Peace mission activist Dnyaneshwar Yewatkar felicitated in New Jersey

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Indian national Dnyaneshwar Yewatkar is on a mission to spread Mahatma Gandhi’s spirit around the world.

Yewatkar started his “Vishwa Maitri Yatra” or World Bicycle March for Peace and Friendship, on November 18, 2016 from Gandhi Ashram in Sevagram, Gujarat, India.

His mission is to cover 75 countries, 268 key locations and 75,000 kilometers and to carry the Gandhian spirit with him.

When he recently reached Edison, New Jersey, it was noted that he has already been to 15 countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia regions, covering 26,000 miles, and now plans to cover all of America, including Latin America.

According to a press release, Yewatkar started his peaceful journey in India and will end it on October 2, 2019 in Pakistan.

“This is my small gratitude for Gandhiji as we celebrate his 150^th birth anniversary next year,” Yewatkar said at an event held for him at Royal Albert’s Palace in Fords, New Jersey on Sunday, November 25. He emphasized the importance of his mission by saying how Gandhi led a life of non-violence.

Many Indian American community leaders attended the meet, including Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, Founder and Chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media; Srujal Parikh, President of FIA – Tristate area; Ramesh Patel, Chairman of FIA – Tristate area and Padma Shri H.R. Shah, Founder of TV Asia.

Purvi Parikh, the daughter of Dr. Sudhir Parikh, who was present at the meet, told ITV Gold, “I am very, very impressed by Dnyaneshwar and by what he has been doing since 2016. It is very nice that he is honoring Gandhiji in this way and that he is honoring education, which is what Gandhiji also stood for.”

Inspired by Gandhi’s life and works, Yewatkar has been deeply involved in social welfare activities for the last eight years.

He worked as a peacekeeper during incidents of communal conflict in Assam in 2015 and then later on in Muzaffarnagar. He has also served as a humanitarian relief volunteer during the Kashmir floods and during the 2016 Nepal earthquake.

Yewatkar has always tried to extend a helping hand where one was needed, cutting across lines of caste, religion or region, according to a press release.

For the past three years, he worked for the education and sanitation needs of slum children in Wardha and through his journey he has visited 800 schools and 250 universities where he talked about Gandhi, Indian philosophies and great leaders of the world.

Yewatkar also has launched an alcohol de-addiction campaign, which has made a great impact across Vidharba region.

Yewatkar received the “Mahatma Gandhi Seva Puraskar” by the Government of Maharashtra in June 2014, in recognition of his humanitarian activities.