Bengaluru: Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jagadish Vasudev has called for the formation of a five-nation Himalayan Board involving India, China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan to strengthen regional cooperation in responding to disasters in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region.
According to an Isha Foundation statement issued on Monday, Sadhguru made the appeal while speaking at an event, In Solidarity With Nepal, held in Kathmandu on Sunday. He also pledged Rs 1 crore to Nepal’s Prime Minister Disaster Relief Fund for relief and rehabilitation efforts following devastating flash floods along the Nepal-Tibet border.
The disaster has left thousands missing, with many feared dead. Among those unaccounted for are 77 participants of the Isha Sacred Walks Kailash Sojourn, who were at the Gyirong immigration centre on the Chinese side of the border when the floods struck. Three Isha volunteers stationed on the Nepal side are also reportedly missing.
Calling for cooperation beyond political boundaries, Sadhguru said the Himalayan range must be treated as a shared ecological system by all countries through which it runs.
“The mountains do not know your political affiliation. The mountains do not know what nonsense or language you speak. Even if you cannot administer it as one body, at least consultation must happen as one body,” he said.
He said a Himalayan Board comprising the five countries must be established without delay, stressing that the region’s fragile ecosystem required joint action and long-term protection.
“A body comprising all these nations where the Himalayan ranges run has to happen now. Even if political administrations are separate, the mountain ranges have to be looked at as a feature that needs to be protected for future generations,” he said.
Sadhguru said the scale of the disaster was beyond what could have been anticipated and maintained that Nepal should not be left to manage its consequences alone.
“Nobody expected something like this to happen. But now that it has happened, we must look at this because this is not something a small nation like Nepal can solve by themselves,” he said.
At the event, actor Manisha Koirala asked Sadhguru about the lessons people could draw from such devastation. In response, he said people must remain conscious of the fragility of life rather than waiting for disasters to confront them with mortality.
“As a human being, we should not wait for disasters to happen. The first and foremost thing to understand about being human is that we should know every moment of our life that we are mortal,” he said.
Sadhguru also urged people not to attribute the disaster to divine, mystical or ideological explanations, saying such interpretations could diminish the suffering of those affected.
“Physical phenomena are physical phenomena ruled by physical laws. So let us not belittle human suffering by giving philosophies, ideologies or mystical explanations,” he said.
He further announced that Kala Bhairava Karma, a consecrated death ritual performed at the Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore for people who have died of natural or unnatural causes, would be conducted for those who died in the disaster.
The Kathmandu event brought together people to express solidarity with the victims. Sadhguru said immediate relief efforts must be supported by sustained regional cooperation to safeguard the Himalayan ecosystem and improve preparedness for future disasters.