Hazare's words gave encouragement for 'Walk of Hope': Sri M

Spiritual leader Sri M, who has been on a padyatra (march) from Kanyakumari to Kashmir since January, today said that although many people dubbed him as "mad" for his initiative, he found encouragement in social activist Anna Hazare's words, who told him that only mad people can change the society.
Sri M and his supporters embarked on their 7,500 km-long 'Walk of Hope' from Kanyamumari in Tamil Nadu to spread the message of peace and harmony. The group entered south Gujarat on August 8 and reached Ahmedabad on September 5 after covering almost 3,600 kms.
Sharing some of his experiences about the 'Walk of Hope' so far, Sri M, who was born into a Muslim family as Mumtaz Ali Khan, told reporters here today that many people tried to discourage him saying that peace and harmony cannot be brought through such walks.

"People used to call me mad for taking out such a padyatra and told me that nothing will change. During my walk, I happened to meet Anna Hazare at his Ralegan Siddhi village (in Maharashtra) and told him about such public opinion about me," Sri M said.
"Luckily, Anna supported my cause and told me that it will take only mad men to bring about a positive change. I took it as his blessings," he said.
The padyatra is scheduled to reach Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2016.

Although Sri M expressed his desire to take out similar walks in other countries as well, he also asserted that issues concerning communal harmony need to be addressed first in India before thinking of foreign lands.

"First, we have to repair our own house. I have been warned not to enter some of the places on my route. If this walk till Srinagar completes without any trouble, I can definitely give it a thought to taking out such walk in other countries as well," he said.
Over the recent violence in the state during the Patel quota agitation, Sri M urged people to refrain from damaging public property.
"There is no need to destroy the public property. You can't get solution to a problem by setting buses on fire. I would recommend the leaders (of Patel community) to establish dialogue with government. Violence is not the solution," he said.