Our Story
Chhaganlal Joshi, 1895-1991, Manager of Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.
It all started when…
My Grandfather met Mahatma Gandhi soon after his college graduation around 1918. He was his disciple for several years. He was the first one to enroll for the salt march. He spent 3 months in jail with Mahatma Gandhi fighting for the freedom of India. He was awarded a freedom fighter award from the government of India.
Chhaganlal Joshi (on left) walking right beside Mahatma Gandhi during the Salt March
Gandhi’s salt march, which ran from March 12 through April 6, 1930, was a 24-day battle of right against might. I have participated and spoke at the Animal Liberation March in Mumbai, India, in 2019 choosing peace over violence for sentient beings. At the Salt March, Gandhi held a piece of salt and said, “I am going to shake the British Empire.” In doing so, he launched the civil disobedience movement against the British Empire. This march proved to be a turning point in history for India’s independence. The animal liberation march will be a turning point in India’s journey towards adopting veganism as the new norm and becoming the Ahimsa country it was meant to be. With this simple act of standing up against injustice, Gandhi shook the foundation of the British Empire in India. Today, we, the animal freedom fighters, will challenge these industries and corporations that are lying, murdering, and killing sentient beings.
Gandhi showed that by working together, everyone can make a powerful difference, even if each one is as small and powerless as a grain of salt. Animal activists today are going to transform India and create a new, divine imprint for Ahimsa, compassion, health, and our planet. Gandhi and my grandfather always spoke about “Satyagraha” which means truth in its purest form.
Today, veganism is Ahimsa and Satyagraha in action. “Even if you are the minority of one, the truth is the truth”, By Mahatma Gandhi.
Dolly Vyas-Ahuja, as a child, when she lived with her grandfather, Chhaganlal Joshi, in India.
During one summer vacation to India when I was 13, my grandfather asked me if I was vegetarian. I was scared to answer the truth, so I said yes. He then asked me what Ahimsa means. As a young child, I didn’t understand but he told me “Ahimsa means non-violence to all living beings”. The word Ahimsa never had an impact on me until I became awoken, at the age of 45, I realized what he was trying to teach me. I have made it my mission to start a social justice movement of nonviolence to all beings, just like Gandhiji and my grandfather believed in and talked about.
