Tens of thousands of poor Indians began a 350-kilometre (220-mile) march to New Delhi on Wednesday to protest over the plight of marginalised communities excluded from the country’s development.
The gathering left the central city of Gwalior and is set to reach India’s capital at the end of the month, the organising activist group Ekta Parishad (Unity Forum) said.
“Some 35,000 people have started off from Gwalior and by the time they reach New Delhi we expect the number to swell to 100,000,” Parishad spokesman Aneesh Thillenkery told AFP.
Organisers said the group came from across India and included casual labourers, small farmers, fishermen, itinerant workers and the unemployed. Participants in the rally carried green and white flags and blocked a major road in Gwalior.
“Our plan is to cover 27 kilometres on the first day of the march,” Thillenkery said. “In all, we will walk through five states and we will follow national highways where we will eat, rest and sleep.”
