Anna Hazare's fight against corruption

[Sachin=GOD]

Garnering impressive support from the public, veteran anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare embarked on a fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar here on Tuesday, demanding passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted through a civil society initiative. He also rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal to call off the fast and engage in a discussion with a Sub-Committee of the Group of Ministers over the framing of the Lokpal Bill. Visits Rajghat Mr. Hazare first visited Rajghat, where he paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, before proceeding to India Gate atop an open jeep accompanied by several social workers and members of the public. From there, he proceeded to the public meeting at Jantar Mantar with tricolour-waving students cheering him all along the way. Mr. Hazare demanded setting up of a joint committee with 50 per cent representation for citizens and 50 per cent for the government for formulation of a strong Lokpal Bill. “We want a joint committee. If you want to end corruption, then why don't you constitute it? It means you do not want to end the corruption. I will fast till the joint committee is constituted and till there is pran (life) in me,” Mr. Hazare said in response to the Prime Minister's offer. At Rajghat, Mr. Hazare said: “I have come to request Gandhiji to give good sense to this Government. So many sacrifices were made for this country. But everything is being destroyed. You [Gandhiji] gave direction to this country but these people are destroying it.'' PMO ‘disappointed' The Prime Minister's Office had on Monday night expressed “deep disappointment” over Mr. Hazare's decision to go on fast. The statement from the PMO added that the Prime Minister had “enormous respect for Mr. Hazare and his mission.” Mr. Hazare said he had got the same assurances from the Prime Minister at an earlier meeting on March 7. “He said we have faith in you; we respect you; then why did he not sit with us on this issue again?...If the Government alone drafts this bill, it will be autocratic, not democratic; there will be discrepancies,” Mr. Hazare added. ‘Not acceptable' RTI activist and Magsaysay Award winner Arvind Kejriwal said the Prime Minister at that meeting had offered to pass on their suggestions to the Group of Ministers constituted to formulate the draft of the Lokpal Bill. “This is not acceptable to us. We want to be part of the formulation. Who are the Ministers in this GoM? They include people like Veerappa Moily who drafted a weak Lokpal Bill, Kapil Sibal who could see no revenue loss in the 2G spectrum scam and Sharad Pawar,” Mr. Kejriwal remarked. Former IPS officer and social activist Kiran Bedi echoed Mr. Hazare's demand for a joint committee with at least half the members chosen from civil society like senior advocates Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan and Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde. “The remaining members can be from the Government. This committee should treat the Jan Lokpal Bill as its working draft. It should submit its report by mid-May and the Government should then place the Bill drafted by the committee in Parliament,” Dr. Bedi said, adding that such a committee's work would plug all loopholes in the Bill. A number of politicians from the Opposition parties and public figures visited Mr. Hazare during the course of the day to express solidarity with him. Marking a change from usual protest demonstrations where party flags dominate, both sides of Jantar Mantar Road were lined instead with rows of tricolour flags.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1601666.ece Hazare crusade gains momentum, forces Pawar off anti-graft panel

