By IANS,
Chennai : Describing it as the new IPL – Indian People’s League – hundreds of people here Friday pledged support to veteran activist Anna Hazare in the fight against corruption.
A prayer meeting was held at the Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya in T. Nagar in the capital city, where Mahatma Gandhi had laid the school’s foundation in 1946, where a cross section of people, including students and corporate heads, gathered in support of the cause led by Hazare, whose fast-unto-death entered its fourth day in Delhi.
Majority of those who gathered at the school for the prayer meeting were youngsters and those in the mid-30s. There were also a number of elder citizens who joined the national drive against corruption.
“The real ‘IPL’ – the Indian People’s League – has just begun, led by Anna Hazare. The spark he ignited is spreading fast across the country,” said V. Ravichander, chief enabler at Gates and Windows, a city-based HRD company.
Chennai was to host the first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament later in the day between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Holding the national flag since morning, Class 12 student D. Lakshiya told IANS: “This is my country. It is now for the youth to act. Corruption is a huge hurdle for normal nation’s growth.”
Four of her friends had joined Lakshiya at the prayer meeting.
Also present at the venue was 68-year-old Vasantha Krishnaswamy, a retired school principal, who had gone to Delhi Thursday to join the fast at Jantar Mantar.
On her return here Friday, she came straight to Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya to join the prayer meeting.
“For a long time I have been disturbed at the way things were going in the country. Anna Hazare’s fast triggered me to act,” she told IANS.
Her husband S. Krishnaswamy was surprised when she asked him for Rs.20,000 for a flight ticket to Delhi Thursday morning.
“He gave me the money. On the way to the airport I got an SMS from my daughter saying ‘I am proud of you,'” she said.
A. Annamalai, joint secretary of Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, said: “We had planned a meeting here for April 10. But when others approached us for a place to gather in support of Anna Hazare, we decided to allow them to use our premises.”
The people who gathered at the school have planned a candle lit vigil at the Gandhi statue on Marina Beach.