Following in the tradition of Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, considered the spiritual successor of Gandhi, was also an advocate of nonviolence and human rights. An eminent philosopher, in 1951, he began a peace walk for land reform throughout India with many of his followers. He walked for more than a decade, covering an estimated 70-80 thousand kilometres asking landowners to consider him a son and give him one-sixth of their land for him to distribute to the poor.
The movement was called Bhoodan (land-gift) and was built on Gandhian principles of love, compassion and selflessness. He received about 4,200,000 acres of land in donation for landless farmers! He wrote, “Whatever land, wealth, knowledge and strength we have is from the community . . . these are not private properties, but divine properties, gifts of God, and therefore should be used for the welfare of the masses.”
