History of Young Indian Vegetarians

I was born in Kenya where my father was a mechanical engineer and I had a happy childhood playing in open countryside. I was a Jain but I did not have a particularly religious upbringing. You inherit it in your genes, I may not have understood it but Jainism was part of my genetic makeup. When I was nine years old I was with my elder brother when a dog started barking at us. I picked up a stone and threw it – he screamed and ran off. I understood suddenly the harmful intent of my action when I heard him scream, it was like a bolt of lightning in my head when I realised I had caused pain to a living creature. I was inconsolable after that. That hour the journey started. That incident made me determined never to harm any living being and never let anyone else harm any living being! I finished my A Levels in Kenya in the town of Kisumu and came to Great Britain in 1973. In London I worked in a factory as a delivery driver and postman. I went to Goldsmiths where I studied sociology.  I have a car parts business which I have been running many years.

In 1978 I started the Young Indian Vegetarians Society. It was a time when many Indians were coming to UK from the East African countries. Most of them were vegetarian but were finding it hard to remain vegetarian. Children were not getting vegetarian options at school. I made contact with the Vegetarian Society and we organised. In 1981 I married and I have two daughters. My wife, like me is a born vegetarian. I have been a Vegan for many years. I soon realised there was a whole world of animal abuse out there so I started organising campaigns and rallies. This year we will be having our 32nd annual Christmas lunch. The idea of the lunch is to introduce meat eaters to the delights of Indian vegetarian food. The local MP’s, Mayor, Councillors, Police, Christian, and many others come to the lunch groups Sharing food is an excellent way of breaking barriers between races and we have had a huge media coverage of the lunch over the years

In the 1990s we held our first vegetarian rally in Hyde Park. The former speaker of parliament Lord Bernard Weatherill and veteran politician Tony Benn addressed the rally. Benjamin Zephania was also there. The event got huge media coverage and one of the national papers wrote that, the  vegetarian activists drowned out the Speakers Corner!. Over the next ten years we organised rallies in many parks around London. In 1999 we held a millennium vegetarian rally in Hyde Park. Joan Court was presented with our Mahaveer Award at this rally. The following pledge was taken at the rally:

We hereby pledge to bring about a 21st century in which the human race will finally make peace with the animal kingdom. Human beings will no longer kill, maim, torture or exploit fellow beings for food or other purposes. Animals will have fundamental rights which will be internationally recognised. 

It is clear beyond any doubt that the survival of the human race depends upon the survival of the forests and other natural resources and of the animals with whom we share this planet. We pledge to protect all of them. We oppose the introduction of animal genes into human beings and the genetic manipulation of animals and plants.

The human race will reach the pinnacle of civilisation when it extends the hand of friendship and compassion to the animal kingdom and returns to the healthy plant-based diet best suited to the moral and physical needs of our species, thus avoiding the related evils of animal exploitation, human starvation and environmental destruction.

At the close of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, let us make a tryst with destiny to create a world free of violence towards all living beings who are dependent on our love and compassion. Together let us embark on that long journey which will bring about a world in which all animals are treated with compassion and mercy and accorded rights that human beings take for granted.

This pledge has been put in a time capsule and buried in Hyde Park under a tree we planted. The pledge has also been stored in the national time capsule archive. Future generations will read the pledge and take inspiration to finish the job of ending animal cruelty!

On 9th October 2000 we made a trip to Trafalgar Square to feed the pigeons in defiance of Ken Livingstone’s Fatwa!

On 17th June 2001 we organized a, ‘Rally for Compassionate Living’ in Trafalgar Square. Tony Benn and Yuri Geller were presented with Mahaveer Award. On 4th October we presented a Lord Parsvanath Award to Maneka Gandhi who is a leading animal rights activist in India.

In July 1994 we gave a Mahaveer Award  ( posthumously) to Jill Phipps who died so tragically while fighting to stop live exports from Coventry. The inscription on the award read, ‘Generations to come will remember your courage and commitment to end the cruelty to animals’.

Mahaveer Award was also presented to late Vicky Moore who was seriously injured when filming the evil sport of bull fighting in Spain.

In 2004 we presented a Mahaveer Award to Donal Watson, founder of the Vegan Society. It was Donald who coined the word Vegan.

The following vegetarian societies were also started:

  1. Vegetaria France was formed on 14th July 1992 which is a Bastille Day and a national holiday in France. David Whiting son of Lady Dowding founder of Beauty without Cruelty was actively involved in this project.
  2. Vegetarian Club of Lisbon was started in 1992
  3. Vegetarain Society of Kenya was also started in 1992.
  4. 1 Vegetarian Society of Delhi was formed on 16th July 1994
  5. Vegetarian Society of Mauritius was started in 1995.
  6. In 2004 Vegetarian Society of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh ( India ) were also started.

In 1991 I went to India did a campaign to bring about the issue of animal rights in the forthcoming election. It received wide media coverage.

