Indian law student on hunger strike in London

Like Anna Hazare, 28-year-old Avinash Dadhich is also from a small village in India. And like Anna, he too is frustrated by corruption in India

Indian law student on hunger strike in London

Like Anna Hazare, 28-year-old Avinash Dadhich is also from a small village in India. And like Anna, he too is frustrated by corruption in India.u00a0"Enough is enough," he said. As Anna continues his 15-day hunger strike at Ramlila Maidan, supporting him nearly 5,000 miles away, Avinash sits on his hunger strike outside the Indian High Commission in Aldwych, central London.

Iu00a0am with anna: 28-year-old Avinash Dadhich has been sitting outside
the Indian High Commission in Aldwych, central London on a hunger
strike since August 16

While thousands have gathered to support Anna in Delhi, Avinash started his hunger strike all alone on August 16. Every day for the past four days, he arrives at the High Commission at 10 am and sits outside with his placard showing support for Anna. He dresses simply in his kurta and wears a scarf that resembles the Indian flag.

He's not a Gandhian; for him that term is "too fancy". He's a PhD student of Law at Bangor University in Wales, where he is studying on a scholarship. For Avinash watching thousands of his countrymen take to the streets was an inspiration to start his own hunger strike. "They (government) are not listening to us, we are helpless," he said.

Avinash comes from Araksar, a village in Rajasthan, where he says they seldom have electricity and Doordarshan is the only TV channel. He feels that rural India faces higher level of corruption because there is less accountability. "My father had to pay bribe to get electricity connection for our agricultural land. If you don't pay then you have to wait 10 years. People are the victims of corruption," he said.

Although Anna might have inspired his cause, for Avinash his father Mool Chand Sharma, will always be his hero. "My father was the first person to graduate from my village. He came from a very poor family and he always fought for many causes like untouchability and education," he added with pride.

For Avinash, this is his cause. "This is a special movement in India, a protest where people are telling the government that we are superior to you. It's not only for one bill. We are trying to change people's mentality."
Asked how long he plans to continue, he simply said, "When my body can't take anymore, I will stop."
"My mother called me and emotionally blackmailed me to stop. I had to make a decision, which is superior mother or motherland," he said with a smile.