Anna - Gandhi of Modern India

The dream of India as a strong nation will not be realised without self-reliant, self-sufficient villages, this can be achieved only through social commitment & involvement of the common man."

- Anna Hazare

After more than ten decades, an Indian Anna Hassare proves that Gandhi still lives in the mind of people. His march towards curbing corruption two reached a new mile stone. Not by firing weapons but by the fighting weapon - Satyagraha. -its truth and non - violence. My Gandhi, You still lives in the mind of people.

Right to information, Model Village development, Water shed development, Anti corruption bill.........the list prolongs in the book of Anna. His fasting in the hot Janta Mantir boiled the hot seats. It forced Manmohan and Gandhi to raise from their chariots to see the pulse of people. Now Lok Janpal Bill (Anti Corruption bill ) is the hot subjects in malls and markets.   

Soldier to social reformer. Then he paced the steps very fast like Philosopher, Right to information activist, crusader of non violence, visionary etc. 

His tryst with the army came when many Indian soldiers became martyrs in the Indo-China War of 1962 and the Government of India had appealed to young Indians to join the Indian army. Being passionate about patriotism, he promptly responded to the appeal and joined the Indian Army in 1963. During his 15-year tenure as a soldier, he was posted to several states like Sikkim, Bhutan, Jammu-Kashmir, Assam, Mizoram, Leh and Ladakh and braved challenging weathers.

The changes in the economics brought all the villagers under one roof of unity and people voluntarily contributed in terms of labour and money to build a school, a hostel, a temple and other buildings. Mass marriages, grains bank, dairy, cooperative society, self-help groups for women and youth mandals helped develop the village in all aspects and gave a new face to it.

Hazare opines that proper planning of natural and human resources can result in the betterment of a person, area, village instead of exploiting such resources. He says, ``Today we all are exploiting the earthen resources like petrol, diesel, kerosene, coal and water. This can never be termed as perennial development as it is going to lead a state of destruction one day. The sources of energy are limited and hence I am concerned about the next generations. Today many of the villages of almost every state are feeling the brunt of water shortage. Building concrete jungles does not mean development as Gandhiji had rightly said.

Creation of a human idol should be the main objective rather than creating towering buildings. Surely, one needs to live for oneself and the family but simultaneously one owes something to your neighbour, your village and your nation too. For this, you need an idol who could lead to this goal. Such leadership is not created by power or money but only by virtues like pure thinking, matching action and willingness to sacrifice. It is the thumb rule of farming that ?When a seed buries itself, it leads to a better yield. in order to get better yield of grains, one single grain needs to burry itself. Anna rightly thought that Development is marred by corruption and started a new venture in 1991 called Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan (BVJA) or public movement against corruption. It was found that some 42 forest officers had duped the state government for crores of rupees through corruption in confederacy. Hazare submitted the evidences to the government but the latter was reluctant to take action against all these officers as one of the ministers of the ruling party was involved in the scam. A distressed Hazare returned the Padmashree Award to the President of India and also returned the Vriksha Mitra Award given by then prime minister of India Rajiv Gandhi. He further went on an indefinite hunger strike in Alandi on the same issue. Finally, the government woke up from deep slumber and took action against the culprits. Hazare’s sustained campaign on this issue had a great effect - six of the ministers were forced to resign and more than 400 officers from different government offices were sent back to home. Its the time to ensure our support to Anna as a responsible citizen to curtail and curb corruption. The largest democratic should reach the acme of ahimsa by adapting the weapons of Gandhi. Say 'Cheers to Anna' One India One People Jai Bharath