Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: David Andrew and Anni Lankinen are traveling to spread the word about ‘The Save Movement’, a campaign on animal liberation which finally took a stop at the incredible heart of India.
Global vegan activists David Andrew Ramsden and Anni Lankinen were at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) on Wednesday to outreach the message of animal justice and rights to students.
David, who hails from England was into sales and marketing, although he ultimately chose his passion over profession and became a full-time activist.
Anni from Finland was in customer services and spent her my free time volunteering for the ‘Berlin Animal Save’ movement but she too left the office job to devote her time and energy as an activist.
On the campaign trail,
These vegan advocates via a powerpoint presentation demonstrated students of IISER college about the plight of farmed animals and how going vegan and choosing to ditch animal cruelty in India is “easy”.
“Climbed Everest Base Camp,” says David
David, who has run a marathon for 3 hours 30 mins, climbed the Everest Base Camp 3 weeks later to it. He also mentioned that he neither used nor wore any animal products, even at -21 degrees at Base Camp of earth’s highest mountain.
As he disclosed his vegan adventures in the seminar, many students including faculties were in awe of the power a
The English man was born and brought up a vegetarian but went vegan 11 years ago after being jolted by the revelations of dairy industry. He said, “It all started when I noticed dairy products started to give me issues, and I thought maybe I have a problem. I soon realized the problem was, and is, that I am not a baby cow.”
“Didn’t make sense to love animals and eat them,” says Anni
Anni, a Finnish vegan activist who turned vegan 4 years ago said, “I was born a non-vegetarian, as the majority of people in Finland and in Europe are. As a teenager, I realized that it did not make sense to love animals and eat them, so I went vegetarian.”
“Now I can confidently say that I am living life according to my values,” she added.
Choose ‘ahimsa’ not ‘hinsa’
In the workshop, David also focused on the spiritual aspect of a plant-based lifestyle. He said he believes in ahimsa (non-violence) and preaches the Indian cardinal virtue to people globally.
“We are paying someone to take a knife and slit the throat of a weaker animal, for a 5-minute taste pleasure. It is
David and Anni commenting on their journey so far in the Indian subcontinent said:
“We’re not here to reinvent the wheel, we’re here to help others make the connection between the morals they already hold and their actions.”
Before stopping at the city of lakes (Bhopal) for promoting the aggressively growing culture ‘veganism’, the vegan duo had already covered 6 cities in the country including Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, and Indore.
“Can’t justify non-human slavery,” says David
“In quest of understanding the dairy industry at grassroots, I have talked to dairy farmers online and in person from both, Europe and India but the mentality ‘it is what it is‘ remains the same everywhere,” told David to Disha News.
“Nobody can be blamed” as dairy farmers are part of a “very old, very powerful system” that manipulated many humans and exploited countless animals, he further explained.
Insanitary or insanity?
When asked about what David observed in his visit to the dairy farm, he said, “The conditions were frankly disgusting. Dead calves lying on the ground, dying calves tied up alone on concrete with no comfort.”
“But even if (hypothetically) the surroundings were sanitary, are the animals being treated ethically? No, and they are our slaves. We would never justify human slavery by saying ‘Oh, but the conditions are great‘ because we can’t justify slavery in any condition it is inflicted,” added the UK activist.
Vegan (Happy) Endings
A couple of young students of the IISER college inspired by the workshop turned vegan right away.
Karan Jethani and Vijayshree, who are well-known vegan activists of Central India were the organizers of the seminar at the college in Bhopal.
Wrapping up the event, students were additionally demonstrated about the alternatives to meat and dairy products like plant-derived milk, flax-seed egg, and vegetarian meat.
David and his Finnish counterpart have determined to devote the coming years to raise awareness on veganism, speciesism and animal exploitation.
Crusaders of animal rights, David and Anni, are all set to drive the movement for a week more in the city.
Story by Hemali Khanna
Updated on March 30 at 12:48 am
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Superb write-up and a great story.
thanks