By IANS,
Lucknow : In a symbolic rejection of efforts to communalise the Anna Hazare movement, two prominent Muslim leaders here Sunday offered juice to five of his supporters who were fasting for the past 12 days.
Thousands of people cheered the fasting activists — Vinod Kumar Upadhaya, Umesh Shukla, Rahul Verma, Devi Dutt Pande and Bhuvan Chandra Pande — as they accepted their glasses of juice from All India Muslim Personal Law Board chairperson Shaista Amber and Shia Degree College Teachers Association general secretary Maroof Mirza.
“Those who have been systematically trying to scuttle this war against corruption by attaching all kinds of colours to the movement need to step out of their closed doors to see how the issue has cut across caste, creed, religion as also age and status,” Amber told the crowds amidst cheers.
Drawn from all walks of life, people readily joined the volunteers of India Against Corruption (IAC) who had earlier Saturday night given a call for daylong victory rallies in different parts of Lucknow.
While IAC coordinator R.K. Agrawal and convenor Akhilesh Saxena led a huge procession from the fasting venue Jhule Lal Park down to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at downtown Hazratganj crossroad, numerous groups marched down city streets to express their sense of pride and achievement over Anna’s success.
With a flag in almost every hand and Anna’s portraits pasted on the vehicles, people went from one locality to another where more voices joined their euphoria to take pro-Anna slogans to a high pitch, together with cries of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Inquilab Zindabad”.
Anna Hazare ended his 12-day fast Sunday morning before tens of thousands of cheering supporters at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi by sipping a glass of coconut water with honey offered to him by two girls.
The 74-year-old activist began his fast for a strong Lokpal bill Aug 16 morning and completed 288 hours of fasting Sunday after parliament agreed in principle to his three key demands — a citizen’s charter for every government department, ombudsmen for all states and inclusion of the lower bureaucracy in the Lokpal’s ambit.