Thaindian News

Washington, April 10 (IANS) Hundreds of Indian Americans from New York to Los Angeles to Seattle kept up the tempo in support of Indian social activist Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption in India with fasts, silent marches and candlelight vigils.

Over 300-400 NRIs and Indian expatriates started converging on New York’s iconic Times Square at noon Saturday in support of Hazare’s crusade, other groups held meetings in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.

It was a silent solidarity expressed for Anna under the tag of “NYC 4 Anna” at the New York rally organised by a team of volunteers who didn’t know each other till the last day via Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools, Atul Kumar, one of the organisers, told IANS.

The group collected over 320 signatures for a petition to be submitted to the Indian government and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi through the Indian Consulate in New York Monday.

The New York Indians have also formed a focus group called “NY Desis” to execute similar events and programmes for social causes in future.

About 150 Indians gathered in Los Angeles and another 150 people gathered in Seattle, Washington to celebrate the movement with candlelight vigils and discuss about the next steps in the fight for a corruption-free India.

“The Success of Anna Hazare’s fast is a victory for all Indians. This is the second time all Indians celebrated within a week, the first being the cricket World Cup championship,” Sasidhar Kalagara, one of the organisers, told IANS.

In Cerritos Regional Park in Los Angeles, California, a few people ended their one-day fast with lemon water and ‘jalebis’ and held a candlelight vigil, followed by a discussion about Anna Hazare’s fast and the current state of corruption in India.

In Seattle, Washington, Indians celebrated the victory of the civil society and efforts of Anna Hazare by singing songs with Indian TV actress Prabha Sinha leading the gathering to sing Mahatma Gandhi’s favourite hymn “Raghupati Raghav Rajaram”.

After lighting candles in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Bellevue Regional Library, everyone sang the Indian national anthem and registered to volunteer for similar causes in the near future.

The Los Angeles and Seattle events were put together by many associations such as Dandi March 2 team, Federation of Indian American Associations (FIAWA), Association for India’s Development (AID) and Washington Telugu Samithi (WATS).

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)