A Man on Foot

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The results of this simple approach to man's better nature have been astonishing. Bhave calls his campaign Bhoomidan-yagna, which means a sacrificial offering of land. Since he began his land distribution campaign two years ago, Vinoba has walked 6,500 miles on tireless feet, and has distributed more than a million acres of land to the poor. The largest single gift was 100,000 acres from a maharajah. The smallest was a gantha (one fortieth of an acre), donated by a Telingana peasant who owned only one acre himself.

Every Man's Heart. Not all of the gifts are prompted by charitable impulse. Some wealthy landowners support Vinoba Bhave and make donations because they hope his gentle usurpation will appeal to the mystic strain in all good Hindus more than the violence of Communism. Bhave has proved that, under certain circumstances, Indians do prefer his way, that Bhoomidan-yagnn is more effective in ending unrest than jailing thousands of Reds. "

At one place he said: "Whatever village I go to, people tell me about the atrocities of the Communists. I pray to God to let the feeling of love for Communists also reside in my heart. Although the Communists commit acts of violence, still, hovr can we hate them? I wish everyone to realize God. I always pray to Him that He should kindle good faith in the heart of every man." In another village, held in a vise of terror, he spoke directly to the Communists: "Do you really believe in your ideology? If so ... why not come in the daytime instead of by night? If you want to loot the people, loot as I do, with sincerity and affection."

Every party in India approves of Bhave's movement, including Nehru's Congress Party and the Socialists—every party, that is, except the Communists. Even the Communists do not denounce the man or his goal, only his method (which they profess to scorn as inadequate and unworkable, despite the fact that it works). For 30 years the Congress Party has talked land reform, studied schemes, but has accomplished little. After independence, Nehru turned over land legislation to the state governments, where it has been obstructed by landowner interests. Of India's 357 million people, in a land where plague, pests, drought, floods, debt and ignorance conspire to perpetuate abject poverty, Bhave is one man who is doing something tangible about redistributing the land. To the Western eye, there arc visible shortcomings in Vinoba's Bhoomidan-yagna. It has not increased the number of acres or the quantity of crops, and therefore—his critics say—provides no conclusive answer to India's immense agricultural problem. Although more than 70% of India's people work the land for a living, the nation must import food or starve. Yet Bhoomidan-yagna has given pride of ownership to hundreds of thousands, and hope to millions more.