In 1992 we came to know of an animal sanctuary in Burwash which was on the verge of closing down due to financial crisis. We went and saw Ray and Sheila at the sanctuary and asked them how much money they would need to keep going. We arrived at a figure of £700 a month and promised to provide that in spite of the fact we did not know where the money would come from! We continue sending this amount and all I can say is that there is a higher spiritual force helping us! We also support many other organisations and sanctuaries. Whether it is killing of dogs for meat, the appalling treatment of animals such as bears, donkeys, ponies, horses, we support organisations fighting to end these cruelties.

On 2nd October 1995 we launched the National Alliance for Animals. In the general election that took place we asked every candidate to answer a host of questions about animal welfare and rights. This was the first time that such a task had been undertaken and it brought the animal agenda to prominence.

On 25th.June 1996 an umbrella group of Hindu organizations handed in a massive petition to 10 Downing regarding the slaughter of cows during the outbreak of ‘mad cow disease.’

In 2007 the Pharmaceutical Journal which has a circulation of 40,000 published an article written by me titled, ‘People have a right to know if their medicines contain animal ingredients’. Vanessa Clarke who is a leading member of the Vegan Society has worked with me on many campaigns and I take this opportunity to sincerely thank her.

Over the years I have given talks in many cities, colleges, universities and continue to do so. At all our events meat eaters are encouraged to take a pledge to go vegetarian and hundreds if not thousands has done so.

I firmly believe that a good strategy is essential for the success of any campaign and we should be critically looking at our ways of working and be flexible enough to change and adept to the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Media exposure is absolutely crucial and over the years I have done many TV and Radio interviews and I have had articles published in national newspapers. I am also an avid letter writer and have had many letters published in the national media! I have written 2 books: Benefits of vegetarianism to Africa, and, ‘A request to the people of India from the vegetarians of the world.’

I also edit our annual newsletter called, ‘ Ahimsa’.

I also believe that we should forever be looking to raise the profile of our cause with celebrities and politicians. Two years ago the veteran South African leader Desmond Tutu was addressing a huge meeting in Croydon. After the talk the chairman invited members in the audience to ask any questions. I quickly raise my hand! I said, ‘Sir you successfully brought an end to apartheid in South Africa but our treatment of animals is without any compassion and would speak out on behalf of animals and would you go vegetarian?!’. Desmond  Tutu laughed and said, ‘in the garden of Eden everyone was vegetarian but we have slipped’. I felt I had achieved my aim of raisin the animal issue and also got a quote from Desmond Tutu!

One of the things I would like is to encourage is for every profession to have a vegetarian or vegan group. Vegetarian Doctors, Teachers, Scientists, Footballers, Tennis players, Pilots, Firemen and Women, Rotarians, Atheists etc! Whatever walk of life you are from and whatever your occupation you should have a vegetarian group!

Though I am a Jain I also greatly influenced by Hinduism and both these religions urge us to make good use of this human form of life we have. If we can show some compassion and mercy to other living beings we better do it now as we might not cross this path again! I ask myself why I am here and how do I make sense of it. The human form of life is very precious. I believe we have come through so many other forms of life. The body perishes but the soul doesn’t – it passes on to another body according to the Karma you have accumulated in this life. Those who hunt today will be hunted tomorrow – they will come back in an animal form and suffer the same fate. In our brain is stored the memory of our past lives that memory can be opened by practising Yoga but it is not recommended to dwell into that!

Those of us fighting for the rights of animals have to realise that we are in for a long haul andso pace ourselves out so that we do not burn out!  One way of doing this is to have the ability to have a hearty laugh every day and also to gather all the happenings of the day as well as all negative thoughts mentally and symbolically put them in a bag and put it in a dustbin! The nest you start a fresh!

In his book, ‘ The Bloodless Revolution’ Tristram Stuart says that the origins of the animal rights and vegetarian movements in Europe is India. European travellers in the 16th and 18th century were amazed to see a race of people who were vegetarian. Philosophers such as John Evelyn, Sir Thomas Brown and Sir William Temple were all convinced that India’s compassion for animals and the vegetarian life style is the ideal way of life. They brought these ideas back to Europe.

I take this opportunity to thank my wife Pratibha who has always supported me and my daughters and many friends and colleagues that I have had the pleasure to work with. I also remember my Guru Jain monk Acharya Sushil Kumar Mahraj who inspired me so much. He passed away on 22nd April 1994.

Jains believe in ahimsa and non-violence – not only physical violence but also in thoughts, deeds, language and compassion. I don’t think violence works in the long run. I am optimistic about change – science is in our favour. Health and the environment are heading towards a point of crisis. We will have to look at our attitude to animals. Veganism is gaining a higher profile – even Bill Clinton has gone vegan. There is a time and a place for everything.

My guru used to say that every day when you meditate you should think about everything that has happened to you today, good and bad, put it all in a black bag and dump it into a dustbin. You should detach yourself from all your preoccupations and do what you have to do and do it without ego. Learn to love yourself and don’t take yourself too seriously.

Nitin Mehta

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