In protest of Anna Hazare’s continuing internment in Tihar jail in New Delhi on Wednesday, Hazare’s village, Ralegan Siddhi, was shut completely for second consecutive day. They also observed a day of total silence and fasting.
The villagers also held a mock funeral and burnt an effigy of the Union government. Hundreds of men, women and schoolchildren took part in the funeral procession.
Later in the day, the villagers numbering at least 600, sat in silence in and outside the Yadavbaba temple in the heart of the village. The day also witnessed a motorcycle rally conducted by nearly 200 youth from the neighbouring Nighoj village.
The youth later gathered in Ralegan Siddhi, 95 km from Pune, to express their solidarity with the villagers.
Ralegan Siddhi sarpanch, Jaisingh Mapari, who addressed the villagers, said they should brace for a protracted battle to express their solidarity with their mentor in the coming days.
A Ralegan Siddhi youth, Vijay Jadhav, embarked on a solo walk from the village to Mantralaya in Mumbai with a handcart carrying the effigy of the Union government on Wednesday afternoon. He plans to reach Mumbai in three days.
Villages around Ralegan Siddhi also organised their own protests on Wednesday. Villagers, both young and old held a three-hour ghantanaad (non-stop ringing of bells) at Jategaon. Ralegan Siddhi villagers broke their fast at 5 pm in the evening.
Speaking to DNA late on Wednesday night on conclusion of the gram sabha (village meeting) in Ralegan Siddhi, Sakharam Raut, trustee of Anna Hazare’s Hind Swaraj Trust, said the villagers had decided to keep their shops open only in the morning and late evenings on Thursday.
“We have planned to hold a relay hunger strike on Thursday,” Raut said.
Commenting on the day’s events on Wednesday, Raut said, “Ralegan Siddhi experienced a charged atmosphere for a second day in a row.
We had as many as 1,000 youth from neighbouring villages and towns who visited our village to extend their solidarity with Anna’s cause.”
