Anna Hazare wave continued to sweep the country on the forth consecutive day on Friday. Reports are pouring in from every part of the country on protest marchs. Be it Kerala or Kanyakumari, Punjab or Gujrat, everywhere people are up against corruption. Village, towns, cities, or metros, every where it is Anna Hazare.
In Banglore at the Freedom Park, former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde, a member of the joint committee on drafting the Lokpal bill, participated in the protest as protesters, mostly students, shouted slogans "Anna Hazare Zindabad" and "Bharat Maata Ki Jai".
Addressing protesters, Hegde said "I think Lokpal and Lokayukta institutions can help root out corruption."
He also said corruption was born along with the birth of civilisation. "If we can check this, it will benefit not only people, but also the country," he said.
Hegde flayed politicians for accepting bribes unhesitatingly and yet initiated probe into the funding of those participating in Hazare's campaign.
Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption continued to spread in parts of Rajasthan with government employees across the state deciding to join the peaceful agitation on Friday.
The state employees will go for a half-day mass leave after lunch in support of Anna.
"We have given a call for half-day mass leave and a candle march will be taken out at Ambedkar circle in the evening. We as citizens are with Anna. We want to give a message that we are not corrupt and we are also against corruption," Mahendra Chaudhary, a representative of state employees federation said.
Traders also staged a dharna at Badi Chaupad in the walled city. Wearing black ribbon, they raised slogans in Hazare's support.
Women hit the streets in Ranchi while several shop-owners spontaneously downed shutters in the Jharkhand capital in support of Anna Hazare.
The women, mostly tribals, took out a huge rally under various banners, including Birsa Ulgulan Manch, covering main routes of the city, shouting pro-Anna and anti-corruption slogans.
"It was a spontaneous shutdown by business establishment not only in the city but also in the rural areas of Ranchi district like Ratu and Mandar," said Sanjay Seth, the convenor of India Against Corruption, Jharkhand Chapter/Jharkhand Civil Society.
"The response sends out a message to the Centre that it should not delay in accepting Anna Hazare's demand for the Jan Lokpal Bill covering prime minister and higher judiciary," he added.
He said, "The Congress' projection of Rahul Gandhi as the youth icon belied its claim after lakhs of youth across the country are rallying behind 74-year-old Anna Hazare against corruption."
Most shops in the city were closed for two hours following the shutdown call by the 'India Against Corruption' forum, he said.
Students of Birsa Institute of Technology, Meshra, organised an event "Support to Anna Hazare" at 5 pm through street plays.
The advocates of Dumka and Jamtara districts also boycotted courts and took out processions in support of Hazare at their respective places.
Most of the shops and business establishments in Vadodara remaining closed for the day.
About 80 trading and business bodies, NGOS, social activists, advocates and members belonging to academic communities and medical fraternity have supported the call for bandh.
The bandh call was given by the city based India Against Corruption (IAC).
Meanwhile, the Baroda Bar Association (BBA) has given a call to keep the courts closed for an indefinite period in support of Hazare's cause.
Around 5,000 lawyers under the banner of the Patna District Bar Association (PDBA) boycotted the proceedings of the civil court in Patna expressing their solidarity with Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption.
The office-bearers of the Association held an emergency meeting in Patna on Friday morning and decided to stay away from work. Meanwhile, Bihar unit of 'India Against Corruption'launched a wider contact programme in the state from Friday to create awareness among the people against corruption.
Convener of Bihar unit of IAC Sanjay Dutta said that during the contact programme, the activists would apprise the people of the reasons leading to the arrest of Anna Hazare and his campaign for the Jan Lokpal bill.
The contact programme is being carried out after demonstrations, padyatras, marches, fast and candlelight processions brought out by the IAC activists across the state.
The support for Anna Hazare's campaign has made deep inroads in the rural hinterland of Madhya Pradesh with people turning out in large numbers to express their solidarity with Anna.
In tribal Dindori district, some of the protestors dressed-up like Anna on August 15 and made people aware about the issues raised by him, specially corruption. A rally was organised in Mizoram in support of Anna Hazare's movement where the participants underscored the need for 'Jan Lokpal Bill'.
People converged in front of the Millennium Centre, the largest shopping mall in the state capital, with speakers having proclaimed their support to the cause.
Friday's rally was organised by 11 anti-corruption bodies including PRISM, Society for Social Action (SOSA) and youth groups from across the state.
The activists, under the aegis of 'Mizoram Against Corruption', organised a rally on Thursday as well.
A group of commercial sex workers took out a march in Nashik city, expressing support to Anna Hazare.
The women walked along the main roads in the city and ended the march in front of the collector's office, and shouted slogans in Hazare's support.
Members of Nashik District Bar Association too expressed support for the 73-year-old Gandhian. Lawyers staged a sit-in in front of the district court.
Workers, women, students and citizens participated in processions in various parts of the city in Hazare's support. |
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