‘People want to stay together’: Spiritual leader at docu screening
Times of India | 1 September 2024
Kolkata: In 2015-16, spiritual leader and educator Sri M decided to walk 7,500 km — from Kanyakumari to Kashmir — to promote communal harmony and peace in a polarised world.
On Saturday, at the premiere of award-winning documentary ‘Walking with M’ at Priya Cinema, he said spreading the message of peace and harmony was important now more than ever.
Sri M sought more screenings for the Akash Sagar Chopra-directed documentary, especially in schools and colleges, so that the youth could understand that the country’s common people wanted to live together, despite differences.
Speaking on recording the ‘Walk of Hope’, Chopra said: “It was as much a journey for us as filmmakers as it was for Sri M and his followers. Our attempt through the film was to give the audience an opportunity to be part of this transformative journey and witness how fault lines and chasms in society can be bridged.”
Born into a Muslim family in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram as Mumtaz Ali, the religious leader started two organisations — Satsang Foundation and Manav Ekta Mission — in late 90s as spaces for dialogue around shared humanity. Sri M received Padma Bhushan in 2020.