Freedom Park: Freedom from corruption is not a walk in the park!
Posted on April 07, 2011
IPaidABribe was at Freedom Park this afternoon and we witnessed Bangalore come together to fight corruption.
What is this? Located on Sheshadri Road in Gandhi Nagar, Freedom Park was earlier Bangalore’s Central Jail, parts of which have been opened up to the public for protests since 2009. Freedom park gains significance now as this is where Bangaloreans are uniting against corruption like never before. Sharing their sense of camaraderie with Anna Hazare in his hunger strike are M K Gandhi (a yoga instructor), Sumeet Negi (an event manager), Ashutosh Singh (an entrepreneur) and Anand Yadwad (India against Corruption).
Since April 5, Anna Hazare, the 75-year-old veteran Gandhian has been fasting indefinitely at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. He is demanding the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill to control corruption. This bill was drafted by Justice Santhosh Hegde, Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bushan and social activist Arvind Kejriwal. In addition to passing this bill, Hazare is also urging the government to include the civil society in the drafting committee.
What did we see there? At Freedom park IPaidABribe witnessed the power of the people. Under the scorching March sun, 150 odd people had gathered in support of the campaign. Along with techies who had taken off work to be there today, we also watched Master Hiranniah, famous playwright and comedian who wrote Lanchavatara (a satire on corruption), charm the crowd with corruption quips.
One of the members of the gathering had this to say about her experience:
“At the park I was greeted by anti-corruption slogans and speeches from people from all walks of life. No person seemed too old or young to come up to the platform and share their thoughts on corruption. A young boy of eight came up to share a little poem on corruption that he had penned. The atmosphere brought in a feeling of togetherness. Anyone could come up and join the gathering.”
What can you do? If you are in Bangalore and you are disgusted with corruption, this is how you can contribute to fighting corruption. Join the protest in Freedom Park anytime till April 10 to express your solidarity with this movement. Come together to urge the government to take stringent action against corruption.
Where is this? Freedom Park Sheshadri Road, Opp to Maharani's College, Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore
When is this? Join this crusade against corruption at Freedom Park anytime till 12:30 pm on April 10.
Who to contact? 1. Nishant Kumar Mishra: nishant.km@gmail.com, 9342516351 2. Rajshekhar Maram: raj.maram@gmail.com, 9632228287 3. Vijay Dwivedi: agentvijay007@gmail.com, 9901455685