Well, if ever you thought that Gandhigiri was dead then take a look at this. For 26 days 25,000 people took part in a Dandi March of its own kind.
Displaced from their land, adivasis and Dalits from 18 different states just completed a 325-km long padayatra [foot march] from Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, to Delhi under the banner of Janadesh-2007.
Seeking the restoration of land to the dispossessed like them, they called themselves the Satyagrahis of Janadesh (a non-violent movement to ensure land and livelihood for the deprived community). They had embarked upon this mission with a three-pronged agenda -- that a national land policy, national land commission and a fast track court be framed for the benefit of the poor and marginalised community.
Take the case of 65-year-old Jogeshwar, a blind man who supports a family of 11. Jogeshwar hails from the tribal community called Khairwar in Madhya Pradesh and was dispossessed after the forest department took his land away.
"What do I do? Do I go back and get listed under the BPL [Below poverty line]?" he asks.
A small group of men from Shivapuri near Gwalior said they had been thrown out of the land they had cultivated for generations. The forest department took their land on the pretext of protecting wildlife.
As the march paved its way into Delhi, one thing was clear, and that was the Great Divide that plagues the India of today. Factories, shopping malls, swanky cars on one side and the dark side of rural India on the other.
Strangely, between Faridabad in Haryana and Delhi, not one vehicle stopped to find out what was happening. Motorists would slow down and peep, only to zoom away. This is compassionate India for you.
The march began on October 2, but the participants hardly looked tired despite having walked so many kilometres. Perhaps drawing strength from their determination as they continued to walk peacefully.
The satyagrahis comprised both young and old, blind and handicapped; they said they had received more support in the rural parts of the country when compared to the cities.
"We had food stock for just 15 days, but several villagers came forward with water, sugar, grain etc," said Ram Singh Parmar, convener of the march.
The march was also fraught with danger and sad mishaps. Seven persons died during the padayatra. Three were run over by a truck while four took ill and died. But the undeterred marchers continued their journey.
Help for the satyagrahis came from the panchayat pradhans of the respective villages they passed through, who had arranged venues for public meetings. The organisers also said that support had come from Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Congress MP from Guna in Madhya Pradesh, who hails from Gwalior. Scindia termed the yatra as the biggest satyagraha in Independent India and said he was with the people in their struggle for justice.
The satyagrahis decided to adopt the Mahatma's principle and said they would fight their way out of this through non-violence.
"If Gandhiji could succeed so can we."
P V Rajgopal, president of Ekta Parishad, the organisers of the march, said realtors and other developmental projects had edged out the farmers in India.
"There is need for a comprehensive land policy. How is it that industrialists are given acres and acres of land when the rest never get any," he asked.
Although the march depicted a very dark side of the country, one could derive pleasure that for a change, so many people stood united in their cause. They shared food, lent a helping hand to the women and the old and stayed awake when someone was not well.
The march lasted 26 days and most of the walking was done between 8 am and 1 pm. Otherwise, they slept or rested by the roadside or at a nearby village.
The organisers says the marchers were trained in how to make their demands through ahimsa and non-violence before embarking upon this historic march. The marchers, who were very poor and often are deprived of a square meal a day, managed to save grain and whatever little money to make the journey.
Most of them came from Madhya Pradesh where displacement of the poor from their land is the highest. Over 11,000 participants were from MP while the rest came from Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Orissa and Jharkhand.
They were divided into five groups -- Chambal, Yamuna, Mahanadi, Narmada and Cauvery, named after major rivers. Thirty per cent of the marchers were women, many of who had their children to look after.
As the marchers entered New Delhi, they were greeted by members of the Ekta Parishad and 650 others from various villages who were on a dharna at Rajghat and Jantar-Mantar since October 2.
Tibetan, Chinese, French, Japanese, German, Kenyan and Canadian marchers also participated in the event to support the cause and to spread the message of the Mahatma.
Prior to this march, a similar march had been conducted between Berne and Geneva in Switzerland from September 25 to October 2. This march was in support of the same cause for the people in India.
The marchers chanted, "Zameen do ya jail do," (give us our land or send us to jail) and ended their march at the Ram Leela Maidan on October 28. They now want to impress upon the prime minister to look into their grievances and want their land back as it is their only source of livelihood.
"We will take it back through non-violent means. It does not matter how long it takes," said the satyagrahis.
Photographs: Vicky Nanjappa
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