Despite being Monday, thousands of people thronged at Jantar Mantar to join Team Anna’s protest against anti-corruption on the sixth day. The venue was abuzz with over 7,000 people wearing ‘I am Anna’ cap from all walks of life.
The venue echoed with loud slogans of “Bharat Mata ki Jai”, “Vande Mataram” and “Inquilab Zindabad”. But the most-heard slogan of the day was of youths shouting, “Yeh Hafte Bharat ke Naam”.
Clad in jeans and t-shirt wearing Anna cap, youths in number were seen at the protest venue. When asked about what pulled them here, Shalini Sinha, a Delhi University undergraduate student and who came along with a group of around 10 students, said, “The fight against corruption. This What Annaji wants? A country that is free of corruption. Why the people sitting in power is scared. Why don’t they pass a strong Lokpal Bill?” Before she could complete, the group started shouting, “Yeh Hafte Bharat ke Naam”. Not only youths, senior citizens too thronged to the venue site to show their support.
The rural population at Anna’s movement looked in majority with thousands thronging Jantar Mantar from villages of Haryana and western Uttar Pardesh.
With rainy season on and not much work in the fields to do these days, Jantar Mantar is becoming a favourite destination for many.
“We have been hearing about Anna and his demand for a strong Lokpal that will uproot corruption from the country since past one year. We could not come earlier but now that there is not much to do in the fields, we planned to come here and extend our support to the old man,” said Sadhu Yadav, a 45-year-old farmer from a village in Saharanpur.
Accompanied with his friend Vijay, Sadhu said more than 50 men known to him from neighbouring villages are planning to visit Jantar Mantar in next few days.
And for all these supporters, key Team Anna member Kumar Vishaws’ words filled lots of energy and enthusiasm. Giving an example, Vishaws addressed the crowd that a car of an Anna supporter which was stolen two months back in Gurgaon was found in front of a police station.
“The victim had posted a lot of stickers in support of Anna Hazare on his car and it was stolen. The police officials found that the thieves left the car in front a police station. They had left a note in the car stating “We are returning Anna’s car back to him”, Vishwas said. Hearing this, “Vande Mataram” echoed across the venue.
Mob threatens media
In a bizarre incident in the city, around 200 supporters of Anna Hazare manhandled some mediapersons. The incident was reported on late Monday night after the speech of Team Anna member Shanti Bhushan. Bhushan allegedly slammed media for the poor coverage of the movement and claimed that the media houses were managed by the government.
A mob of 200 protesters started abusing mediapersons who were covering the movement. They even manhandled some TV reporters and camera persons. However, Team Anna members Kumar Vishwas and Manish Sisodia immediately intervened and stopped the mob to avoid mishap.
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