Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:51): Today it is with great pleasure I rise to pay tribute to a living legend, an eminent eco-activist and a religious guru based in Punjab, India. I remember Wednesday 21 May 2014 being a wonderful day to have the great honour to welcome an inspiring spiritual leader, Baba Ji—Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal from India to Parliament House in South Australia. As a form of great respect (and for the benefit of Hansard) I will refer to this spiritual guru from now on as Baba Ji.

In the age of gurus and babas, Baba Ji preaches a different kind of message: protecting the environment through personal example, spiritual leadership and sustained community work. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Robbie Benipal, CEO and founder of Raabta Radio, a respected member of Adelaide's Indian community, for arranging this wonderful meeting. I was delighted to also meet with Mr Balbir Singh Billing from the Supreme Court of India and Punjab and Haryana High Court, as well as Mr Sukhjinder Pal Singh, Managing Director of Hope International. These distinguished gentlemen accompanied Baba Ji during his visit to Australia.

Baba Ji rose to international fame due to his prominent work in multiple fields in preserving environmental pollution, planting trees in wastelands, installing underground sewage systems in villages and towns, building roads and bridges in remote areas, establishing schools and colleges for the poor and needy and, most importantly, he is renowned for his contributions and leadership in purifying the 160 kilometres-long river, Kali Bein (the holy place where Guru Nanak received enlightenment).

Cleansing the Kali Bein River was a true and unique environmental success story. Like many rivers in India, Kali Bein over the years was turned into a filthy drain into which six towns and more than 40 villages emptied their waste. In 2000 Baba Ji, a Sikh holy man, was troubled by the state of the historical river and that human insensitivity was the cause for this toxic and deteriorating state. He therefore set out to clean up the mess. Drawing on the Sikh tradition of kar sewa, which translates into 'voluntary service', he and his followers empowered locals to clean the Kali Bein River, enlisting volunteers to do the physical work and raising funds for equipment.

At the height of this movement, people from more than two dozen villages were pitching in, averaging almost 3,000 volunteers per day. The scale of the task was remarkable. Volunteers cleared the entire riverbed of polluted water channels and built riverbanks and roads alongside the river. Some villages revived traditional methods of waste disposal and treatment, and farmers lined up for a share of the treated water.

The Kali Bein River is now at the forefront of religious and social activities, especially during World Environment Day. Also, the health of the river has brought prosperity to farmers and to the agricultural industry in India. In 2004, the former president of India, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, recognised Baba Ji's achievement as 'one of the nine great technological achievements in the country'. He acknowledged Baba Ji's community project of the Kali Bein in more than 35 of his national and international speeches and said that the Holy Bein project was ample illustration of the fact that religion can be an extremely effective means of preventing river water pollution through self-reflection, personal responsibility and community leadership.

I take this opportunity to congratulate Baba Ji for his amazing movement and ongoing campaign, which restores hope and faith in common people to achieve what was deemed beyond the competence of governments and larger organisations. Thank you, Baba Ji, for your outstanding contribution to the environment, humanity, education and health. Honourable members, I hope that you will join with me to acknowledge Baba Ji and his team in this parliament today.