Live from Rajghat: 'If there's a people's movement, this is it'

Civil rights activist Anna Hazare has drawn tremendous support from ordinary citizens for his fast to protest the police action against Baba Ramdev and his supporters after midnight last Saturday. The sleeping crowds were rudely woken up, lathi-charged and tear-gassed out of the Ramlila grounds, evoking condemnation all around.

But as the swelling crowds at Rajghat showed, the battle is really about middle class anger against growing corruption. Even as Anna Hazare accused the government of putting roadblocks to drafting an effective Lokpal Bill against corruption in high places,

Firstpost assesses the public mood and the relevance of this form of protest.

Firstpost’s Sanjeev Srivastava, reporting live from Rajghat, says that thousands of people have congregated there to show their support for Hazare.

Even as Anna Hazare called for a second freedom struggle, listen to what Srivastava had to say about the atmosphere in Rajghat:

Estimating the crowd strength at between 5,000 and 7,000 despite the searing summer temperatures in the capital, Srivastava notes that there is a ‘sense of ownership’ among those gathered there, adding that Hazare has caught the people’s imagination in a way not seen before.

“If there was ever a people’s movement in the last decade or so this is it”, he said. Delhi youth were present in large numbers, as were policemen and students from other cities. “The atmosphere is electric”, he added.

Watch Anna’s battle against the government: Nation supports Anna’s fight against corruption: Watch video