KANPUR: The city, on Sunday morning, witnessed the biggest march by the supporters of Anna Hazare. With Tricolour and banners in hands, the people participated in the campaign against corruption with enthusiasm.
The demonstrators, filled with anger over corruption prevailing in the country, displayed exemplary behaviour. Age, caste and creed was no bar and people from all sections of the society were out on the roads. With No leader, no administrative arrangements and no police, the march turned out to be hit.
Green Park, the venue, witnessed the crowd in thousands. It was like ocean of heads. From young to old, from men to women, from boys to girls and from rich to poor, every individual dedicated the Sunday to wipe out corruption.
The road outside the Green Park in Civil Lines was completely flooded. Those participating in the peace march were surprised as they could not believe that such a large crowd had turned up. A whopping crowd of 20,000 people were on the road, raising slogans in support of Anna Hazare.
Everywhere, one could see the supporters of Anna clad in white t-shirts and caps with placards were moving around. In no time, thousands gathered in Green Park waving Tricolour.
"It was an experience of a lifetime. Never seen before. Such a large crowd on road to support Anna and his movement. It's amazing," said Janvi, a student.
Anna's supporters did not lag behind in showing their love and patriotism for the country. They not only sang patriotic songs but also danced to the tunes of dhols.
A demonstrator Anil Gupta said that it was really difficult for him to describe the experience this morning at Green Park.
The Green Park Stadium was painted in the colours of the national flag. Everywhere the Tricolour was waving in the air. The people were filled with the patriotic sspirit and witnessed pledging that they will fight against corruption till the Jan Lokpal Bill gets passed in the Parliament.
"If a 74 years old man can fast for the country, why can't we youngsters stand up and fight corruption," said Amrit.
MBA students, engineering graduates, young lawyers, schoolchildren and others took active part in the event. Every individual wanted to be part of the historic moment. A section of students who had come to Green Park with guitar sang patriotic songs and danced to its tune.
They termed it to be the second freedom struggle. Hundreds of people joined the guitar party and clapped to boost the morale of the young brigade.
Amit said that they had decided to sing Vande Mataram and other songs that could arise nationalist feelings.
Prateek and Sunidhi who had come to Green Park are residents of Tilak Nagar said that it seemed to them as if Sunday was either Republic Day or Independence Day as they had never seen such a crowd earlier.
Nitin Mishra, a resident of Gwaltoli said that he and his friends had painted their checks and forehead in the colour of the national flag.
Another group of students were busy chanting 'Anna tum sangharsh karo hum tumhare saath hai' and 'Vande Mataram', 'Ek do teen char band karo yeh brastachar'.
Slogans like 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Anna nahi yeh aandhi hai' were also raised.
Though there was hardly any space for the commuters to pass through the area, but those who could manage to reach the crowded place, also donned Anna cap and given roses by the crowd.
Rajneesh, a resident of Kahu Kothi who was passing through Civil Lines was stopped by the crowd. His two years old son was given cap by the crowd.
There were others also were were welcomed by the crowd in the similar fashion.
Inside Green Park, group of enthusiastic youth were witnessed releasing tricoloured balloons in the air. Hundreds of such balloons were released in the air. The crowd present there raised patriotic slogans and danced.
The elderly lot sat down and began a series of bhajans. They not only sang bhajans but also clapped and set a rhythm for others. 'Raghu pati Raghav Raja Ram' was the bhajan which was sang the most number of times. The people were donning the Anna caps. They held placards that read different messages in support of Anna Hazare.
At Green Park, a group of enthusiastic youths all residents of Shastri Nagar took off their shirts and painted their faces in Tricolour. They wrote Anna on their chests and marched through the stadium to protest against prevailing corruption in the country.
The members of this group said that they had taken off their shirts to bring an awakening amongst the members of Parliament and the government that the issue of corruption would not be tolerated anymore. Later they took a round of the stadium and waved a large Tricolour.
A number of youth had coloured their hair in tricolour. Prashant, a student said that he found this as a unique way to protest against corruption. The anger of the common people against corruption spilled on the roads. To express their anger a number of people got their heads shaved off. WHen asked why they got their heads shaved off, the people said that this was their way to protest and support Anna Hazare, the old man who has been fighting against corruption.
In another form of putting up protest, a boy participated in the movement, by wearing skates. He rolled over on his skates and moved ahead.
The girls of St Mary's School also did not lag behind in rendering support to Anna's crusade against corruption. The girls wore school dress and held the school banner in one hand and national flag in the other hand. They wore Anna caps. The students were accompanied by teachers and the staff members.
The women groups also came forward in participating in the mega programme. The members of women NGOs and several other organisations were part of the programme. They danced and clapped to present their protest against the corruption.
Madhu, a participant, said: "We do party on every happy occasion and we celebrate success. Likewise, we are here to celebrate the event. Our strength is the crowd present here. Anna will be happy to know that Kanpurities did not lag behind in meeting his expectations."
The enthusiasm of the people could be gauged from the fact that a 70 years old woman who could not stand had come to Green Park on her wheel chair. She was accompanied by her family members. Her family members said that the spirit of fighting corruption ran high.
0 comments:
Post a Comment