The Samwad Yatra is a process of national mobilization in India for the Jan Satyagraha 2012 (see route chart and other information on http://js2012.wordpress.com/ ).  Rajagopal and some twenty other Ekta Parishad workers will travel in a caravan of jeeps to 300 districts from the south to the north of India over the course of the next year (October 2011 to September 2012).

The goal of the Samwad Yatra and the Jan Satyagraha 2012 will be to increase access to land, improve livelihoods and contribute to sustainable development. It will champion the rights of the poor and strive to change land laws and policies for the benefit of agricultural labourers, peasant and small-scale farmers, and disenfranchised tribal people. Promoting rights to land, forest and water and building a non-violent economy will strengthen people’s control over vital resources, promote economic and social development locally and contribute to food security generally.

The Samwad Yatra will start at the southern tip of India, namely Kanyakumari, and move to all parts of the country arriving at the most northern point in Kashmir, carrying the message of non-violence and land rights, learning from the experience of people along the way, and mobilizing support. This will be a chance for Ekta Parishad to interact with marginalized communities across the country, culminating in the Jan Satyagraha (March of Justice) in October 2012.

In the course of the yatra, meetings will be arranged with decision-makers in the different localities. Discussions will be initiated on a range of land issues and non-violent responses to land concentration and urban-based development.

By joining the Samwad Yatra, through information-sharing, campaigning, donations or other acts of solidarity, you can make a difference. You can follow the route of the yatra through daily reports on the Ekta Parishad blog, Rajagopal’s facebook, and the Ekta Parishad, Ekta Europe and Jan Satyagraha websites.

By working together wherever we are and in whatever ways we can, our combined forces and goodwill will contribute to a groundswell of relevant actions. In a world that is being torn apart by long-term inequality and growing economic and environmental crises, we are all in need of the alternative vision and practical solidarity symbolized by Jan Satyagraha.

To have a lively information about the start of the Samwad Yatra, click here