Oct 1st – Gearing up for the launch
The Swaraj Yatra bus reached Ahmedabad from Delhi on Sept.30th. On board were farmers and activists from Bihar, Delhi and Bangalore. Appropriately, our first stay together as Yatris is at the venerable Gujarat Vidyapeeth founded by Mahatma Gandhi. On Oct 1st, the Vidyapeeth was teeming with Yatris reaching from various parts of the country. Farmers from Punjab, Bihar, M.P., Maharashtra, Orissa, Chattisgarh, A.P. and Karnataka are around, along with activists from around India. Even as we walked by the Nayi Taleem school, we found ourselves discussing in various languages about how to take the message of ecologically sustainable agriculture across the country.
The media briefing at 3pm at Sabarmati Ashram was well-attended, and the Kisan Swaraj Yatra has sparked a lot of interest from everyone that we meet – from presspersons to street vendors to shopkeepers promising all the help they can for the Yatra.