Anna Hazare has enthusiasts in China too

Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement, which caught the imagination of Indians, also found its admirers in China where enthusiasts paid rich tributes to him at the India Day meeting while the Chinese media highlighted his success in using fast as a weapon.

The India Day celebration by the Indian community here yesterday had its ‘Anna’ moment when a participant sang Rabindranath Tagore’s inspirational song ‘Go it alone’

Ms Chitralekha Basu, a Beijing-based Indian journalist who sang the song told the gathering that she dedicated it to the ‘man of the moment’, Anna Hazare, for his anti-corruption crusade.

She said she chose Tagore’s song as a tribute to Anna’s ‘go it alone’ struggles, which finally fetched him the much needed public support because his convictions were right.

Some IT executives who attended the gala event said they wanted to attend it wearing the ‘I am Anna’ Gandhi caps but gave up the idea after the Gandhian had called off his fast by then.

The Anna effect has not been confined to the Indian community, but appears to have made a mark on the Chinese media as well which gave ample coverage to the events related to his campaign, surprising many observers here.

“Savouring Victory”, read the headline in China Daily which featured a photograph of him on the front page, drinking honey laced coconut water offered by children.

“India celebrates Hazare’s win”, read the headline in another state-run newspaper Global Times which also carried a cartoon of Anna with a stitched mouth, with the angel of Mahatma Gandhi looking admiringly at him from behind.

The coverage extended to Anna’s protest moment both in China’s English and Chinese language media surprised many here. Only a few months ago the Chinese government had clamped down hard on the coverage of the ‘Jasmine’ revolutions in the Arab world, fearing it may spur similar protests here as well.

Such was the clampdown that the word jasmine was blocked by the famous Chinese software firewalls which removed even the traces of it from the country’s emerging microblog media, whose numbers have crossed 200 million, posing a major challenge to the official media.

Anna’s movement appears to have made moderate impact among microbloggers who spoke of China’s own woes of corruption.

Many said China too has its share of concerns with corruption, recalling President Hu Jintao’s pledge to make its eradication the number one priority of his government during his speech on the 90th year anniversary celebrations of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

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