Citizens join hands in support of Anna Hazare

In support and solidarity to Anna Hazare’s fight against corruption, the citizens of Mangalore including a freedom fighter and Gandhian from Kasargod Namdev Shenoy sat on a day-long fast from 10 am to 6 pm in front of Deputy Commissioner’s office on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, Namdev Shenoy said “a corruption-free society can be formed only when there is unity among all Indians. All of us should be united with love for each other and trust with each other to root out corruption from the society.”

He said “jai jagath should be the buzzword for all of us and our tactics should be ‘grama swarajya.’  Politics+science=destruction and ‘Self realisation+science= Sarvodaya,” he added.

“We gained independence through a weapon of non violence which was given to us by our forefathers. There is no peace in the country now. Corruption has reached every where in the country. A wall has been built in each other’s heart. Non violence is the weapon given to us by our forefathers to fight against injustice. By arresting Anna Hazare, the government has shown that there is no value for those who carry out sathyagraha and movement peacefully for a cause in the country.”

“Vinobha Bhave tried to root out Naxalism in Andhra Pradesh through non violence by organising Bhoodan movement. Corruption exists where there is no peace. Truth and peace will go hand in hand to root out corruption.  We need to empower our villages.

However, five year plans have failed in empowering villages. In spite of five year plans, villages do not have drinking water facility. The youth from villages are migrating to towns in search of employment,” he lamented.

Between his speech, Shenoy also sang a couple of patriotic songs. Some of them included: “Vande vande, Vande akashadadi navella onde, jagathalli belaguva ravi namage onde,’ ‘Nadesona chaluvali nadesona,’ ‘Shanthi sipayi nade, kranthi sipayi nade, janathe sevegagi nade.’

In his introductory speech, D K Anti-Corruption Forum convenor T R Bhat said corruption has no caste, creed and religion. It is found every where.

The government has cheated the entire nation by clearing the draft of the Lokpal Bill that excludes very important clauses of the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by the Anna Hazare and his team.”

“The Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the members of parliament for their actions inside the House are excluded from the ambit of the Lokpal Bill that was placed in the Parliament recently.”

 “The draft Lokpal Bill does not give any protection to the whistle blowers. There is no time bound for completing the probe into charges on corruption. We need a strong Lokpal Bill to root out corruption in the country. The draft bill which was placed in the Parliament does not define corruption. Though the government had promised to include few demands of Anna Hazare in the final draft of the Lokpal Bill, it has not been included.”

Condemning the arrest of Anna Hazare, he said “in democracy, we have right to protest peacefully. However, an attempt was made to suppress the protest by arresting Hazare, which should be condemned.”

Canara College

Condemning the government for arresting Anna Hazare, as many as 200 students from Canara First Grade College staged a hunger strike and submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner. The students took an oath that they will continue their fight against corruption in future too.

ABVP

The ABVP members staged a protest against the arrest of Anna Hazare by forming a human chain at Basaveshwara Circle near KPT on Tuesday. The protestors burnt the effigy of PM Dr Manmohan Singh.