 2013}}</ref>

Shivanand fasted for 11 days from 25 November 2011, to take forward Nigamanand's movement. Finally, the Uttarakhand government released an order to ban mining all over Hardwar district.<ref name="PioneerDec2011">[http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/25963-shivanand-breaks-fast-after-forcing-curb-on-ganga-bed-quarrying.html "Shivanand breaks fast after forcing curb on Ganga bed quarrying"]</ref> According to administration officials, quarrying on the Ganges would now be studied by a special committee which would assess its environmental impacts the river and its nearby areas.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}}

==Literary works==
Swami Nigamananda Saraswati was a researcher and scholar of Vedic literature. He was one of the editors of the socio-spiritual journal ''Divine Message''. The journal was published by the end of the 1991s by its editor-in-chief Swami Nikhilananda Saraswati, one of the founder monks of Matri Sadan. Swami Nigamanand Saraswati and Swami Satchidananda Saraswati were members of the editorial team of the journal. The quarterly journal published his long essays in every issue. He has focused on the Vedic texts in his writings. He has also contributed for certain other literary works during the sixteen years of his monastic life.<ref name="Radhika Nagrath">{{cite news|last=Nagrath|first=Radhika|title=Play on the life of a man who fasted till death for Ganga|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com|accessdate=4 March 2013|newspaper=Hindustan Times|date=13 June 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Illegal mining in India]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
*{{cite book|last=Mishra|first=Niranjan|title=Ganga Putravadanam|year=2013|publisher=Matri Sadan|location=Haridawar|pages=12, 34|url=http://matrisadan.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/book-release-on-swami-nigmanand-ji/}}
*{{cite news|last=Kishore|first=Kaushal|title=Ganga ka Sringar|url=http://jagran.com|accessdate=1 July 2013|newspaper=Jagran|date=1 July 2013}}
* {{cite web | title = Hell in holy land |publisher= Tehelka| url = http://www.tehelka.com/hell-in-holy-land/|date=2 July 2011}}

* நெருப்பு தெய்வம் நீரே வாழ்வு - தன்னறம் வெளியீடு (A story of Nigamananda and Matri sadhan Ashram in tamil)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saraswati, Nigamananda}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:People who died on hunger strike]]
[[Category:People from Darbhanga district]]
[[Category:Activists from Bihar]]
[[Category:Illegal mining in India]]
[[Category:Indian Hindu monks]]
[[Category:Indian environmentalists]]

Nigamananda Saraswati - Revision history

2402:3A80:195F:127B:181C:7C34:194F:2525: /* References */