Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare, continues to be probably the most talked-about person in India in recent times. He went on a fast-unto-death, seeking a role for the public in the drafting of an anticorruption Bill, known as the Jan Lokpal Bill.
The fast, which lasted more than 90 hours, forced the Congress-led United Progressive government to relent as it scurried to save face. Not because it saw sense in it but for the fact that the entire nation had gradually begun to show solidarity with the 72-year-old activist's cause. The nationwide uproar turned into a movement connecting people of all segments of society.
The ten-member panel, with five representatives each of the government and the civil society, will now be working on the draft of the proposed Bill, to be passed during the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament. Failing that, Hazare has threatened to start another round of sit-in protests on August 15 at the Red Fort, from where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the nation.
Perceived as the new Mahatma Gandhi, the social activist is now "anna" (elder brother) for much of India. Not among those who talk about corruption sitting in the comfort of their homes, the old man took the issue to central Delhi's popular monument, Jantar Mantar. Incidentally, this wasn't the first time he has gone on a hunger strike.
Born on June 15, 1938, in a remote village called Ralegaon Siddhi situated in the Parmer area of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, to Laxmibai and Baburao Hazare, he left school after Class 7. He joined the Indian army in 1963.
Surviving a massive Pakistani air raid on his convoy during the 1965 war, where he saw many comrades die, changed his destiny. "That attack got me to think about the purpose of my life. I saw it as a reason to do something positive for the country," he said.
Hazare served in the army for 15 years, until he was entitled to a pension. A bachelor, he donated the land owned by his family and the pension (which he still receives) to help build a school and a hospital in Ralegaon Siddhi.
One day, when some drunkards entered the village, he managed to tie them up to teach them a lesson. This was followed by banning alcohol in the village, which soon resulted in liquor vends vanishing from the area. "To do some good, you need to be tough at times," he said.
He transformed the village, through extensive watershed programmes, canals and bunds, from an arid, drought and poverty-ridden wasteland. But the school needed more attention.
It was at this school in 1980 that Hazare first employed his now-trademark tactic of a protest fast to demand recognition for the institution. The state government granted it the Secondary School Certificate status.
By the 1980s, Ralegaon Siddhi acquired the reputation of a model village and attracted visitors from all over the world. For this Hazare was awarded the Padma Shree by the government of India in 1990. Hazare formed the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (movement against corruption) in 1991, which spread across the state in the form of district-level vigilance committees. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1992.
Hazare vowed never to join politics. The Rs3 million (Dh248,179) that he has till now received in awards are known to have been put in a bank in the name of a trust and the interest is used to conduct weddings for the poor in the village.
His transformation into a full-time crusader began in 1995, when he took on the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra. Hazare went on an indefinite fast demanding the removal of some corrupt ministers, and the government had to relent.
Again, in 2003, four Congress and Nationalist Congress Party ministers had to resign after he went on a hunger strike against them.
Prior to that, he launched a campaign to demand the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 1997, which resulted in the Maharashtra government enacting a law, which was subsequently adopted by the federal government in 2005.
"Though the RTI Act has given people the power to seek information and expose corruption, we need tough laws to punish the responsible. That is why an independent body such as the Lokpal is needed," Hazare said. "The proposed draft prepared by the government was weak and we wanted people's participation in drafting the Jan Lokpal Bill. It should have the power to prosecute the guilty in a time-bound manner. The fear should be such that politicians stop their corrupt practices."
It augurs well for India to have a one-man army such as Hazare to shake a government that has been caught up in numerous scams and scandals. While Hazare has created a storm, his critics maintain that protesting against corruption is not wrong but his method is. They complain that Hazare is trying to influence the working of a democratically elected government and indulging in blackmail. Today it is corruption but tomorrow it could be used to push any majority agenda by someone else.
"It is important to understand that my struggle is not for any personal gain. The public is smart enough to know which movement to support. Time will tell that something good will come of this, as it has with the RTI Act," the crusader responds.
"The polity knows that I do not have any vested interest and my only ambition is to eradicate corruption, which is affecting the nation and its development. This is just the beginning, the battle lies ahead."
Nilima Pathak is a journalist based in New Delhi.
