SRINAGAR: The Anna Hazare saga continues. The social activist whose anti-corruption crusade stir-red the nation and sho-ok the government drew huge crowds in the just-concluded Hisar bypoll.
Even in conflict-ridden Kashmir, the man from Ralegan Siddhi has found both mindspace and supporters. Newspaper seller Shauqat Rashid Wani is full of praise for the man who has spawned a cottage industry of Anna accessories.
"I remember seeing his face on the front page of local newspapers.We didn't have any protests or marches here but what Anna Hazare has done in India was praised here. We too need someone like that," says Wani.
Reactions of several other Kashmiris too reflected a similar sense of "us" and "them". For instance, Srinagar businessman Basheer Ahmed sees an "international" leader in Anna.
"Any leader rising in India should also look beyond the country. If he takes up our case, it can't be bad for him," says the 55-year-old.
In the past two decades, over 40,000 terrorists, civilians and armed personnel have been killed in a bloody conflict. Which is why optimism is a scarce commodity in these parts. Shopkeeper Abdur Rasheed says, "Nothing will happen. None of this is going to make a difference here. Kashmir functions on a different set of rules," he says.
In Jammu, the scene is different. Though there wasn't much action in the rural areas, the Anna effect could be felt in the towns.
As an act of solidarity, people came down to Jammu for a dharna at the time when Anna was on fast at the Ramlila ground.
Mohd Aslam Nawaz, who lost his ancestral land to a fraud, joined in a protest at the district headquarters of Poonch, which shares the border with Pakistan. "Hundreds had turned up. Young, old everyone," says Nawaz, an imam from Potha village.