New Delhi: The government seems to have blinked first on the second day of social activist Anna Hazare’s protest against corruption, which has caught the imagination of the nation’s middle class, many people on Twitter and the international media. On Wednesday evening, even as a crowd of young people participated in a spontaneous candle-light procession near India Gate to express their support for Hazare, the government, which was dismissive of the threat of the protest on Monday, was scrambling to find a response. Later in the evening, Nationalist Congress Party leader and Union minister Sharad Pawar, whose appointment to a ministerial group on corruption had raised the hackles of some of Hazare’s supporters, stepped down from the panel. A prominent member of corporate India also expressed support. “This is a movement whose heart and voice cannot be ignored,” Anand Mahindra tweeted. Earlier in the day, the government’s representatives had made the right conciliatory noises about Hazare and his protest. Interestingly, the government’s change of heart (if it is indeed that) came on a day when one of the country’s most respected political analysts questioned the wisdom of almost blackmailing the government to draft a more powerful anti-corruption Bill and the effectiveness of such a Bill to tackle corruption. Still, the government’s hand might have been forced by the groundswell of popular support for Hazare and the backdrop of the protest itself—assembly elections in four crucial states. For at least 10 months now, the government has been buffeted by controversies related to corruption—the organization of the Commonwealth Games, the allotment of spectrum to telecom firms and the appointment of an individual facing graft accusations as the country’s top anti-corruption officer. The government hopes a good performance in the polls will erase the bad memories of the past months, refurbish its image and strengthen its moral authority to govern. ‘We like Hazare’ That was the refrain of both the Congress party and the government on Wednesday. Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters that the party “respects” Hazare and is “committed in its crusade against corruption”. This presented a contrast to Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari’s comment on Monday that in a democratic country, “anybody is free to” go on a hunger strike. And they indicate a change of heart from last Thursday when Hazare met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss the anti-corruption legislation, the Lokpal Bill, and, finding him unreceptive, decided to launch a protest. Hazare wrote to Singh again on Wednesday intimating him about the hunger strike and asking him to take “credible steps at stemming corruption”. Addressing media persons on the second day of his protest, he said: “Today, the government is not bending, but I am sure one day it will.” For those who came in late Hazare is demanding that the government should set up a joint committee with half of its members from civil society and treat the Jan Lokpal Bill as a working draft for its own anti-corruption legislation. The Jan Lokpal Bill is an alternative Bill drafted by members of civil society for the proposed Lokpal Bill and gives officials appointed under its aegis police powers. It also asks for stringent punishment for wrong-doers and brings almost every elected and public official in the country under its purview. The Lokpal Bill, which aims at providing for the “establishment of the institution of Lokpal to inquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries”, has been introduced in Parliament eight times since 1968, but never passed. The case against Not everyone is convinced a hunger strike is the best way to force the government’s hand. Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president and chief executive of the Centre for Policy Research, a Delhi-based think tank, said the protest raised several issues. “First, citizens should have a right to show mobilization around the issue of corruption. The second is whether or not a fast unto death is a right way to do it in a constitutional democracy,” he said. “The presumption should be that these kind of tactics should be used only in really extreme circumstances and I don’t think these are those circumstances.” Mehta added that the Lokpal Bill is not the best way of tackling corruption. “It will potentially create more problems than it will solve. I don’t think in a democracy anybody has the right to morally coerce the government to accept a particular solution, particularly when there is a very good faith; genuine disagreement around.” Mehta’s views are shared by a few others, but this argument has been all but drowned out by the overwhelming public support for Hazare. Tweets and likes Tweets flowed in in huge numbers with a special hash tag dedicated to Hazare by #annahazare and a Facebook page in his name gained 5,482 “likes”. The international media has been writing about Hazare’s fast. While The Washington Post called it a “multi-city campaign” by people “fed-up with corruption scandals”, a blog on The Wall Street Journal compared the turnout of people in the Capital similar to the recent World Cup victory. At the Jantar Mantar circle, an ancient observatory which is the site of the protest, a special stand has been set up for TV journalists. Supporters have been coming in from all parts of the country. Hazare and other organizers of the strike have endeared themselves to their supporters by refusing to associate themselves with any of the political parties, many of whom are obviously keen to leverage the protest to their own advantage. The 72-year-old Hazare, who was visited by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Maneka Gandhi, Prakash Javadekar and Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav on Tuesday, has asked politicians not to attend his fast any more. The organizers refused to allow Indian National Lok Dal chief Om Prakash Chautala and Bharatiya Janshakti Party leader Uma Bharti from sharing the dais with Hazare.

http://www.livemint.com/2011/04/07002504/Hazare-crusade-gains-momentum.html yxksAURdwTI Facebook Link to "India Against Corruption" - http://www.facebook.com/IndiACor Link to the website - http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/ :hatsoff::hatsoff:

[WC2011INDIA]

I support him.

