16,500 km towards a safe nation
By: Anshuman G Dutta Date: 2009-05-14 Place:Delhi
Amit Lal, a Mumbai businessman, is driving around the country to spread the word of peace.
Most of us silently watched Mumbai being attacked. A few joined candle-lit vigils and scribbled their anger on websites. But very few actually paused in their daily lives to spread awareness so that 26/11 would not be repeated again.
One man, however, did. He decided to spread the lesson of humanity and patriotism by driving through the country.
on the road to safety: Amit Lal with his car in New Delhi and while presenting the National Flag to Chief of Indian Army General Deepak Kapoor at South Block on Wednesday
Amit Lal, has travelled more than 16,500 kilometres, across 24 states spreading the message of brotherhood so that we don't start taking terror attacks as "one of the regular affairs of the country."
"Kab tak sirf paisa aur profit ke bare mein sochte rahenge. What importance does money hold when the entire nation is being attacked and innocent people are being killed?" asked 37-year-old Lal.
A prosperous businessman from Mumbai, Lal has launched an organisation called United Force of India to defeat the opposing forces of regionalism and religion.
"I decided to spread the message by travelling to the border regions while meeting soldiers and people living in these far-flung locations. As a nation we are indebted to our soldiers and I wanted to pay my homage to them," he said.
But Lal was not always a patriot. It was the Mumbai attack that threw him off his comfort zone. "On November 26, Churchgate station was attacked only 20 minutes after my mother boarded a train to Allahabad.
For a moment I was completely helpless as terrorists went about killing innocent people," he said, recalling the incident which inspired his mission.
"Why do we need a terror attack or a natural disaster to wake up? Mumbai has been suffering from both attacks as well as natural calamities and people are getting used to it. Is this the way to live?" he asked.
It took Lal a month to give shape to his plans. Once he was ready, support started to pour in from various places. "The first to support me was the Tata Group.
I wrote a letter to Ratan Tata and got an immediate reply in the form a sponsorship from the Taj Group of Hotels.
Then I wrote to Hyundai as I am driving one of its cars. They also appreciated my mission and gave me full support," he said.
During the last four months Lal has had quite a few memorable road moments. However, he was unable to control his emotions when he met the National Security Guards (NSG) who were instrumental in ousting the terrorists in the Mumbai attack.
"I hugged them and had no word for their selflessness. They presented me a T-shirt which has become one of my most prized possessions," he said, recalling his day at the NSG training centre, Manesar.
But there were disappointing moments too. "At Lal Chowk, Srinagar, people said I was from India and they were not.
When I tried to tell them that they were safe only because they were a part of this big and strong country, they asked me to convey the message that Kashmir should either be allowed to go with Pakistan or given independence from India. It was saddening," he said.
On Wednesday, he met Chief of Indian Army General Deepak Kapoor at South Block and presented him the National flag.
Lal will resume his journey on May 14 to reach Mumbai via Longewal (Rajasthan), Kutch (Gujarat).
"But my mission will not end there.
I want all the students unions, schools, colleges and NGOs to join United Force of India so that we can break the walls of regionalism and religion," Lal said.
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