The rupee symbol is the latest reason for going on a hunger strike.
Members of an NGO Rebuild Northeast on Sunday went on a five-hour fast seeking a change in the rupee symbol. Their argument is that the symbol is not Vaastu-compliant and is therefore causing rupee’s slide in its value against the dollar.
The Union finance ministry had adopted the rupee symbol designed by IIT-Guwahati assistant professor Dharmalingam Udaya Kumar in mid-2010.
“This symbol is against the principles of Vaastu Shastra and is thus inauspicious. This has impacted the rupee and it has fast been devaluing,” said the NGO’s president Rajkumar Jhanjhari.
He had in 2011 predicted that the rupee would slide to around R70 to a dollar if its symbol was not redone as per Vaastu-compliant designs.
“We have been proved right,” said the NGO’s secretary Sudip Sarma Choudhury, adding the organisation would adopt various means of protests to drive the message home.