Anna Hazare retaliated with a quiet revolutionary move that pinned down the government and Delhi Police hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fired the first salvo at the Gandhian from the ramparts of the Red Fort. The machinery of the government was left groping for answers for several hours as Anna bet the government in its own act with stealth, guile and astuteness of a dogged satyagrahi. Suddenly Anna, with just three of his supporters turned up at Rajghat and sat in meditation around 3.52pm. the cops who had been tracking his movements were caught unawares. By the evening, what began as a trickle at Rajghat soon swelled into a flood. With thousands of Anna supporters Rajghat was chock-a-block. Slogans rent the air amidst a sea of fluttering Tricolors.
An Anna aide said, It was his own decision. He prays here before beginning his fast.
It was only around 3pm the message about the sudden move was sent to the 20-odd volunteers who always accompany him. And the first senior police officer to arrive at Rajghat was additional DCP (central) Aslam Khan. That was nearly an hour after Anna had begun his silent fast. This fuelled speculation that a miffed Anna had already begun his hunger strike a day before schedule. The Rajghat Director Rajinish Kumar said that Anna took the VIP entrance, but not many recognized him till he bagan the prayer.
There were more than 2000 people at Rajghat by 5pm, a massive show of strength for Anna's campaign against corruption. By the time Anna left for Constitution club at 6.41pm, the usually serene Rajghat echoed with chants of 'Vande Mataram' and 'Anna tum agge baro, hum tumare saath hai'. Anna's timing was perfect, so was his choice of venue. He sat right opposite the Akhand Jyoti on Gandhi's Samadhi. What began as prayer soon saw youngsters from colleges and farmer's group from Gujarat bring the Tricolor and put them around Anna. Bhajans followed before children distributed miniature flags and excited college kids painted their face with the colours of the national flag. The exuberance of incredible India came to the fore as thousands sat on the parapet.
In the recent past there have been atleast two instances when Anna has visited Rajghat before going on a fast- on April 5 and June 8.
But his decision to visit the Gandhi Samadhi on Independence Day- a day before his planned hunger strike is being seen as move to mobilize mass support. The Permission has been denied to him by the government to fast at the JP Park and there are chances of Police action if Anna refuses to blink.
News By, SM
No comments:
Post a Comment