Demonstration in support of Anna’s campaign

GUWAHATI, Aug 20 – Guwahati along with some other parts of Assam continued to witness meets and demonstrations in support of Anna Hazare’s anti-graft campaign with more people attending the events than before. In the capital city, local residents as well as people from other areas assembled at Lakhidhar Bora Khetra near Dighalipukhuri to show their solidarity with Hazare’s cause.

They listened to speakers who spoke on a range of issues such as corruption in public life, failure to address floods and erosion due to misuse of funds, and the threat of mega dams to people in Assam. Women and men, some of them in schools and colleges, also sang songs of protests and liberation. United in their stance against corruption, most believed that the campaign of the senior Gandhian in New Delhi offered a chance to improve the prevailing circumstances.

Badar Barbhuyan, a resident of Lakhtokia, attended the sit in demonstration for about an hour as he had other engagements, and said, “I had to be here…to show that it is better to register my protest than just to keep complaining and do nothing”.

There were others who felt that support to Anna Hazare’s campaign must be highlighted in Assam where corruption has affected the common man. Some of the protesters agreed that if corruption could be curbed, the prices of essential commodities can be controlled.

Chandreyee Goswami, a student from Uzan Bazar was confident that support to the anti-corruption crusade would contribute to overall improvements. “Five of us have come to this demonstration because we believe in Anna Hazare’s cause. We think our future would be better if corruption can be erased from public life,” she remarked. She would come again to attend the event, Goswami added.

Hope appeared to be in abundance among those who braved the day’s heat to spend time in sparse conditions. All were united in the belief that the fight against corruption must continue till its logical end.

Coming from Manpara in Kamrup district, Gaya Mandal mentioned the need to end corruption as its prevalence affected poor people. A carpenter by profession, he mentioned, “I think if there was less corruption, then life would be less hard for people like us”.

The sit-in demonstration today saw the participation from a number of students from Guwahati-based law colleges, apart from people under the umbrella of various social organisations.

Meanwhile, the Save Guwahati Build Guwahati (SGBG) has announced a prayer meet at the Lakhidhar Bora Khetra on August 22. The programme will be held from five to seven in the evening. The organisers have invited the public to attend the meet in support of Anna Hazare’s anti-graft crusade.