Outrage over 'Sangam' liquor name, seers threaten agitation if not withdrawn

Seers have expressed strong displeasure over a liquor company selling alcohol under the brand name Sangam, apparently named after the sacred confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the ancient Saraswati, threatening agitation if the liquor brand is not removed from the market.

Seers have expressed strong displeasure over a liquor company selling alcohol under the brand name 'Sangam', apparently named after the sacred confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the ancient Saraswati, threatening agitation if the liquor brand is not removed from the market. The seers are protesting against the name 'Sangam World Malt Whisky', launched in 2024 and produced by Radico Khaitan Limited (formerly Rampur Distillery). Jagatguru Ramanujacharya Shandilya Maharaj, while addressing reporters at the Bharadwaj Ashram on Friday, said, ''In our Sanatan Dharma, the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and Saraswati, located in Prayagraj, is called Sangam. The Sangam area is highly revered around, and people from all over the world collect water from here. Today, the situation has reached such a point that a liquor company is selling alcohol in the name of Sangam.'' He added that seers are outraged with the liquor company. ''We demand the Yogi Adityanath government to take immediate strict action against this and order a case of treason registered against all those who are found guilty,'' he said. He also reiterated earlier demands to ban the sale of meat and liquor within a five-kilometre radius of the Sangam area. Swami Brahmashram Maharaj, national president of the All India Dandi Sanyasi Parishad, likened the company to ''anti-social elements'', saying that the saints and sages are deeply angry about it.