Strength of Satyagraha as a non-violent form of protest for a public cause was demonstrated by a village temple priest in Haryana state in India. He choose to fast in scorching 44 degree centigrate temperature demanding that the villagers behave themselves and stop littering the temple neighborhood.



It took Mahant Kalayan Giri at an old Manikaran temple shrine in Kurukeshtra district just two days of peaceful fasting to instill civic sense among the erring villagers. Not only did they flock to seek forgiveness from the Mahant but also vowed to abide by civic norms and ensure that the entire village was kept clean.



Mahant Kalayan Giri who had made the temple his residence for the last three years had been pleading with the villagers to keep the temple premises and the nearby small lake clean in order to maintain sanctity of the place. Failing to do so, for the last month he decided to boycott the village. Still fetching no result he took the extreme step of fasting. Egged on by women folks the men were chastised in two days.



Non-violent form of protest advocated by Leo Tolstoy and adopted by Mahatma Gandhi against an oppressive British regime helped India attain freedom and Nelson Mandela following the same principles was able to dismantle apartheid in South Africa.



Source: Dainik Bhaskar (In Hindi)