Anna Hazare backs student protest with 2-hour silent stir, urges Centre to hold talks

Social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday observed a two-hour maun andolan (silent protest) in Maharashtra's Ahilyanagar to express solidarity with students protesting in Delhi over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations.

Hazare held the silent protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Ahilyanagar from 11 am to 1 pm, after which he returned to his village, Ralegan Siddhi, located in the same district, his aide Datta Awari told PTI.

The veteran anti-corruption campaigner's protest comes amid nationwide demonstrations in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led agitation, which began at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and has since spread to several cities, including Mumbai, Hyderabad, Indore and Udaipur.

A day earlier, Hazare had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over reports of police action against the protesters.

In the letter, he said the "news of violence and police action" was "extremely painful" and urged the government to view the students' agitation as an expression of public anguish rather than a law and order problem.

"The resentment of the protesters must be viewed not as a law and order problem, but as the agony and expectations of society," Hazare wrote.

He also weighed in on one of the protesters' key demands, saying that asking Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign would not destabilise the government.

"If Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is asked to resign, it will not cause the government to fall; rather, it will make its functioning more accountable and effective," he said.

Hazare appealed to the Centre to engage with the protesters through dialogue and confidence-building measures.

He urged the government to "listen to them patiently, create an atmosphere of trust, and find solutions through positive dialogue", saying such an approach would help resolve the impasse peacefully.