Anti-graft activist Anna Hazare is going without food, and also a television set. While the first is by choice, he does not have a say in the second. Hazare, who on Tuesday night refused to leave Tihar Jail despite being released wants a television set to keep tabs on the progress of his campaign, said a prison source.
Hazare who has been in jail since Tuesday afternoon is on a hunger strike and has consumed only water.
There is no television set where Hazare and his four associates (Dada Pathare, Suresh Pathare, Darshak Haathi and Navin Jaihind) are currently lodged -- a spacious conference hall in the office of the Director General (Prisons), Neeraj Kumar, inside the prison-complex.
Hazare and three of his associates were initially lodged in a barrack located in sub-jail four. Four others – including Arvind Kejriwal – were put in another barrack located in sub-jail one.
Among its 1,800-odd inmates, sub-jail four has Commonwealth Games’ Organising Committee’s former chairman Suresh Kalmadi, who is in judicial custody for his alleged involvement in irregularities related to a games’ contract.
Sub-jail one, among its 1, 300-odd inmates, has former telecom minister A Raja and businessman Shahid Balwa who were arrested by the CBI in the 2G Spectrum scam.
The prison source also revealed that for some time, Anna and his team were kept inside senior prison officer’s office which had a TV set.
“Anna is a bit inconvenienced because he does not have access to a TV set currently, so he is cut-off from what is happening outside,” Hazare’s aide Manish Sisodia told HT.
Sisodia was among the eight, along with Hazare, who were arrested by the police on Tuesday but later released.
Two associates of Hazare, who are part of his hunger strike, had meals brought in by supporters and family members.
“Anna is on a hunger strike, but two of his associates had meals brought from outside, which was allowed since they are not in judicial custody,” said another jail source.
The jail officials had attempted to dissuade Hazare from sitting on the hunger strike but were rebuffed curtly. “Hazare did not listen to us at all.”
Exasperated by his firmness, jail officials allowed him and his associates to stay inside the conference hall. “They had shut the doors of the conference hall after 9-10 pm, nobody knows what they were discussing till late into the night,” said the source.
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