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A run for non-violence and peace

Staff Reporter

To mark the centenary of Satyagraha launched by Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa

DATE WITH HISTORY: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with the participants of the `peace run' in New Delhi on Sunday. Photo: R.V. Moorthy

NEW DELHI: On the eve of the centenary of Satyagraha, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti organised a peace run from Tees January Marg to Rajghat here on Sunday.

Aimed at keeping Mahatma Gandhi alive in the hearts and minds of Capital's citizens, the race led by Sunita Godara, an international marathon runner, included national-level runners from Border Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

Mahatma Gandhi's grand-daughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee, who also participated in the Satyagraha peace run to encourage the youngsters, said the 100th year of Satyagraha was a homage to truth and reaffirmation of the fact that non-violence was the only answer to all the violence around us.

Stating that Satyagraha was all about truth that changed the history of the world, Ms. Bhattacharjee said: "Gandhi belongs to the whole world. We must work for farmers who despite producing food for us are facing debts and facing starvation, while we are fighting obesity; and weavers who don't have cloth but are making khadi for us to wear."

Ms. Bhattacharjee said on the momentous day she also remembered her grand-mother Kasturba Gandhi, who was a symbol of "truth, forgiveness and represented the traditional Indian women".

Revealing that she grew up in a Gandhian environment, Sunita Godara said: "My father is also a Gandhian. We cannot compel our youngsters to follow Gandhian philosophy. Through this peace run I was also able to share some part of the philosophy."

Vishwa Vijaya Shanti Mission president Sohan Lal Tyagi, who came all the way from Modinagar, said the time had now come for all the countries to enter into an international treaty in which they promise to destroy all armament. "Only then violence, hunger and deprivation around us will end. Following on the footsteps of Gandhiji will lead us to all-round prosperity. Non-violence is the only healing touch to all the misery around us."

After the culmination of the peace run, a cultural function was organised at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, where organisation president Savita Singh said: "After Mahatma Gandhi was thrown by a ticket collector from a train travelling in South Africa, he decided to fight for the rights of people there."

The year 1905 was a turning point in the life of the young Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi when he opened the path of emancipation for the suffering humanity with his firm adherence to truth and non-violence. He described the path as Satyagraha.

To commemorate 100 years of Satyagraha, Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti in association with other social organisations working on Gandhian ideology, will launch a year-long campaign on social evils including environmental degradation, female foeticide and sanitation conditions.

Supporters of Gandhian ideology will move in the interiors of the country including Belgaum in Karnataka and Solan in Himachal Pradesh to make people aware about various social evils afflicting the country.

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