"A lot of resources have gone into sustaining this movement and it [movement] will continue,” said the coordinator of the IAC movement.
Anti-graft fighters have won the first battle but they have miles to go before they can call their mission successful.
“The campaign will be scaled down. The money which was given to the BBMP for protests is refundable. But a lot of resources have gone into sustaining this movement and it [movement] will continue,” said Prithvi Reddy, coordinator of the India against Corruption (IAC) movement.
“Smaller citizen action groups will be formed in city pockets towards this,” he added. “People are aware of their duties towards the nation. These action groups will keep the movement alive until Jan Lok Pal bill is passed by Parliament and implemented in its true spirit,” he said.
Ashwin Mahesh, one of the many faces of the anti-corruption movement in the city, said the journey had just begun. “We might have to rebuild Freedom Park and turn it into a jail,” he joked, “considering that from now on, a lot of people will be in jails.”
Adding that democracy is hard work, he said: “In order to progress, we’ve to continue working hard. We’ve to pay attention and be alert or else, things will go back to how it was.”
Bangalore played an important role in the agitation, he said.
“Bangalore is a very cosmopolitan and diverse city. People believe that what happens in Bangalore today will happen in the rest of the country tomorrow. It is our responsibility to make sure that the story of Bangalore is so good that it is told over and over again,” he said.
Thousands of people who gathered at the park too believe that an important story in the history of the nation is unfolding and the journey has just begun.
“This face of India is going to change completely in the next few years,” said Ramesha RM, an engineer celebrating Anna’s victory at Freedom Park.
“This is just the first wave, we need many more waves to clean up the shore,” said Rajarishi Bharat, another supporter. He believes that only 3% of the work is done.
“This struggle is a long effort. The hardest part of the journey has just begun. We have to make sure that when the Jan Lokpal bill is passed, it is properly implemented. It requires commitment to make sure we heed the lessons we have learned here. We have to practice being anti-corrupt by not giving or accepting bribes.
“Earlier, corruption was a habit with us. We’ve to restructure our priorities and make it a habit not to pay bribes and not to be corrupt or encourage corruption ourselves,” he said.
“The problem with Indians is that we have partial amnesia. Apart from being forgetful, we are a little lazy to go the extra mile,” said Karthik S, a supporter of Anna, who went all the way to Delhi to be able to contribute to the movement and returned on Sunday.
“We have to realise this fight is not for someone else, but for ourselves. The reach of corruption is indeed vast. It has taken a long time to get there, and it will take a lot of effort to get it out. Lot of commitment and hard work is needed to do this,” he added.
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