[Sir_Afridi]

Aamir Khan says Anna Hazare deserves greater support than cricket team http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Aamir-Khan-says-Anna-Hazare-deserves-greater-support-than-cricket-team/articleshow/7889058.cms

[Sir john]

hazare :hatsoff:

[Aaku]

Goooooooooo HAZARE !!! :hatsoff: Chetan Bhagat on twitter has suggested his little way of supporting Hazare.. by writing 'Mera Neta Chor Hai' forearm pe. And really getting a good response!!

[ganeshran]

:hatsoff:

[Aaku]

For all my southie brothers-Mera Neta Chor=ennodaye arasiyalwaadi oru thirudan :D

[Aaku]

To understand why the govt's Lokpal bill is so weak, vs what Anna wants, here is a simple summary:

Background of the movement The movement was caused due the resentment because of the following differences between the draft Lokpal Bill 2010 prepared by the government and the Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by the members of this movement, which has received huge public support: Draft Lokpal Bill 2010 -Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. It can only probe complaints forwarded by LS Speaker or RS Chairman. -Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body. Its part is only limited to forwarding its report to the "Competent Authority" -Lokpal will not have any police powers. It can not register FIRs or proceed with criminal investigations. -CBI and Lokpal will have no connection with each other. -Punishment for corruption will be minimum 6 months and maximum up-to 7 years. Jan Lokpal Bill -Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. -Lokpal will be much more than an Advisory Body. It should be granted powers to initiate Prosecution against anyone found guilty. -Lokpal will have police powers. To say that it will be able to register FIRs. -Lokpal and anti corruption wing of CBI will be one Independent body. -The punishment should be minimum 5 years and maximum up-to life imprisonment. -Lokpal will not be a monopoly for particular area

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hazare#Background_of_the_movement Hazare !:two_thumbs_up::two_thumbs_up:

[Zelig]

For all my southie brothers-Mera Neta Chor=ennodaye arasiyalwaadi oru thirudan :D

:hmmm:

[cндябеяs]

For all my southie brothers-Mera Neta Chor=ennodaye arasiyalwaadi oru thirudan :D

illiterate northie :yousuck: south != tamil

[Aaku]

illiterate northie :yousuck: south != tamil

I couldnt find telegu trans :beee:

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

The Government's version of the Lokpal bill is a joke. Anna Hazare's campaign is gaining momentum by the hour and I hope it doesn't fizzle out till a conclusion is reached. Lots of ordinary people, mainly students are being a part of it. Gladly they have not allowed the opposition to hijack this campaign .... Uma Bharati & Chautala were driven off by the protesters.

[King Tendulkar]

It will take 20 to 30 years to get rid of corruption, but it is a start. The main purpose is to inform and educate the indian public that corruption cant be tolerated. That indians should not vote for corrupt people and that its not acceptable in country of India. It is a start that in decades to come we may look but at this as the catalyst for India becoming much less corrupt

[Aaku]

Activist reject governments offer of informal panel with no time limit :two_thumbs_up:

[Aaku]

Anna's supporters in the US to march from San Diego to San Francisco ! :hatsoff:

[Sachin=GOD]

More than 500000 people across 100s of cities in India are supporting this movement and are showing their protest in different parts of their respective cities. This is spreading across India very very fast and for a change the media seems to be playing a positive role by completely and unequivocally supporting this movement.

[bulbul]

Nothing is going to change. Once ipl starts media slowly forgets this guy.

[Aaku]

This does not look like just a step towards the removal of corruption.. this look big to me! Kudos to all those who are out there supporting at Jantar Mantar :two_thumbs_up:

[ganeshran]

For all my southie brothers-Mera Neta Chor=ennodaye arasiyalwaadi oru thirudan :D

wannabe Southie :hehe:

[ganeshran]

Arvind Kejriwal should take the Chairmanship. I heard Anna said no.