Fodder for opposition
The Congress-led UPA government is touted as the most corrupt in 64 years of independence. The 2G Spectrum, the Commonwealth Games 2010, the Adarsh building, the Indian Premium League ... the list of scams does not end here. All this, combined with inflation, has provided the much-needed fodder
The fast, which lasted more than 90 hours, forced the Congress-led United Progressive government to relent as it scurried to save face. Not because it saw sense in it but for the fact that the entire nation had gradually begun to show solidarity with the 72-year-old activist's cause. The nationwide uproar turned into a movement connecting people of all segments of society.
The ten-member panel, with five representatives each of the government and the civil society, will now be working on the draft of the proposed Bill, to be passed during the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament. Failing that, Hazare has threatened to start another round of sit-in protests on August 15 at the Red Fort, from where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the nation.
Perceived as the new Mahatma Gandhi, the social activist is now "anna" (elder brother) for much of India. Not among those who talk about corruption sitting in the comfort of their homes, the old man took the issue to central Delhi's popular monument, Jantar Mantar. Incidentally, this wasn't the first time he has gone on a hunger strike.
Born on June 15, 1938, in a remote village called Ralegaon Siddhi situated in the Parmer area of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, to Laxmibai and Baburao Hazare, he left school after Class 7. He joined the Indian army in 1963.
Surviving a massive Pakistani air raid on his convoy during the 1965 war, where he saw many comrades die, changed his destiny. "That attack got me to think about the purpose of my life. I saw it as a reason to do something positive for the country," he said.
Hazare served in the army for 15 years, until he was entitled to a pension. A bachelor, he donated the land owned by his family and the pension (which he still receives) to help build a school and a hospital in Ralegaon Siddhi.
One day, when some drunkards entered the village, he managed to tie them up to teach them a lesson. This was followed by banning alcohol in the village, which soon resulted in liquor vends vanishing from the area. "To do some good, you need to be tough at times," he said.
He transformed the village, through extensive watershed programmes, canals and bunds, from an arid, drought and poverty-ridden wasteland. But the school needed more attention.
It was at this school in 1980 that Hazare first employed his now-trademark tactic of a protest fast to demand recognition for the institution. The state government granted it the Secondary School Certificate status.
By the 1980s, Ralegaon Siddhi acquired the reputation of a model village and attracted visitors from all over the world. For this Hazare was awarded the Padma Shree by the government of India in 1990. Hazare formed the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan (movement against corruption) in 1991, which spread across the state in the form of district-level vigilance committees. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1992.
Hazare vowed never to join politics. The Rs3 million (Dh248,179) that he has till now received in awards are known to have been put in a bank in the name of a trust and the interest is used to conduct weddings for the poor in the village.
His transformation into a full-time crusader began in 1995, when he took on the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra. Hazare went on an indefinite fast demanding the removal of some corrupt ministers, and the government had to relent.
Again, in 2003, four Congress and Nationalist Congress Party ministers had to resign after he went on a hunger strike against them.
Prior to that, he launched a campaign to demand the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 1997, which resulted in the Maharashtra government enacting a law, which was subsequently adopted by the federal government in 2005.
"Though the RTI Act has given people the power to seek information and expose corruption, we need tough laws to punish the responsible. That is why an independent body such as the Lokpal is needed," Hazare said. "The proposed draft prepared by the government was weak and we wanted people's participation in drafting the Jan Lokpal Bill. It should have the power to prosecute the guilty in a time-bound manner. The fear should be such that politicians stop their corrupt practices."
It augurs well for India to have a one-man army such as Hazare to shake a government that has been caught up in numerous scams and scandals. While Hazare has created a storm, his critics maintain that protesting against corruption is not wrong but his method is. They complain that Hazare is trying to influence the working of a democratically elected government and indulging in blackmail. Today it is corruption but tomorrow it could be used to push any majority agenda by someone else.
"It is important to understand that my struggle is not for any personal gain. The public is smart enough to know which movement to support. Time will tell that something good will come of this, as it has with the RTI Act," the crusader responds.
"The polity knows that I do not have any vested interest and my only ambition is to eradicate corruption, which is affecting the nation and its development. This is just the beginning, the battle lies ahead."
Nilima Pathak is a journalist based in New Delhi.
Fodder for opposition
The Congress-led UPA government is touted as the most corrupt in 64 years of independence. The 2G Spectrum, the Commonwealth Games 2010, the Adarsh building, the Indian Premium League ... the list of scams does not end here. All this, combined with inflation, has provided the much-needed fodder
