Family of Bihar man who laid down his life for Jan Lokpal appeals to Kejriwal
2 min readPatna: The family of Dinesh Yadav in Patna, who had set himself himself ablaze at the height of the Jan Lokpal agitation in August 2011, has tried to reach out to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The family claims that Yadav, who was a supporter of anti- corruption crusader Anna Hazare, sacrificed his life for the Jan Lokpal movement, but his wife and children are now struggling to survive.
“My father gave his life away during the agitation. Since then, we’ve faced a number of troubles,” Yadav’s daughter Puja said in an impassioned appeal to the Delhi Chief Minister.
Yadav left behind his ageing parents, wife and five children who are finding it difficult to make ends meet. “We have grown old now. Dinesh would work hard and fend for his family. The brothers used to live together,” Dinesh Yadav’s mother Maya Devi said.
His children have quit school and work to put food on the table. “If my father were alive we would’ve continued our studies. But now we only study when we get time,” Dinesh’s son Guddu said.
Yadav’s village had no electricity or a television but he read about Hazare’s agitation in the newspapers and decided to go to Delhi to show his solidarity.
The anti-corruption movement inspired millions and even toppled a government in Delhi. Yadav’s family is now hoping that Kejriwal might do something to help them. “My children have no choice so they have taken the responsibility of the house,” Dinesh’s wife Manmatiya Devi said.
Many fought this battle of aam aadmi from Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan to streets and corners of the nation but only Yadav laid down his life for this battle against corruption. Now that the first battle of this long drawn war has been won in Delhi, Dinesh’s family continues to live in a hand-to-mouth state struggling to somehow keep afloat with a hope that someday the sacrifice of their sole bread earner will at least be acknowledged.
Courtesy: IBN Live
