'Something to do with corruption?'

The recent fast-to-death against corruption by the Gandhian Anna Hazare has created ripples all over the country. Even Bangaloreans stood up for the cause with many people assembling at Freedom Park to express their solidarity.

But there were some people who weren’t aware of the issue and still had assembled at the park. Metrolife spoke to a few youngsters to find out if their march to the Freedom Park was just a fad or they actually felt for the cause.

Says Vinay, a student, “I went there along with my friends. I knew that the fight was against corruption and to demand the government to pass the Lokpal Bill. But I don’t know the bill in detail. All I know is that the bill is a law to root out corruption.”  

However, Prashanth has a different take. He says, “Most of the people were motivated by the mobile texts and forwards that were going around and also by the status messages on Facebook talking about the protest. But as I found out, a lot of people took part in the protest only to accompany their friends who were also present there.”
Sandeep agrees, “When I was spreading the word about it, I had friends working in the media who didn’t even know who Anna Hazare was. Worse still, some of them didn’t know if he was a man or a woman! And this is hilarious especially because they actually were forwarding messages about the campaign.”

But those who gathered at the Freedom Park went back home a lot wiser. Says Hariharan, “A sheet with all the information about the protest was given to everybody. So all those who didn’t know about it were also informed about the issue.”

Thanks to the social networking sites, the message is out that there is a fight against corruption. But just protesting, without knowing what the outcome will be, is not going to help. Awareness about what the bill entails also needs to be created to empower the common man. Says Vidya, a trainer, “Facebook and Twitter have made the youth connect with what is happening. But as I have seen, many actually don’t know about the bill at all. All they know is, it has something to do with corruption. They have to be made aware because whatever is in the bill is going to affect them and the society at large. And just being a part of a campaign like this is not enough if they do not exactly know what are they fighting for.” Seconding this, Prashanth says, “We all know it is against corruption but many people do not know how this protest, which we had undertaken, would affect the country and its people. That way, yes, most of us are ignorant.”