Making efforts to convert mythological river ‘Saraswati’ into reality for the people of the State since it came to power in Haryana, BJP-led State Government has changed the name of Mustafabad village to “Saraswati Nagar” in Yamunanagar district.

A notification to this effect has been issued by Haryana Revenue and Disaster Management Department.

The village is located about 20 kms from the district headquarters and officials claims that an old dried-up riverbed of Saraswati river existed near the village.

Since the formation of first BJP Government in the State, Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar, who has been a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) ideologue, and other BJP ministers have been quite inclined to dig up the mystery behind the mythological river, given its significance in Hindu mythology.

The Saraswati river, considered sacred in Hindu religion, finds mention in ancient Hindu scriptures like the Rig Veda, Mahabharata, Ramayana and others, giving credence to the belief that it existed during those times.

Renaming the village Mustafad as “Saraswati Nagar” is seen as a major move to encourage the efforts of state government which already has made its intentions clear that it will go all out to dig out the mythological Saraswati river.

The BJP Government had in 2015 decided to restore Saraswati creek from Adi Badri to Mustafabad in Yamunanagar district and set up Adi Badri Heritage Board.

The `50 crore project to discover mythological Saraswati has a saffron connection as it was during the rule of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre in 2003 that an advisory committee of experts was constituted for multi-disciplinary study of Saraswati.

When Khattar Government came to power in Haryana in 2014, it decided constituting Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board (HSHDB) with an objective to initiate, promote and support research in the field of Saraswati heritage and also to assist in its preservation and restoration of the mythological river.

The Centre had earlier announced to provide financial assistance of `100 crore for the setting up of this Board.

The controversy about the existence of Saraswati river has been lasting for a long time. The previous Congress led State Government had in 2009 claimed to have traced the course of the river.

As per the State Government officials, the Saraswati river had dried up centuries ago and had gone missing from all maps. If revived, Saraswati may boost the state’s religious tourism besides quenching the thirst of villages located on its course.

The mention of the Saraswati river comes in the ‘Vedas’. Mythology has it that the ‘Vedas’ were written on the banks of the sacred river, which, according to Hindu religious beliefs, is believed to flowing underground now.

Chief Minister’s RSS credentials are well known and he along with his cabinet have apparently been pushing the RSS agenda, including passing a Bill for banning cow slaughter, inclusion of Gita “shlokas” and yoga in school curriculum and pledging unearthing mythical Saraswati river.

Khattar who has never denied his close links with the RSS, has completed more than an year as the head of a BJP government and has time and again stated that the cow, the Gita and Saraswati are articles of faith for the majority of the people and have a special place in the country.

The BJP led State Government had also celebrated Gita Jayanti Samaroh and Saraswati Mahotsav on a grand scale in the state.

With RSS calling the shots in Haryana, the BJP Government had in March imposed a complete ban on the sale of beef in any form in the state and had also made cow slaughter punishable by up to 10-year imprisonment following the passage of Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill 2015, for protection and upkeep of cows.

Apart from this, the State Government is all set to introduce Gita shlokas in the school curriculum during the upcoming academic session.

Already under fire from the opposition for providing a Hindutva orientation to education with introduction of Gita shlokas and yoga in school curriculum, Haryana Government is also considering changing the name of “Kurukshetra University” to “Gita University” following a request made by Cabinet Minister Ram Bilas Sharma in this regard.