Country rises to support Anna Hazare
A day after Anna Hazare was taken to Tihar jail complex, the NCR witnessed protests, sloganeering, human chains, candlelight vigils and strikes undertaken by people from all professions and strata of society.
The effect of Anna Hazare’s mass movement was felt in Gurgaon for the second consecutive day on Wednesday. Over 100 supporters of Anna in Palam Vihar made an attempt to court arrest but were not detained by the police. And the local market was closed as in solidarity with the silent protest in many parts of the city.
Gurgaon citizens assembled under the banner of Gurgaon Morcha, an association of organizations/ NGOs at Leisure Valley Park and started a relay hunger strike with two people fasting at any given time. More than 300 people from different groups like Joint Action Front of Resident Associations (JAFRA), Citizens’ Alliance for Responsive Governance, Gurgaon Citizens’ Council (GCC), Federation of Resident Welfare Associations (FORWA), Mission Gurgaon Development (MGD), Sanyukt Kalyan Parishad, RWAs of DLF City, Sectors 4, 5 and 10, Indian Ex-Servicemen’s League, etc joined the move.
In another instance in New Delhi, with issues of water, parking and civic amenities giving headaches to residential colonies from time to time, the Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) of the city also joined hands to demand a stronger Lokpal Bill.
According to representatives, RWAs deal with corruption at government offices on a daily basis and so the focus of the Lokpal Bill should also be the removal of corruption from the lower rungs of bureaucracy.
RWAs have drafted a resolution to be forwarded to the Prime Minister, demanding a stronger Jan Lokpal Bill as suggested by Team Anna. “The present government’s Lokpal Bill has several clauses that are detrimental to RWAs and NGOs, who take up the issue of corruption from time to time, “ said Rajiv Kakria of GK-I RWA.
Thousands of Anna supporters from Noida reached Tihar early in the morning under the umbrella of ‘India Against Corruption’. The Gautam Budh Nagar Bar Association sent a letter to the prime minister and president Pratibha Patil suggesting that civil society’s demands must be met.
Nearly 500 autorickshaw drivers too staged a protest and said one cannot call it a democracy if a 74-year-old is not allowed to raise his voice against corruption. “This is absolute dictatorship. The autorickshaw drivers went on strike in the morning and called it off after 2pm,” said Noida autorickshaw union president Om Prakash Gurjar.
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