The 2,000-odd inhabitants of Ralegan Siddhi, 79 km north of Pune, are worried about the health of their iconic mentor.
The 2,000-odd inhabitants of Ralegan Siddhi, 79 km north of Pune, are worried about the health of their iconic mentor, Anna Hazare, as his indefinite fast entered the third day on Thursday.
The villagers, mostly farmers and petty shopkeepers, observed a day-long bandh on Thursday with work in the fields coming to a standstill and every shop remaining shut. On April 5, the first day of the fast, 450 villagers observed a dawn-to-dusk fast at the Yadavbaba temple in support of their mentor.
On Wednesday, they resorted to ghantanad (ringing of bells) in front of the talathi’s (revenue official) office in a symbolic gesture to awaken the government.
On Friday, the villagers plan to undertake a rasta roko on the Ralegan Siddhi state highway. On Thursday afternoon, the anxiety among the villagers was palpable. At least 150 villagers, both men and women, had crowded around the lone television set in the temple to watch the news bulletins on Anna’s fast.
They had camped around the television set from 9am and were still there in the afternoon. Every home in the village considers the 72-year-old social crusader to be a kutumb pramukh (head of the family) and hence the anxiety was understandable.
Thakaram Raut, the trustee of Hind Swaraj Trust, the watershed development training centre started by Hazare, told DNA that the inhabitants of Ralegan Siddhi seek Hazare’s advice on issues ranging from marriages in the family to career planning and farming methods.
“Anna is a mentor and father figure to every home in this village and hence it is natural for us to be worried about his health,” Raut said.
In the Yadavbaba temple MV Gaikwad (63), a retired state telecom employee said, “We are worried this time, because Anna is fasting in faraway Delhi. In the past, his fasts had been close to Ralegan Siddhi and we could access him easily.”
According to Raut, 10 villagers accompanied Hazare to Delhi and the village sarpanch, Jaisingh Mapari, and seven other villagers caught a Thursday morning flight to Delhi. Raut told DNA that a third group comprising 10 villagers also left in a hired jeep for Delhi on Thursday morning.
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