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| Anna Hazare’s supporters don Gandhi topis during a protest in Patna on Tuesday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh |
Patna, Aug. 16: Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption, which has found widespread support in the state capital, has brought back in fashion a cap that was associated with the country’s freedom movement.
Anna’s supporters have started to wear Gandhi topis, like the veteran social activist himself, to express solidarity with his campaign. The headgear, also known as Nehru cap, has now become popular as Anna topi.
Many of the protesters, who took to the streets today against Anna’s arrest, wore the telltale headgear. On many of these caps, woven out of hand-spun cotton, was written in bold, black letters: “I am Anna Hazare.”
Sources said there has been a brisk sale of these caps over the past few days. Shopkeepers who sell these caps near the MLA Flats on Beer Chand Patel Path have found the anti-graft movement to be a good source of revenue.
Shahbuddin, one such shopkeeper, said: “In the past few days, the sale of Gandhi topi has picked up. The supporters come asking for Anna topi. I sold more than 60 caps today. We are hopeful that the trend will continue and more people will buy these caps over the next few days.”
Monu Khan, another shopkeeper, claimed that the sale of Gandhi topi is generally high around Independence Day, Republic Day, Gandhi Jayanti or government functions. “However, over the past few days, the rise in sale has been unexpectedly high,” he said. “In the off season, we hardly sell one or two caps a day. But Anna’s agitation has boosted the sales. Now we sell a lot more. We also have orders from a number of organisations to provide these topis.”
The headgear, which has now assumed a symbolic significance for those who claim to oppose corruption, is priced between Rs 25 and Rs 30.
Shahbuddin added: “The caps we sell are usually plain. Later, people write messages, such as ‘I am Anna Hazare’ on their caps.”
Nishant Sinha, a supporter of Anna who had come to purchase a topi, said: “The issue on which Anna has started the movement concerns the entire nation. Everyone should come forward and support the agitation.”
Whether Anna’s movement turns into a mass civil agitation is yet to be seen. Politicians, however, are the first one to jump onto the bandwagon. The shopkeepers claimed that they demanded the cotton caps more than anyone else.
Many JD(U) and BJP members, who turned up at Kargil Chowk to protest against the detainment of Anna, had put on these caps. Though they claimed to support Anna, the caps of many JD(U) workers had slogans supporting chief minister Nitish Kumar. A JD(U) worker, who did not want to reveal his identity, said: “Our leader has supported Anna over Jan Lokpal Bill. How does it matter if we are wearing caps eulogising Nitish Kumar?”