‘Occupy Dalal Street’ fails to make a mark

Occupy Dalal Street, the Indian version of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have passionately expressed discontent with corporate greed worldwide, failed to strike a chord with the common man in India on Friday.

Occupy Dalal Street, the Indian version of the Occupy Wall Street protests that have passionately expressed discontent with corporate greed worldwide, failed to strike a chord with the common man in India on Friday.

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Just a handful of protesters gathered for a protest organised at Dalal Street under the banner of the Communist Party of India (CPI). They raised slogans against capitalism and corporate greed, and were later arrested.

“It is a movement against corporate greed, scams and exploitation of 99% of the people by the remaining 1% ,” said Prakash Reddy, secretary, Mumbai committee, CPI.

“We will make people more aware about our movement and will hold more such protests,” he added.

Launched on September 17, the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to 1,500 cities in 82 countries and continues to gather support worldwide.

Observers feel the movement was not getting support here as the Indian economy is doing well, comparatively.

“India is still witnessing growth and people are getting jobs, whereas western countries are struggling and people are losing jobs,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of research at SMC Global Securities.