The campaign is growing stronger with each passing day. This reflects the mood of the people and their bottled up agitation and anger against corrupt practices. It feels as though they are finally finding a reason to express themselves and their sentiments against mis-governance. Thousands marched from different places in the city to Gandhi Square and expressed their solidarity with the campaign. Different associations, progressive organizations, students organizations and trade unions kept the numbers swelling. Some of them dressed up as different mythological characters and added colour and variety to the campaign.
We continued to have volunteers going to bus stands, railway station and traveling by the city buses, spreading awareness on the Jan Lokpal bill and urging the citizens to contact the local MP and express their sentiments. A few engineering students and friends created space in different social media sites and expanded the reach of the campaign.
I spent the day at the Freedom Park in Bangalore and spoke to the people gathered there. It was very energizing to see people from different walks of life – farmers, students, techies, senior citizens and children come together demanding a strong law against corruption.
With the campaign maturing at Mysore, it is now time to move beyond a mere event and take it further as a sustained movement against corruption. We now need to create a platform which will provide information, support and sustenance to this fight and help mobilize sincere and committed people to fight for this basic right of good governance and citizen engagement.
– Balu
