Dharamsala, July 7 – ‘Shri Yash Pal Mittal has been an ardent supporter of the Tibet cause and is one among few who still continues to practice the principles expounded by Mahatma Gandhi,” Kalon Tripa Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche said in his introductory speech during the inaugural ceremony of the North Zone Sarvodaya Sadbhavna Yatra which started from Tsuklhakang’s courtyard today.
Prior to the inaugural ceremony, the participants were given a special audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama at his residence.
The Kalon Tripa offered Khatas (ceremonial scarves) to wish the participants a successful Yatra. He said Shri. Yash Pal Mittal who is leading the Yatra has supported the Tibetans when he participated in the first Afro-Asian Conference with the well-known political stalwart Shri Jayaprakash Narayan.
Hundreds of Dharamsala residents braved the pouring rain in the afternoon to attend the function.
The North Zone Sarvodaya Sadbhavna Yatra will end on 11 Sept at Prasthan Ashram in Pathankot coinciding with the birthday of the great saint Shri Vinoba Bhave. Shri Yash Pal Mittal spoke on the life of the great saint and shared his knowledge on the basic principles of Satyagraha as taught and practiced by Mahatma Gandhi and Shri Vinoba. He thanked the Tibetan people for the support and prayed for peace and harmony in the world.
The Yatra is expected to cover four states in the northern region of India. In the coming days, the participants are also expected to visit various Tibetan settlements, which fall on the route.
A short life story on Shri Vinoba Bhave
Shri Vinoba Bhave was born in a Brahmin family on September 11, 1895 at the village of Gagoda in Kolaba district of Maharashtra. He was named Vinayak at birth and was influenced by his mother Rukmini Devi, a religious woman. His younger brother, Balkoba Shivaji, remained unmarried and adopted a life of renunciation and service to humanity like him.
Vinoba stands as a symbol for the struggle of the good against the evil, of spiritual against the mundane. He was a spiritual visionary, whose spirituality had a pragmatic stance with intense concern for the deprived. He was a brilliant scholar. He was Gandhiji’s ardent follower, who could retain originality in thinking.
On April 18, 1951, his meeting with the villagers at Pochampalli opened a new chapter in the history of non-violent struggle. The harijans of the village told him that they needed 80 acres of land to make a living. Referring to this, Vinoba asked the villagers if they could do something to solve this problem. To everybody’s surprise, Ram Chandra Reddy, a landlord, got up and showed his willingness to give 100 acres of land. This incident, unplanned and unheard, showed a way to solve the problem of the landless. The Bhoodan (Gift of the Land) movement was launched.
Vinoba knew the strength of the padyatra (march on foot). He walked for 13 years throughout India. He had left Paunar on September 12, 1951 and returned on April 10, 1964. He started his Toofanyatra (journey with the speed of high-velocity wind), using a vehicle, in Bihar in July 1965, which lasted for almost four years. He covered thousands of miles, addressed thousands of meetings and mobilised the people cutting the barriers of caste, class, language and religion. Some dacoits from the notorious Chambal Valley (a hideout of dacoits in the northern India) surrendered themselves to Vinoba in May 1960. For Vinoba, it was a victory of nonviolence. He breathed his last on November 15, 1982 at this ashram.
