Over 200 vow to wage a war within as they embark on a long journey.
For over 200 youth who gathered at Cubbon Park on Sunday morning, the fight against corruption was not just giving their support to Anna Hazare.
As Nitin Sharma, an entrepreneur, put it, “We have to start [the fight] within if we have to clean up the system.”
He was one of the participants in Honest Steps, an initiative by a group of youth calling themselves Proud Indians, who embarked on a journey from Kanyakumari to Delhi to awaken India to the double standards we all hold.
Mujeeb Khan, one of the original members of Proud Indians, said: “All of us are angry when a political leader walks away with public fund. This is the only corruption we understand. When it comes to acts of dishonesty in our daily lives, we have double standards. We uphold certain core values when we are with our family and friends. But when we engage ourselves with society, we hide behind the word ‘practicality’.”
This is what happens in Parliament too, he added.
“Our message to people is no matter how ‘impractical’ something may seem, choose honesty over it,” he said.
Madhav Rao is a new member who decided to join the walk along with the original Proud Indians, after quitting his job with an NGO.
“I felt incomplete,” he said, explaining his decision to join the walk.
“This journey would help me grow. I don’t think this walk is about others. While we are trying to create awareness on honesty, the focus of the walk is ‘our’ honesty. We can have a better India if we are honest with ourselves,” he said. “The Janlokpal Bill alone is not going to help us fight corruption,” said Deepak Vidyarthi, a volunteer from Bangalore who took the Honest Steps.
“We have to be honest first; the bill is only a rule that is imposed on us to make sure we are honest. It will remain another rule, that may be meant to be broken, unless we make a choice to be honest,” he said.
But Proud Indians had some doubts. “During the walk, we ask ourselves if we will make it to Delhi. Cynicism troubles us. But when you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, it is the faith that drives us,” said Khan.
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