Hundreds join anti-corruption march in Agra

AGRA - Hundreds of ordinary people from all walks of life turned up and joined a march against corruption, braving chilly weather early Sunday here.

The march began from the Agra Municipal Corporation office near Soor Sadan auditorium, and inched towards M.G. Road before ending at the Shahid Smarak, where the marchers burnt the official Lok Pal bill of the central government and observed a two-minute silence for the martyrs.

The marchers were mainly students from various institutions, pledging support for any meaningful assault on corruption.

People representing various organisations in the city also took part in the march, in which Jitendra Raghvanshi, national general secretary of Indian People’s Theatre Association, and Naresh Paras of Amnesty International also joined in.

The march was a part of the nation-wide campaign against corruption organised by various social organisations on the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination Jan 30, 1948, which is observed in the counrty as Martyr’s Day. Besides non-violence and peace, the Mahatma stood for purity of purpose and transparency in action, chiefly governance.

The youthful and local participants in the march were vocal. “The first step in the journey of a 1000-km has been taken. The youth have a great stake in the future and, therefore, should form the vanguard of the movement against corruption,” Desh Deepak Tiwari, a student leader, said.

Interestingly, what began as a trickle at the start of the march soon became a stream with groups of people joining it. “This is indicative of the spontaneous response against a suffocating system nurtured by deep-rooted corruption,” Raghvanshi said.