Once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize,spiritual guru and Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says though a court verdict on the Ayodhya issue seems inevitable,it is not sufficient for enduring peace unless there is give-and-take. The guru terms the CWG mess an unpardonable and says matters flared up in Kashmir after the present state government came to power. Excerpts from an interview with Vivek Sinha: The country is awaiting the Ayodya verdict. Can a court verdict in a matter of faith lead to a lasting solution? When the talks broke down between the two groups,they had no other recourse than to go to court. Several attempts were made,but there was adamancy and lack of trust between the two parties. Court had to play a role. For any talks to succeed,there should be a give-and-take. It cannot happen by tu-tu-main-main. Political parties must stay away and let religious leaders decide the issue. Have you received any government support in your peace initiatives,especially with Naxals? I wish there had been more support. The people in the government do not seem to believe peace is possible through talks. The bureaucracy and the government just see conventional methods. With development and spiritual education,people abdicate violence. Have you offered to broker peace with Naxals? I have always offered and I am still offering to mediate. Any response from the government? For them,our ideas seem to be too unreal. On the Kashmir violence,both sides have their stated,rigid positions. Is plebiscite an idea? In Kashmir,the situation worsened only over the last year because of bureaucrats and because the politicians who were elected disappointed the people. In 2000,the situation was bad but it improved drastically since then. Tourism increased. There was a huge turnout in the last elections. Kashmir seems to be sitting on a tinderbox,waiting for a spark to flare up. But so is Bengal. So is the North-east,where Hindu families are suffering in the border villages. Similar situation exists in Nagaland,Mizoram and Tripura. But North-east is ignored. Extremism is on the rise in Batkal in Karnataka and Kerala. Country needs a wave of cultural renaissance to get back the self-confidence and a sense of belonging. The Commonwealth Games mess has been very embarrassing. Its a shame which is unpardonable. In 2006,Art of Living held its silver jubilee celebrations in Bangalore. Nearly 2.5 million people and 70 heads of state came. There was no mishap. We spent not more than Rs 12-15 crore. Here,they have spent Rs 65,000 crore and got such a shame. Asharam Bapu has been caught on camera saying things he should not have been saying as a spiritual guru. Whatever he has said and done is totally unacceptable. But people should learn to discriminate between these gurus. Is there something called saffron terror Chidambaram referred to? I dont want to comment on it. Its his opinion and everybody has the right to free speech. But there have been instances in which the trail in bomb blast cases has led to Hindu fundamentalist outfits. Shadow of extremism in one religion is bound to fall on other religions. Buddhists in Thailand have taken to violence. Its bound to happen. But in India,its miniscule and containable.
