A lot of rage, a little Rang De
May 24, 11 pm: Hope
Of the second lot of 100 volunteers who went on hunger strike, around 40 now hold strong. Of the first lot of 200 who began, a mere 2 remain.
Dr Siddharth Chellani of the University College of Medical Sciences, and Pawan Malik of the KiroriMal College haven't had a thing to eat for 11 days. They are obviously faint, but talk gamely nonetheless. "This is for coming generations to have a chance," says Pawan. "We don't distinguish between Hindus, Muslims, SCs and STs; why is the government forcing us to? We are Indians first. Who are they to divide us?"
Behind us, someone yells something inspirational. Everyone cheers. The men before me smile. I ask if they intend to appeal to the president. Dr Chellani says they will. He is not disillusioned by politicians or democracy yet, which is why he intends to carry on the strike. "We look up to Bhagat Singh, and to movies like Rang de Basanti and Yuva," he says. "This is just a small way of repaying our debt to our country."
Contrary to what I assumed, the two tell me this was a planned movement. There were no random decisions made. "We met Arjun Singh, who refused to talk to us," explains Dr Chellani. "We got a little aggressive to make ourselves heard, and we were beaten. The hunger strike was Plan B."
For how long do they intend to stay? "Until our health fails or the government helps," they say. "We'll stay until we burn out."
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