When vegans united

The city on Sunday woke up to a new way of living as people from various walks of life marched on to show the city a more merciful way to live. As a part of the Vegan India Movement, animal rights activists gathered in hundreds and marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar.

The aim of this march was to create awareness about veganism and demand justice for animals. They reiterated that all the animals have a basic right to live free from use, exploitation, abuse and cruelty for food, clothing, experiments, entertainment or any other purpose. Veganism lifestyle requires on to follow a plant-based diet. Abstaining from consuming meat, egg honey and dairy which involves use and exploitation of animals

The rally was kick started with a vegan activist and the oldest women Everester in India, Sangeeta S. Bahl, addressing the attendees about the perks of being a vegan. “I have been in touch with a lot of activists and since I am an animal lover, I believe that animals have a right to live. So, I wanted to share my story with them,” says Bahl. The activist-cum-mountaineer believes in leading by example instead of simply preaching. “I wanted to tell people that if I can do while carrying out such a strenuous task, they can too. Plant-based diets can provide all the strength one needs,” she explains.

Speaking about the ease of adopting a vegan lifestyle, Bahl talked about the plenty of Vegan alternatives available in the market. The demands to the government were granting personhood status to all animals, including animal rights in school curricula and revamping the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. "It's possible for anyone to be vegan these days and I felt obliged to do it when I thought from a victims perspective" said Amjor, one of the organisers of Vegan India Movement. He called the experience a great one as he believes that the number of people coming out to support the cause has seen a spike over the years.

The event also focused on "speciesism". Speciesism is a form of discrimination, which involves treating members of one species as morally more important than members of other species. So the event represented all animals, which include farm animals as well, who are the most abused beings on the planet.

By chanting slogans on animal rights, the participants encouraged masses to think about speciesism and withdraw from animal exploitation by adopting a vegan lifestyle i.e. by not consuming any animal products, and boycotting cosmetics and other products tested on animals, opting for fashion free from animal skin and fur and not visiting animal circuses, zoos and adopting pets over buying pets.

Many activists wore masks of animals as well. More than 400 people participated in the Delhi's march from various north Indian cities like Chandigarh, Bhagalpur, Bhopal, Jammu, and Agra.

The activists rallied on to prove that the future is vegan.