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Wednesday 17 August 2011

Pass notes No 3,029: Anna Hazare




Age: 74.

Appearance: Kindly old chef.

Who's this Anna girl then? She's an elderly man.

All right, so who's this elderly man called Anna? His full name is Kisan Baburao Hazare, he's a campaigner and social activist, and he's just been arrested by the Indian government, along with over 1,000 of his followers.

What did he do? He wouldn't eat his greens. Or anything else, for that matter: he was threatening to go on hunger strike as part of his campaign to strengthen Indian anti-corruption laws.

And that's an arrestable offence over there? It is when you're Hazare, and you're threatening to fast until you die. Last time he refused to eat – 5 April this year – the government bowed to his demands in just four days, agreeing to propose in parliament the anti-corruption act he had been pushing for.

So why's he at it again? Because he says the bill proposed earlier this month isn't the one he was assured he'd be getting in April. Hazare and his followers have accused the Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh of backtracking. They claim the version cabinet ministers have proposed is too toothless to be of any use at all.

Then what do they want? They want the Jan Lokpal bill – from Lokpal meaning protector of the people – first proposed in India in 1969. The bill would introduce an independent citizens' ombudsman with the power to investigate politicians and bureaucrats for corruption without prior government permission.

And I'm guessing they want it now? They do, not least because Singh's government has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals.

Meaning Anna's got the whole country behind him? Not entirely. The government is certainly unpopular, but his strike-unto-death has been criticised by commentators as an attempt to blackmail the government.


Which it is. Well, yes, but only with the threat of a hungry old man.

Do say: "I will starve for justice."

Don't say: "And I'll give up smoking for freedom."

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