There is a common belief that by one’s self one can do precious little to bring about societal change. Meet Himanshu Kumar (60) whom I had the pleasure of interacting with a couple of days ago when he pedalled into Kanpur.
He was on a 40 day mission to spread the message of peace and communal harmony, on his 21 geared cycle; all alone. When I queried him on this he said that there were a number of people who were supporting and following him in different ways. He quoted Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore’s poem “Ekla chalo re” (Go it alone), if nobody else is with you.
This yatra began on 30th January, Gandhiji’s martyrdom day, from his Samadhi at Rajghat, New Delhi. The 40 day journey will conclude at Kushinagar, the birthplace of the Buddha, on 14th March. Enroute he will visit two more places in Maghar and Varanasi, connected with two other great entities – Sant Ravidas and Sant Kabir. They are revered by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs alike.
Himanshu is passionate about peace and communal harmony. He strongly challenges those who use hate speech to divide people. Demonising Muslims is nothing but a diversionary tactic. The Government is also targeting farmers and labour. Their rights have been trampled upon. 8 hour shifts have been increased to 12 hours and minimum wages no longer exist.
Born in Muzzafarnagar, U.P., Himanshu is a unique person hailing from a distinguished family of freedom fighters. Five Prime Ministers, including Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Chandra Shekhar and Charan Singh have stayed in their ancestral home in Muzzafarnagar. His father, Prakash Bhai, was deeply influenced by both Mahatma Gandhi and Vinobha Bhave.
Himanshu is a courageous warrior for tribal rights. Just 20 days after his marriage he and his wife moved to Dantewada in Bastar district, Chhattisgarh, where he established a Gandhian ashram that included a school, dormitory and hospital for the tribals. However, after several years of selfless service, the 16 acre ashram was bulldozed by the Government in 2009 because he was standing up for tribal rights.
Things had come to a head earlier in 2005 when the government opened up the economy to big corporates, allowing mining leases in tribal lands. Himanshu claims that what is happening in Bastar is cloaked in secrecy. No news emerges from there, other than government propaganda. The tribals have been labelled as terrorists or naxalites. These tribal areas are exploited, even by the security forces. Himanshu alleges persecution and even gang rape by security forces.
They burnt down 650 tribal villages, displacing 3 lakhs of them. They are now classified as Internally Displaced Persons, despite their Constitutional and Forest Act rights. He states that there are more security forces in tribal areas than anywhere else in India. They are there not to protect the tribals, but rather to protect the interests of the mining cartels and capitalist forces.
Earlier Himanshu had a similar experience in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister. The latter had been tom-tomming the Gujarat model of development. However, when Himanshu pointed out that the tribals were starving he incurred Modi’s wrath. One night, in blinding rain, he and his cycle were bundled onto a police vehicle and unceremoniously dumped in Maharashtra.
Himanshu had also embarked on a 52 day cycling trip from Delhi to Taloja jail in Maharashtra where the accused in the Koregaon case were incarcerated. Himanshu says that those who should get the Bharat Ratna are languishing in jail.
Himanshu’s fighting spirit can be gauged by another yardstick. While in Chhattisgarh he had filed 552 cases against the government for which he was subsequently banned from the state for 10 years.
He appeals to young people to not be taken in by hate campaigns and false narratives. They should be told who is benefiting from such malicious propaganda. He has even been to the UN and lectured in the USA to expose such nefarious designs.
After hearing Himanshu’s experiences one feels dwarfed in his presence. He is a true crusader for truth and justice. In today’s deeply polarised world his voice is a clarion call for sanity. As he avers, he is not alone in the campaign. All sane voices are; or should be.
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