Anna Hazare, who spent the night in Tihar jail after he refused to come out insisting on an unconditional release and permission to launch his fast at Jai Prakash Narain Park, has garnered huge amount of nationwide support for his crusade against corruption.
Within hours of the news of his arrest breaking on the networks, protests broke out from Baroda to Bhubaneswar, Kanpur to Kochi, leaving the government gasping at the national demonstration of democratic dissent.
In the nation's capital, people from all walks of life took to the streets and continued protesting Anna's arrest. Protestors denounced the government and chanted slogans demanding a stronger Lokpal Bill.
The heavy rains in northern part of the country did not deter people come coming out of the streets and support Anna Hazare's cause. Markets in several districts of Haryana were shut down and even train movement was disrupted.
In Chandigarh, architects, teachers and lawyers joined the agitation. Protesters courted arrested in Jaipur and Ajmer while thousands participated in fasts at Bikaner, Rajsamand, Sriganganagar, Bhilwara, Kota and Bundi.
The fact that Anna had been lodged in Tihar's Jail No. 1, the same building in which CWG scam accused Suresh Kalmadi is also lodged, seemed to many an insult to injury.
"Democracy had been murdered," was the common refrain across the country, as protesters swelled in numbers. Candlelight processions were taken out in the evening in several metros.
Social activist Medha Patkar led the demonstration at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. Anna's followers raised slogans like "Anna Hazare, Hum tumhare saath hain" (Anna, we are with you) and "Corruption hatao" (Do away with corruption). Like everywhere else, the turnout was impressive in Mumbai.
In Nagpur, an army of protesters wore Gandhi caps proclaiming 'I am Anna'. They took over the main roundabout on the busy Nagpur-Jabalpur national highway before courting arrest.
Quite a few shops downed their shutters in different parts of Gujarat. In Surat, the protests were led by the ABVP, the students' wing of the BJP. The ABVP was also quite active in the demonstrations in Vadodara, Nadiad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.
In Kolkata, over 200 people joined the fast at the Metro Channel in the heart of the city. Slogans were raised in support of a stronger Lokpal Bill. It was announced that the fast would continue till Anna was released. Students in IIT-Kharagpur also joined the protests.
Down south in Hyderabad, the city wore a deserted look throughout the day. Indira Park was the hub of protests. "The youth are better informed today and they have a platform," said G O Mathew, an MBA student sporting the 'I am Anna Hazare' sticker. Rishika, a 25-year-old engineer, described the system as "corrupt" and said "it was time to change it".
In Bangalore, it was the member of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee, N Santosh Hegde, who was the guiding spirit for protesters at Freedom Park as they chanted nationalist slogans and decried Anna's detention. Hegde said, "I don't think corruption will end with the Lokpal Bill. But it will certainly bring down the scale of corruption." Outside the state capital, scores of people went on a fast in Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Bijapur and Belgaum.
Within hours of the news of his arrest breaking on the networks, protests broke out from Baroda to Bhubaneswar, Kanpur to Kochi, leaving the government gasping at the national demonstration of democratic dissent.
In the nation's capital, people from all walks of life took to the streets and continued protesting Anna's arrest. Protestors denounced the government and chanted slogans demanding a stronger Lokpal Bill.
The heavy rains in northern part of the country did not deter people come coming out of the streets and support Anna Hazare's cause. Markets in several districts of Haryana were shut down and even train movement was disrupted.
In Chandigarh, architects, teachers and lawyers joined the agitation. Protesters courted arrested in Jaipur and Ajmer while thousands participated in fasts at Bikaner, Rajsamand, Sriganganagar, Bhilwara, Kota and Bundi.
The fact that Anna had been lodged in Tihar's Jail No. 1, the same building in which CWG scam accused Suresh Kalmadi is also lodged, seemed to many an insult to injury.
"Democracy had been murdered," was the common refrain across the country, as protesters swelled in numbers. Candlelight processions were taken out in the evening in several metros.
Social activist Medha Patkar led the demonstration at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. Anna's followers raised slogans like "Anna Hazare, Hum tumhare saath hain" (Anna, we are with you) and "Corruption hatao" (Do away with corruption). Like everywhere else, the turnout was impressive in Mumbai.
In Nagpur, an army of protesters wore Gandhi caps proclaiming 'I am Anna'. They took over the main roundabout on the busy Nagpur-Jabalpur national highway before courting arrest.
Quite a few shops downed their shutters in different parts of Gujarat. In Surat, the protests were led by the ABVP, the students' wing of the BJP. The ABVP was also quite active in the demonstrations in Vadodara, Nadiad, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.
In Kolkata, over 200 people joined the fast at the Metro Channel in the heart of the city. Slogans were raised in support of a stronger Lokpal Bill. It was announced that the fast would continue till Anna was released. Students in IIT-Kharagpur also joined the protests.
Down south in Hyderabad, the city wore a deserted look throughout the day. Indira Park was the hub of protests. "The youth are better informed today and they have a platform," said G O Mathew, an MBA student sporting the 'I am Anna Hazare' sticker. Rishika, a 25-year-old engineer, described the system as "corrupt" and said "it was time to change it".
In Bangalore, it was the member of the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee, N Santosh Hegde, who was the guiding spirit for protesters at Freedom Park as they chanted nationalist slogans and decried Anna's detention. Hegde said, "I don't think corruption will end with the Lokpal Bill. But it will certainly bring down the scale of corruption." Outside the state capital, scores of people went on a fast in Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli, Bijapur and Belgaum.
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