Why youngsters supported Anna

They came on roads; screamed enthusiastically as they melted wax on streets across India. They knew who they were supporting, but did they know what they were supporting, and most importantly did they know why?
Was it all about ‘Let’s do something for our country- god knows what this ‘something’ is, but let’s do it anyways’! Anna Hazare was fasting for the approval of his Jan Lokpal Bill and had a clear goal.But what was the goal of youngsters when they ‘liked’ those pages on social networking sites at 2am from their mobile phones and laptops?
A lot has been discussed about youngsters jumping into the bandwagon without having any concrete idea about the cause they were supporting. Isn’t one supposed to know about Anna Hazare in detail before saying ‘I am Anna’? How many actually took the trouble to read about Jan Lokpal Bill before they crusaded for Anna’s cause?
Kanan Dhruv, a law-grad from London School of Economics and founder of an NGO, says, “Without even knowing what Jan Lokpal is, our youth were busy organising marches, demonstrations and creating a nation-wide rage. The bill has some radical propositions, but it also has the power to become an authority above the three foundations of our democracy- Executive, Judiciary and Parliament/Legislature. We need a proper discussion over the different versions of Lokpal Bill and derive the most comprehensive one.”
There’s no doubt about the deep resentment among youngsters on the issue of corruption.
So should it be the only reason for Gen Y to hit the roads with a fight that not many have even comprehended properly? “That’s the general tendency,” explains social entrepreneur Gaurang Rawal adding, “the youth wants to do something for the nation and that’s why they are part of a mass-movement like this. I was with Anna when he visited our state previously and I have also been closely working with youth on this issue. But out of 100 in any rally, 90 didn’t know why exactly they were there!”
Soumyaa Harsha, a young activist unfailingly ran her initiative till Anna won the battle. Her group’s main tool was social networking sites. She has a different take on this, she says, “Most of us knew what we were fighting for and what was the Jan Lokpal Bill. We also had presentations on the bill, printed pamphlets and people discussed their views on bill. It wasn’t an empty rage.”
Another young activist Jainil Shah, who didn’t join any of these initiatives says, “I didn’t support the movement in principle. However honest and ground-breaking your ideas are, you can’t tell the government how to make a bill/ law. Most of my friends who called out people for marches didn’t even know what Jan Lokpal is all about. Fighting for corruption and fighting for Jan Lokpal were two different battles.”
Educationist Tejal Amin sums up, “It’s true that many of the youngsters had a very vague idea about the finer points of the Lokpal. But still, they were able to relate to Anna Hazare because they saw a leader with whom they could connect. The youngsters, are fed up of the double standards prevailing in our society, where the influential manages to get away after all kinds of wrongdoings. The youngsters wanted to give a message to the elected representatives to be accountable.”
The battle is far from being won. Now let’s see how the journey ahead unfolds!
(With inputs from Soumitra Das)