Youth pledge to fight terrorism, corruption at Delhi March

INDIAN YOUTH as well as citizens will not tolerate any government, which tolerates terrorism in the country and accepts corruption as a national value. The people of India are themselves getting ready to rid this country of political abuse and misuse of power and won’t mind cleaning the political cesspool.

This message was evident at a huge march organised against terrorism and corruption by Art of Living and the Youth for Equality in the heart of Delhi, on Sunday, March 1.

Strong resentment against the government for failing to protect the nation was evident at the march, where a couple of thousand youth including senior citizens were present at the Parliament street, on a sunny afternoon to protest against the rampant corruption and terrorism prevalent in the country.

Youngsters present at the march agreed with fact that India needed to do a massive overhaul of the system. Molly, a student of Daulat Ram College, said that this march was a well intentioned move that would spread awareness amongst the youth and the people.

With the theme- ‘This year my country is my valentine’, the protesters also took a pledge against these social evils. In one charged voice, they followed, the indomitable Kiran Bedi, to say that the youth and citizens of India will not accept irresponsible governance, which tolerates terrorism and accepts corruption as a national value.

A visibly moved, Bedi asked the youth to unite and ask questions from the government and seek accountability. Taking up the issue of security, Bedi said that despite crime statistics going down day by day, the level of safety was going down and down and no one knew why this was happening.

She also asked the youth to ask the government about the number of complaints lodged with police and number of those registered and worked out on. Bedi also said that the politicians of the country should also be forced to reveal the details of the foreign accounts to put an end to corruption.

Speaking on the occasion, Maninder Singh Bitta, President of All India Anti-terrorist Front, asked the youth to emulate the great Indian revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and take control of the stuation. He said that the Indian youth have to come forward and take their rightful role to fight against terrorism and corruption, which are threatening the nation.

Talking to merinews, Bitta said that Indian politicians were responsible for the wholesale corruption and nepotism prevalent in the country. “India is contracted every five years by one party or the other and this leads to corruption as well as failure to check terror,” adding that youth and common people will have to come forward to fight this battle.

When asked whether the 26/11 incident in Mumbai was the political failure or a bureaucratic failure, Bitta said that it was a system failure and both had let India down to a great extent. “We united in Punjab and managed to put an end to terrorism. The same needs to be done across the country,” he said.

RTI activist, Arvind Kejriwal, told the people that Right to Information Act was a powerful tool to force the bureaucracy to take action. He asked the youth to understand the impact of this law and use it for checking corruption and fighting against the bureaucratic sloth.

Khursheed Batliwala, from the Art of Living, exhorted the good people to come forward and take action for bringing about change. Telling the youth that unity was strength using clapping as an example, he said that bad people were more motivated and united to do wrongs, as such it was important for the righteous to take on this challenge.

On this occasion, a 26/11 survivor, Rajita Mukherjee, read out her poetry on the topic of terrorism. She addressed the marchers in Delhi through a mobile phone and reiterated her commitment for peace and harmony.

“We must come forward to fight against corruption and terrorism if we want to live in peace and harmony,” said Divya from Gwalior, who is a student activist. She said that coming to this march was meant to send a message across the terrorists that they will not win this war.

Dressed in white tees with message against corruption, the youth were confident and firm in their belief that it is high time for corrective action. Speaking to merinews, a group of youth said that this was just the beginning and this movement will soon spread throughout the country, as all Indians want change.

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=15714422

March against corruption, terrorism held in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Citizen activism against corruption and terrorism saw a new high on Sunday when prominent personalities, including former top cop

Participants during the march against terrorism and corruption in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

Kiran Bedi, ad guru Prahalad Kakkar and others, came out in a unique march to pledge support against the two evils.

Under the aegis of WAYE, the youth wing of the art of living, and youth for equality, the citizens undertook the March against corruption and terrorism from Jantar Mantar in the national capital, which they claimed is the launch of a "nationwide movement" against the evils.

"A positive step towards a positive direction has taken place today. Our 'chalta hai' attitude towards corruption, which is ingrained in us, has to be forced out from the individual level," Anirudh Bahl, who is editor of the 'Cobrapost', said.

Commenting on police's "apathy" towards security, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi said, "Crime registration is your right. Ask the number of entries in police control rooms to get data which is otherwise never revealed by the police."

Bedi also appealed to the youth to "fearlessly exercise their right of no-vote if they were not satisfied with their candidates during the polls".

Appealing citizens for greater use of the RTI Act, social activist Arvind Kejriwal said, "Using RTI is more effective than paying bribes." to get rid of corruption.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/March-against-corruption-terrorism-held-in-Delhi/articleshow/4209035.cms

One Lakh youth to gather for The March by YFE

March against Corruption and Terrorism

Art of Living ( AOL ) in association with Youth For Equality is organising the March against Corruption and Terrorism on March 1, 2009 ( 2.00PM ) at Parliament Street, New Delhi.

The aim is to mobilise over 1 lakh citizens to march together and raise a unified voice against corruption and terrorism and to pledge to build a corruption free nation.

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder of the Art of Living Foundation, has conceptualized this march to awaken and empower citizens in order to create an on-ground structure that will actually effect a change in societal circumstances and situations. In keeping with His vision and mission of a stress-free, violence-free planet where individuals contribute towards the goal of a One-World Family, this initiative has a three pronged purpose:-

1) Creating public awareness and mobilizing people, organizations and communities towards the cause of rooting out corruption and terrorism from the country.
2) Organizing a forum and an activity structure in partnership with various NGO’s, bodies to involve citizen participation (esp. Youth) in the democratic process and address social issues.
3) Taking sustainable action at the grass root level, system level and policy level towards nation building

WHY DO THIS NOW?
India has the dubious distinction of being one of the most corrupt nations in the world, ranking a poor 45 of the 49 countries evaluated on the World Economic Forum Survey 2003 ‘Honesty’ index.

A dangerous manifestation of corruption is terrorism. According to the database information released by START (The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terror) 4,108 terrorist incidents occurred in India between 1970 to 2004 which put India into sixth place in Terrorism hit nations list. More than 400 people died in terror attacks in 2008. The actual figure is unknown.

As a country, we need to actively start moving in a concerted way against these twin evils that are now threatening our very existence.

The support and ownership of civil society is an important element in eradicating the problem of corruption and terrorism.

HOW DO WE ACHIEVE OUR GOAL?
Youth For Equality and the Youth wing of the Art of Living, World Alliance for Youth Empowerment (WAYE) will spearhead this year-long nation wide movement, starting with this march, that will have the active support and participation of all sections of civil society including educational institutions, NGO’s, Residents’ welfare organisations, Youth groups, Social service organisations, Cultural organisations, Corporate houses, and Individuals from all walks of life.

The objective is to awaken and empower people, especially the youth, to participate in the democratic process.

Under the sensitization theme of “Make your Country your Valentine", we endeavor to catalyze this movement, across the nation, with a 3 fold solution: AWARENESS, ACCOUNTABILITY & ACTION.

The aim is to make the youth aware of their role and propel them to bring about social transformation by active participation in the democratic process.

So let us send out a call to our country to create a safe society. A society which has no fear in walking into an airplane, train, bus. Or when we enter a mall, cinema, hotel, with our children. Or our very own homes.

Let us take responsibility and bring the change- for our future and our future generations
Ask not what your country can do for you,
Ask what you can do for your country.

Contact: 01164598338/9968880956/9968880958
To register for the march, visit : http://www.themarch.in