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New Delhi: Public
anger and frustration over mounting corruption expressed itself
across the country Sunday as thousands of people from all walks of
life marched in over 60 cities to demand an effective anti-graft
law at national level.
Leading social activists, legal experts, professionals, students
and, in some cities, even women carrying their children, joined
the call to end corruption in public offices on the day the
country marked the Martyrs' Day, the 63rd death anniversary of the
Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
The march was part of the "India against Corruption" movement
launched by some social organisations demanding passage of the
Lokpal Bill in the budget session of parliament with necessary
amendments to make it more effective.
In the national capital Delhi, the march began at the Ramlila
Ground and proceeded to Jantar Mantar, the 18th century masonry
observatory on the edge of posh Connaught Place shopping district.
Former Indian Police Service officer Kiran Bedi, social activists
Swami Agnivesh and Anna Hazare and lawyer Prashant Bhushan were
among the key participants in the rally in Delhi.
Eminent people like Bedi, lawyer Shanti Bhushan, Justice Santosh
Hegde, activist Aruna Roy, Arvind Kejriwal and many others had
come together to draft an anti-corruption law which seeks to
create an independent, empowered, transparent and accountable
anti-corruption agency.
"The Lokpal bill prepared by the public is so effective that it
will eradicate corruption in the next two-three years. Political
parties should support the passage of this bill as the Lokpal
suggested by the government is only a showpiece," Shanti Bhushan
said while addressing the rally.
According to activists, the government is making its proposed
Lokpal an advisory body, which will only recommend to the
government to prosecute its corrupt ministers.
The marchers in Agra, the city of the Taj raised slogans against
corruption. Hundreds of ordinary people from all walks of life
turned up and joined the march.
The march began from the Agra Municipal Corporation office near
Soor Sadan auditorium end ended at the Shahid Smarak, where the
marchers burnt the official Lokpal bill of the central government
and observed a two-minute silence for the martyrs.
Carrying placards calling for effective anti-corruption law,
hundreds of people in Bangalore, some accompanied by their
children, marched from Mahatma Gandhi's statue on M.G. Road to
Kanteerava Stadium, about a kilometre away.
The march in the city was organised by Art of Living Foundation
set up by spiritual 'guru' Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, and
not-for-profit organisations like Janagraha and several
educational institutions.
In the Andhra Pradesh capital of Hyderabad, hundreds of citizens
and youth, among them former chief election commissioner J.M.
Lyngdoh, joined the march against corruption.
The participants marched along Necklace Road on the banks of
Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of Hyderabad. Led by Lyngdoh,
activists of Youth for Better India carried banners and placards
with anti-corruption slogans like "Bring the Lokpal Bill" written
on them.
The NTR Memorial Trust, which is run by the opposition Telugu
Desam Party (TDP), also organised a march against corruption.
Led by former chief minister and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu,
the party leaders and activists walked from Golconda Military
Hospital to Bapu Ghat in Langar Houz and paid their homage to
Mahatma Gandhi.
Thousands of people participated in a protest march against
corruption in Pune and Aurangabad in Maharashtra, according to an
official.
"In Pune, we have made it a 'politics-free' rally. All
participants are volunteers from various fields and there is no
celebrity participation," said a volunteer.
The two-hour rally in Pune started from Fergusson College gate and
went to Sancheti Chowk, Bal Gangadhar Chowk and terminated at
Sambhaji Park.
Thousands also marched in the Mumbai, the country's financial hub.
"Large number of college students, professionals from the
corporate sector, teachers, government employees, lawyers, doctors
and others participated in this march," one of the organisers
said.
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