Anna Hazare Undertakes Maun Andolan to Support Protesting Students

Ahilyanagar: Social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday observed a two-hour maun andolan (silent protest) in Ahilyanagar in Maharashtra to extend his support to protesting students in Delhi.

“Anna started her protest at 11 am and ended at 1 pm,” social activist’s aide Datta Awari told PTI.

Hazare, who protested in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Ahilyanagar, then set out for Ralegan Siddhi village in the same district.

“The news of violence and police action is extremely painful,” Hazare said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

Hazare, in his letter to Modi, said the protesters’ anger should be seen “not as a law and order issue, but as the suffering and expectations of the society”.

Hazare wrote that if Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is asked to resign, “it will not lead to the fall of the government; instead it will make its functioning more accountable and effective.”

He asked the government to “listen to the protesters patiently, create an environment of trust and find solutions through positive dialogue.”