NRIs celebrate Anna Hazare’s victory
LOS ANGELES: Rati Dilip Sontakey’s India Against Corruption and People For Lok Satta (PFL), organized a celebration and rejoiced at the special occasion of the Indian Parliament making the unanimous resolution for a strong Lokpal bill and Anna Hazare ending his 12-day fast. About one hundred Indians from various parts of Southern California gathered in Artesia Park on Sunday, August 28 afternoon for the celebration.
Participants chanted slogans supporting Anna Hazare, sang Indian patriotic songs, and colored their faces with Indian national flag colors (Tiranga). In addition, all participants took an oath to neither give bribe nor take bribe from anyone. As next steps in the movement, participants decided to follow Anna Hazare implementing Right to Recall. People from various walks of life participated in this occasion.
There were children to people over the age of 70 participating in this event. Software engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, college students and community leaders from various regions of India joined in a show of national spirit.
One of the India Against Corruption volunteers, Sreekanth Kocharlakota said that he spent sleepless nights while Anna Hazare was on fast. He said that India showed the world the power of non-violence and need for common people’s involvement in politics. The participants demanded that Anna Hazare should be bestowed with ‘Bharat Ratna’ as he dedicated his life to the country and made a significant difference in common people’s lives.
Jawahar Kambampati, Vice President of PFL, recalled the moments he organized ‘Dandi March II’, 240 mile walk in March 2011 from San Diego to San Francisco. Jawahar said that, among the demands of Dandi march II, ratification of UNCAC and Jan Lokpal bill are underway, and they will continue the movement until India is free from corruption. Prof. Keshavlal Patel mentioned that he sent three letters to the Prime Minister of India, requesting him to accept Jan Lokpal for the sake of common people. Dilip Sontakey, Krishna Reddy, and Anju Garg were among the speakers.
JS Bedi
India Post News Service
