Youth skip Ramlila, elderly protesters abound

There has been an intriguing change in the demography of the protesters at the Ramlila Maidan this time round. When Anna Hazare had flagged off his crusade in August this year, students and young professionals had thronged the Ramlila Maidan.

There has been an intriguing change in the demography of the protesters at the Ramlila Maidan this time round. When Anna Hazare had flagged off his crusade in August this year, students and young professionals had thronged the Ramlila Maidan.

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Since Tuesday, however, this picture has been turned on its head. Along with the number of supporters, that of youth participants too has declined, and severely at that. Instead, most of those protesting at the ground are senior citizens.

"I had sent out text messages to my friends as well as relatives and had even started a drive on Facebook to reach out to people of my age. But everyone declined, claiming that they had greater priorities," said Neha Joshi (name changed), a class 12 student, who was among the handful of youngsters at the ground on Wednesday.

Senior citizens, who were protesting, claimed the protest was poorly timed. "Even though people are frustrated with the system, this time a lot of young people have not come. This is because the movement has come at a wrong time. Our children cannot leave their daily jobs on a week day and come and sit here," said Lajinder Singh, a retired government official from Malviya Nagar.