BANGALORE: Friends of the slain Indian Oil Corporation whistle-blower Manjunath Shanmugam, including his classmates at Mysore and IIM Lucknow and other volunteers, are holding a fast-for-justice campaign across many countries including India, UK, US and Saudi Arabia to get justice for his family.

The eight-day campaign, which started on December 3, will culminate on December 10 with volunteers conducting a non-violent demonstration in front of the Gandhi statue at the Indian embassy in Washington DC. This global fast campaign hopes to get the Indian government to guarantee justice for Manjunath's family and fight corruption at all levels.

Somu Kumar in Virginia and Brunda Rao in New Jersey are heading the campaign. Nearly 25 volunteers have signed up. Volunteers from New York, Texas, California and other US states will fast alongside people from UK, Saudi Arabia and India. At any given day, one or more volunteers will observe a fast in memory of Manjunath. Their mission statement reads, "Na Lenge aur Na Denge," (We will not give or take bribe).

Pramila Shanmugam, Manjunath's mother, says that the family supports the campaign wholeheartedly. "We have received monetary compensation of Rs 30 lakh from IOC," she confirms. Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank waived education loans of Rs 1.73 lakh and Rs 2.3 lakh, respectively for the family.

This fight for justice started with the launch of www.manjunathshanmugam.blogspot.com. Manjunath's friend, US-based Chandrashekar Ramanan, started a signature petition addressed to the Prime Minister. It demands full enquiry into Manjunath's murder and had a signature count of 12,697 at 6 pm, December 7. 

"We are trying to arrange an appointment with the PM's office to submit the petition," says Ganesh Raj, another friend.The 27-year-old IIM-Lucknow graduate was allegedly shot dead by petrol pump owner Monu Mittal on November 19 at Lakhimpur, UP.

Jayalakshmi Venugopal

Thursday, Dec 08, 2005