Symbolic one hour fast by Harish Rawat and Kishore Upadhyay demanding opening of Chardham Yatra, rendering thousands jobless

The former Uttarakhand chief minister, chairman of Congress campaign committee, Uttarakhand and general secretary of All India Congress Committee Harish Rawat along with with his followers today sat on a symbolic one hour fast followed by former Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyay and activists of Forests Rights Movement in a forest of Tehri Garhwal in protest against closure of Chardham Yatras in Garhwal, Uttarakhand demanding forthwith opening of the Chat Dhar portals that has rendered thousands of local inhabitants involved in petty businesses and Yatra related jobs in a stare of immense financial jeopardy, finding it difficult to survive. The former chief minister Harish Rawat has while expressing his disenchantment over the protracted closure of Char Dham Yatras has said that while on the one hand all the educational institutions, offices, businesses and transport services have been opened in the state on the other hand closure of the Char Dham Yatra portals gave led to thousands of people associated directly and indirectly with these Yatras have been rendered in immense financially jeopardy making their survival difficult. He demanded that the state government should take serious view of the grievances of thousands of suffering people and give assurance to the honourable high court requesting for opening of the Yatra. With Congress leader of Uttarakhand others who sat on the symbolic hunger strike demanding opening of Chardham Yatra are president of the Tehri district Congress Coordination committee Soban Singh Negi, Chamba Congress block president Rajendra Dobhal, Deepak Chamoli n others. In a series of tweets former Congress chief Harish Rawat said : i am sitting on one hour fast in front of my house in Dehradun today demanding opening of Chardham Yatras in Uttarakhand. If this, season goes without the Yatra then the entire year will go waste fir the pilgrims tourists putting negative impact on the people and the state. The government should manage the Char Dham Yatra by giving assurances of strictly adhering to Covid protocols taking precautions. Though there are apprehensions of the third wave of Corona emerging but the life goes on. I am extremely perturbed n anguished tweeted Harish Rawat.

Some people are reacting that a symbolic fast of an hour is nothing but a joke.