Mumbai, May 11 (IANS) A group of followers of Mahatma Gandhi from various parts of India are on a march from Bodhgaya in Bihar to Rajghat in Delhi to plead against nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. The march, organised under the aegis of Sarva Seva Sangh, started May 7 and will conclude May 19.

The group, comprising 18 leaders from various Gandhian institutions, will hold a sit-in in Delhi May 20. They are currently camping in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, holding public lectures.

“We are not against energy but against the production of energy through nuclear methods and thus are also against nuclear weapons. Our opposition is towards every form of nuclear energy irrespective of the exporting nation,” Sarva Seva Sangh general secretary Mahadev Vidrohi said.

“Just take a look at the developed nations - none of them want to have a reactor in their own backyard. They all want to dump it in the third world. We have become a dumping ground for hoarding the hazardous radioactive material and waste,” Vidrohi told IANS by telephone from Varanasi.

He also made it clear that they differ from political parties like the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and others whose opposition towards the India-US civil nuclear deal is primarily not against nuclear energy, but against Washington.

Former Sarva Seva Sangh president Amarnath Bhai added: “The Left is not bothered about the ramifications of nuclear energy. What happens after 30 or 40 years? Where will the radioactive waste go? No, their attack is purely circumscribed to the US and nothing more.

“We Sarvodaya activists are more interested in the future of humanity. Why the future world should be made to suffer for our irresponsible behaviour? We are trying to spread awareness that several forms of energy like solar power and wind power and even conventional forms can be used without jeopardizing the future of the world.”