A walk to instil hope, unity and harmony

It’s a walk to unite people from various walks of life across the country. ‘Walk of Hope’, scheduled to start in Kanyakumari on January 11, 2015, is expected to draw lakhs of people.

Led by ‘Sri M’ (Mumtaz Ali Khan), a spiritual leader, as part of the Manav Ekta Mission, participants will travel the length and breadth of the country to promote communal unity. From Kanyakumari to Kashmir, participants will visit 86 districts in 11 states.

“Each day, we will walk from 6 am to noon. In the evenings, we will have discussions with the local people and a prayer meet of all faiths,” Balaji Kashyap, convener, Walk of Hope, told Deccan Herald on Monday. “At night, we would halt at designated places.”

The initiative is supported by such groups as Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. “The walk will also provide a platform for various people to show the world the social service they are doing,” he said.

Participants can register for the walk free of cost and join or quit it at their convenience. “So far, we have opened registrations for three states and 1,000 people have registered for the walk,” he explained.

‘Sri M’ opined, “Communal flagrations claim innumerable lives and disrupt social harmony. They impede national progress. The country would have lost several opportunities by the time normality returns.”

According to him, Gandhiji had criss-crossed India with the sole purpose of addressing communal divide. “Despite several such attempts, there has been no change in ground reality. But that does not mean we should not make any efforts. We will walk together to sow the seeds of mutual love, affection, harmony and unity amongst us,” he added.

‘Sri M’ stressed the need for non-political people taking part in such campaigns. “People should walk together, cutting across the barriers of caste, language and gender, to create a society with equal opportunities. The walk is being launched on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda who stood for harmony among religions.”

The 6,000-km walk over 15-18 months is expected to address issues like community health, communal harmony, sustainable living, education and empowerment. Beginning at the Gandhi Memorial Mandapam, Kanyakumari, the walk will have states including Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir on its designated path.