Indian Anti-Corruption Hunger Striker Accepts Walking Stick

 

India's famous anti-graft activist Anna Hazare accepts a walking stick to the delight of supporters.              

 

The stick is a gift from Ganesh Paswan, an 85-year-old man who also gave a walking stick to Mahatma Gandhi.              

 

Paswan's son says Indians supported Hazare's 12-day fast against corruption because it embodied Gandhi's dedication to change through peaceful resistance.                        

 

The village in the country's eastern Bihar state is well-known for its walking sticks, which is why Paswan thought it an appropriate way at the time to honor Gandhi's fight against British rule.              

 

[Ganesh Paswan, Villager Who Gave a Walking Stick to Gandhi]:           

"This place is very famous for manufacturing walking sticks and people like them very much. I had bought a walking stick and presented it to Mahatma Gandhi. It was a new walking stick. I had hardly kept it with me for a day or two. Mahatma Gandhi had suddenly come to our village."    

         

Residents here danced, celebrating the government's decision to finalize legislation for a national watchdog to investigate government corruption.  

            

Many Indian organizations and government bodies are rife with corruption and nepotism, a trend Hazare has dedicated his life to eradicating.