I have been participating in Anna Hazare’s protest rallies for the amendment of Jan Lokpal bill in areas like Bandra and Dadar. But the protest which I attended at Azad Maidan was something special.

Till date, I had only heard of India’s freedom movement but looking at the current protest rallies for Hazare, I, along with many youngsters, got a golden opportunity of experiencing it, more so at Azad. The patriotic slogans, enthusiasm, dutiful activities of the general public made me wonder whether I am sent back to the pre-1947 era!

I got to know that a group of people, who were sitting on the stage, were also fasting along with Hazare. Despite that, they showed no signs of it. In fact, some even gave speeches expressing the need to protest with full enthusiasm. There were hundreds of others waiting to be on the podium.

Some volunteers were distributing postcards, which were to be sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to pass the Civil Society’s version of the Jan Lokpal Bill (I know he is not going to read them but at least the huge number of letters will shake him hopefully).

The most defining moment was when Mayank Gandhi, Mumbai in-charge of India Against Corruption (IAC), took stage. He explained the difference between the government version of Lokpal Bill and the version proposed by the Civil Society. After listening to it, I bet nobody would like to keep away from the protest!

I met a number of people who had taken leave from office and a large number of students who have been bunking college just to be a part of the movement. People from all religion, caste and class had united. All total strangers but still each other’s well-wishers as they were united by a single belief – revolution! Has India ever witnessed such scenes after Independence?

The most amazing and, even, unbelievable aspect of this protest is that not a single incident of even a minor violence is reported. In fact, in all these rallies I have not even once heard anyone abusing or using foul language, which is a fad these days.

This was the scene at just one rally. There are thousands of such rallies taking place all over India. The Congress Government better take the voice of the masses seriously else life will keep getting uglier for them.

As it is, we all know their mental condition right now. First they arrested Hazare, a step which turned out to be a humungous blunder! Then, their spokesperson Manish Tewari had to bear crores of slaps after accusing Hazare for being corrupt. Later, another spokesperson said the movement might be a tactic by the US. This became the biggest joke of the year.

Lastly, they accused Hazare of running away from the army during his younger days but this was proved otherwise by the Right To Information tool. These lineups of goof-up clearly indicate the state of mind of our government right now. A clear case of – Vinaash Kaal, Vipritt Buddhi!

Already unprecedented numbers of people have participated in the movement but it’s important to up the ante in order to show our government and other parties the mirror while keeping in mind the most important factor – non-violence!

Some more pictures during the protest: –