Anger That Brought the Government to Its Knees

विनय न मानत जलधि जड गए तीन दिन बीत
बोले राम सकोप तब भय बिनु होय न प्रीत

(रामचरितमानस)

{The stupid ocean did not yield to the humble requests, and three days passed
then Ram said with anger, 'love does not last without some fear'}


Congress apologizes are going around spinning the story in the media that the withdrawal of blasphemous affidavit was a spontaneous act of the government, driven by the conscience of its leaders. If that was really the case, then why did it take the Government more than 24 hours to announce its intentions of withdrawing the affidavit?

What really forced the government to bend on its knees was a massive public outrage all across the towns and cities of India, and electoral considerations. This post tries to collect some images from the local news papers of that day, when over 100,000 people courted arrests, and more than 4000 protest gatherings were reported from all over India.

In Delhi, protest gatherings in large numbers, jammed traffic at various places. National Capital witnessed traffic jams spreading over several Kilometers at stretch.

In Gorakhpur, protesters stopped Amrapali Express.


Protesters on a peace march in Lucknow.


All across Punjab, Sikhs were seen participating in large numbers, protesting shoulder to shoulder with other Hindus. In Vichitra Natak, Guru Gobind Singhji has said he descends from the lineage of Sri Rama. News of protests by stopping trains came from Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, as also from several other towns of Punjab.



In Ambala town of Punjab, police man-handled the protesters.




In Bhopal, a Sadhu protesting with 500 cows.

In Siliguri, West Bengal, Protesters caused the jamming of Siliguri-Darjiling Road.

In Giridih town of Bihar, protest turned out of control. Police hurled tear gas at the protesting crowds.


State of Jammu & Kashmir was not untouched. News of protests arrived from the towns of Rajauri, Kathua, Jammu etc. Students participated in large numbers, and at places near Universities, there were events of violent protests.

In Prayag, protesters sat down on the railway tracks. Chauri Chaura Express held up at Allahabad railway station.

The hill town of Dehradun in the northern state of Uttaranchal, witnessed a peaceful Bandh, which was a complete success. Rispana Setu in the heart of the city, which is otherwise a scene of heavy traffic, remained desolated.

Vehicles were stranded at Mahaveer Circle in Mangalore city of Karnataka.

Similar were the scenes in majority of the towns of Gujarat state too. Traffic came to a standstill near Subash Bridge in Ahmedabad, following a chakka jam by the protesters.

...and as if the Nature joined in the protests too, there was a Tsunami warning in the Indian Ocean, following an earth quake in Indonesia. Reuters reorted :

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japan's Meteorological Agency issued a tsunami warning for Indonesia, Australia, India and Sri Lanka on Thursday after another powerful earthquake rocked the south of Sumatra island.

"There is a possibility of a destructive regional tsunami in the Indian Ocean," the agency said in a statement, adding that the Indian Ocean coasts could be affected within an hour.

(credits for the images are to Dainik Jagran and Times of India)