IANS

September 19: Bare-chested, clad in a white dhoti and with lathi in hand, an American follower of Mahatma Gandhi paid a unique tribute to the legendary Indian campaigner of non-violence and peace.

On September 11, Bernie Meyer led a procession of more than 200 people in a re-enactment of Gandhi's famous 1930 Salt March at Olympia in Washington state of the US. Gandhi's 409km and 24-day Salt March in Gujarat was to protest the infamous British salt laws.

His principle of satyagraha or peaceful resistance as a form of protest was a success.

Meyer's march culminated in a public meeting where many people dressed in white attentively and respectfully listened to Meyer saying: "We must become the change we seek in the world. Truth is our guide, love is our way - we seek to overcome our fears with courage."

September 11 this year also marked 100 years of the birth of satyagraha advocated by the champion of non-violence. Gandhi had launched the satyagraha movement in South Africa on that date exactly a century ago as a form of protest against the apartheid regime.

The day was also observed in the West and across the world to mark the infamous anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.

Meyer and his followers vowed to work for a sustainable planet Earth. "The Earth is threatened," said Meyer, 69, a former Catholic priest and social worker. "The tundra is melting, the seas are warming and water is being depleted."

Speaking to London-based website www.nrifm.com, Meyer said: "We are committed to non-violence, sustainable way of living." His interview can be accessed on the website that has been set up by a former BBC journalist, Vijay Rana.

Meyer said that the people in America were surprised when they saw him dressed like Mahatma Gandhi. Even though there was a lot of ignorance about Gandhi in the US, Americans saw Gandhi as "a highly respectable teacher of non-violence".

Stating that he had taken a vow to spread Gandhi's message in American schools, he added: "I portray Gandhi. I dress in a dhoti (white ankle-length wrap) and I walk with a walking stick and I go to the classrooms and tell stories about Gandhi and what he meant by non-violence."

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1937, Meyer became a Catholic priest in 1965. He protested against the war in Vietnam for which he was jailed in 1969. He has been campaigning against nuclear weapons for last 40 years.

A critic of US President George W.Bush's war against terror, Meyer argued that "you cannot overcome violence with violence".

Meyer said he visited India in 2005 and was warmly welcomed by many followers of Gandhi. He would like to visit the country again, but his biggest ambition is "to possibly go to the Middle East, to Palestine and Israel, to portray Gandhi and to spread his message of peace and reconciliation"