By Pawan Khera and Manish Khanduri
It was a straight walk of 22 kilometres for the Yatris, from Doraha, Khanna to their midday break at Samrala Chowk, Ludhiana. And as has been the case with the #BharatJodoYatra every day is just a little different in this most diverse nation of ours.
This day it was the ‘landscape mix’. The first 10 -12 kilometres being through an industrial area with a typical mix of factories and warehouses along the route. And the remaining 10 odd kilometres were in a typical city environment.
Needless to say the crowds in the second half of the walk overshadowed the first half by an order of magnitude.
Even so the enthusiasm of the crowd remained undimmed and consistent all through. Mohammed Afzal doesn’t live in Punjab but had turned up all the way from his native Bihar (in a most colourful and eye catching costume one may add) to watch the Yatra. Meanwhile Chaitanya Kaur was waiting with her family for a “few hours, just to see Rahul.”
Mohammed Afzal doesn’t live in Punjab but had turned up all the way from his native Bihar (in a most colourful and eye catching costume one may add) to watch the Yatra.
Chaitanya Kaur (Left) was waiting with her family for a “few hours, just to see Rahul.”
As we stated, crowd presence went up several notches as the Yatra entered the outskirts of Ludhiana, and then kept going up. “Just as we walked into Ludhiana it felt as if there were lakhs waiting for us”, says Yatri Yogesh Meena, “And the manner in which they cheered us, it seems as if there was no end to their happiness.”
“Just as we walked into Ludhiana it felt as if there were lakhs waiting for us”, says Yatri Yogesh Meena, “And the manner in which they cheered us, it seems as if there was no end to their happiness.”
Yatri Satyam Thakur noticed something that made this day different from others. “We were greeted by a number of professional associations who had their own separate spaces – doctors, lawyers, merchants, steel workers – and then it struck me that Ludhiana is known for its various industries, and these had turned out in force.”
In the morning session the Yatris were accompanied by Commonwealth Games medalists, eminent intellectuals from Uttarakhand and a group of RTI activists, and members of the NGO “Ek Zaria”. The group from Uttarakhand apprised Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on the the ongoing crisis at Joshimath town, and the developmental needs of the region.
There was no evening session, with the Yatris retiring to their overnight camps after the conclusion of the morning session. Tomorrow is the weekly day of rest and the Yatris will begin their journey again on the 14th.
Speaking to a packed crowd at the end of the walk Gandhi stated that the objectives of the Yatra were to “stand up against the spread of hatred, fear and violence, the trend of putting brother against brother, caste against caste and religion against religion.”
Meanwhile, Congress MP had this to say on the manner in which BJP government and their shills were attacking all those who walked with the #BharatJodoYatra. “A former RBI Governor walks in #BharatJodoYatra, BJP attacks him. A retired Army Gen does-he’s maligned. Now a former Finance Secretary who joined, is booked by the CBI. Modi’s FDI policy- Fear, Defamation & Intimidation- is at work here. This is the mindset of a coward.
But BJY will roll on.”
He’s right – the BJY will roll on.
Currently in Punjab, the Bharat Jodo Yatra is a five month, 3500 kilometre long Padyatra from Kanyakumari in the South of India to Kashmir up in the North. It is part of the party’s national mass outreach program aimed at highlighting social polarisation, economic inequalities anil d political centralisation.
Ground research: Aparna Ashwarya (INC Communications Department research team)
Travel Facts:
1. District name: Ludhiana
2. Ludhiana District is famous for its industries and is the largest producer of hosiery and also the leading producer of cotton textiles and steel.
3. The district is also the birthplace of India’s freedom fighter and martyr Sukhdev, part of a famous trio along with Rajguru and Bhagat Singh.
4. The district was the birthplace of one of the most famous poets of India in the Urdu language, Sahir Ludhianvi.
5. The district also initiated the Kuka Movement, one of the most important movements of the freedom struggle.
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