BVHAlliance Meeting, Jan. 24, 2010

Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance Meeting
Date: January 24, 2010
Venue: Friends of Vrindavan Office

Attendees:
Chandan Goswami
Sevak Sharan
(wife of Sevak Sharan – name?)
Ashish Verma
Jagannath Poddar
B.K. Shukla
Vinod Jha
Hari Mohan Malviya
Sadhu Maharaj
Madhu Mangal Shukla
Arup Govinda Das
B.A. Paramadvaiti Swami
Katie Jo Walter
Gopinath Das

Points of Discussion/Decisions Rendered:

Vrindavan Research Institute joined the Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance

Meetings will henceforth be held weekly in light of important current events such as Kumbh Mela and Allahbad High Court Ruling regarding bridge construction near Keshi Ghat

Chandan Gosami presented on NGO’s willingness to help on bridge issue and their suggested strategy of:

a) Gaining as many signatures as possible on the petition to stop the bridge
b) Getting foreigners to write to the Indian embassies in their respective countries about the issue

Sevak Sharan stressed the importance of informing people about what the BVH is and what its goals are. There is a BVH mission statement in English that needs to be translated into Hindi.

Jagannath Poddar suggested that Madhu Mangal Shukla officially convene all future meetings. Members of the alliance agreed to this proposition.

Discussion of Global Kirtan event at Keshi ghat on January 30th and how to promote it in Vrindavan.

Chandan Goswami shared a presentation he has been showing to local groups and plans to take to some schools. Presentation addressed problems associated with present & past development schemes, pollution and preservation of heritage.

Importance of placing Yamuna at the top of the agenda was stressed and this was subdivided into the issues of pollution, bridge construction and ghat restoration/preservation.

Importance of involving the media is stressed; Madhu Mangal Shukla agrees to hold press conferences and Chandan Goswami mentions contact with a documentary filmmaker who wants to focus on the Yamuna. Chandan Goswami has also been in touch with few news channels.

Jagannath Poddar said that Friends of Vrindavan will have a tent at Kumbh Mela and that petition signatures will be gathered there, along with public feedback on other environmental and conservation issues in Vrindavan.

A supplementary meeting to discuss these issues in further detail will be held On January 26, 2010 at Vrindavan Research Institute.

Vaishnavacharya Chandan Goswami

www.shriradharaman.com
www.sriradharaman.com/blog