By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, December 27: Dr Mahesh Yadav, a staunch Tibet supporter and a peace activist, launched the second phase of his ‘Global Peace March’ campaign here on Sunday to support exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama’s movement for world peace and Free Tibet movement.
Dr Yadav started his peace march from Madhya Pradesh’s Sanchi district on December 10 and his rally would end in Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, in Nepal on January 30.
From Dharamsala, the seat of Tibet’s Government in exile in north India, the march was flagged off by Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, Gyari Dolma. Geshe Monlam Tharchen and Choekyong Wangchuk, both members of Tibetan parliament, also took part in the flag off ceremony here at the main sqaure of McLeod Ganj.
Miss Tibet 2009 Tenzin Choezom was also present to support the campaign.
So far Dr Yadav has already covered six different states in India before reaching Dharamsala on Saturday. He is joined by Mr Siddarth Bhatia, a member of World Tibet Congress, and together they plan to cover more than ten Indian states before finally entering into Nepal.
From Dharamsala the March will go to Chandigarh and Delhi before moving onto Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Dr Yadav, who is described as a modern-day Ghandian activist, says the main motive of the Peace March is to gain freedom of Tibet from China through peaceful and non-violent approach, and to garner global support for the fundamental rights of Tibetan people to live freely in their own country.
“Today we idolize Dalai Lama to be an apostle of Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of non-violence, and we want to support Dalai Lama to win Tibet’s freedom struggle like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela won the freedom struggle through non-violence,” Dr Yadav said.
“Also we want to support Tibet’s cause as Tibet is related to the security of India and the whole world. If we are serious about saving the democracy, justice and peace in the world, then we must have to save Tibet,” he added.
Thanking Dr Yadav for his tireless campaign for free Tibet, Gyari Dolma described his peace march as a true symbol of “modern-day Satyagraha”.
“Dr Mahesh’s Satyagraha journey for free Tibet carries a very strong message, and it is a great source of encouragement and inspiration for Tibetans and it gives us the motivation to do more,” said Dolma.
As part of the campaign, Dr Yadav has also initiated “A Global Signature Campaign” on a 52 feet banner in support of the Tibet cause.
Dr Yadav, also known as the ‘blood campaigner’, has made over 600 blood portraits of many world leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama and Barack Obama and has written many blood appeals to various national and international communities to save Tibet.
To promote his cause and non-violent struggle for the freedom of Tibet, Yadav has also formed an organization called the ‘World Tibet Congress’.
Speaking of his journey for Tibet across India, Dr Yadav said, “All the people we come across in India are sympathetic to and supportive of Tibetan cause.”
“So what we need to do is put more effort to consolidate and strengthen Indian people’s support for Tibet,” he said.
