Buoyed by weekend crowds that thronged Jantar Mantar on Saturday, Arvind Kejriwal, on the fourth day of his indefinite fast, made a fervent plea to Anna Hazare to make a call to the nation to prepare for a Sampoorna Kranti (total revolution). Earlier in the day, Mr. Hazare, reiterated his plan to commence his fast from Sunday, after the four-day ultimatum he had issued to the government did not elicit any response.
However, Mr. Kejriwal in his address appealed to Mr. Hazare to withdraw his plan to fast as he was yet to recover from ill-health that has dogged him for much of this year.
“We lost Gandhiji immediately after Independence. We lost Jayaprakash Narayan at the wrong time. I will continue my fast. Even if I die, there will be 1,000 Arvind Kejriwals to take my place. I pray to Anna not to undertake this fast. His health is not good. But I leave it to him to make the final decision,” said Mr. Kejriwal, who emphasised that he was “perfectly healthy” and had defied the predictions of his doctors who warned him not to fast owing to his diabetic condition.
Noting that every party at the national and State level was facing corruption allegations, Mr. Kejriwal said: “Our farmers’ lands are being seized and they are committing suicides in large numbers. A large percentage of our population does not have access to education. There is a need for universal health coverage. Our movement for the Jan Lokpal Bill should become a cry for Sampoorna Kranti.” He also disagreed with those who said that President Pranab Mukherjee should not be accused of corruption.
Asked why he was undertaking frequent fasts, Mr. Hazare said he was forced to do so because the government had gone back on its promises regarding the Lokpal Bill at the drafting committee and standing committee stages and then again in Parliament. “It is the government’s actions which are forcing us to fast again and again. We are not happy doing so,” he said.
Regarding the question of working for a political alternative, Mr. Hazare signalled his intention to tour the country and seek out good people to contest elections. Their details, he said, would be posted on the Internet to elicit people’s opinion about them. However, he would not contest elections or form a party, he added.
Pointing to the larger Saturday crowd in attendance, Mr. Kejriwal gestured at the media: “The crowds are here. But this struggle is about truth and sacrifice and it does not need crowds. Even if none of the people who are now here come back, we will continue our fast. Everyone here has come on their own free will. No one brought them here in trucks. I challenge Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to bring at least half of this crowd without arranging trucks and buses for people.”
He also criticised the media for not highlighting the “flop shows” of rallies called by political parties and attempts to make Anna “a flop” saying the media lacked courage.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan listed the “corruption allegations” against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pranab Mukherjee, and Home Minister P. Chidambaram.
Keywords: Anna Hazare, Team Anna fast, India Against Corruption, Jantar Mantar
One wonders whether there is any use of offering thoughtful comments which hardly influence Indian masses due to illiteracy & poverty? When any sane person sees the disturbing TV or press reports on the state of affairs to collect a pitcher of water, garbage filled horrible roads or struggle for survival, he is shattered. Anna's deep concern and Arvind's utterances are relevant and indeed reflect the utter frustration of Aam Admi. If we cannot set things right by 2014, we have a bleak future with no electricity,water and food stocks .
The extent of corruption and crony capitalism in India is simply shameful and unprecedented.we have a PM causing a loss of over 2 lac crore to the nation in a single scam of coal block allocation.we have a system in which illiterate or semi-literate politicians have the shameless arrogance to question the reports of CAG which is an internationally acclaimed institution and the guardian of the public purse in accordance with the constitution .we have a system in which the CBI has to take permission from the guilty minister to start an investigation against him.We are a country whose black money stashed in tax havens exceeds the GDP of the nation. For how long can this continue ? are we going to become a developed nation and a superpower by being a the supremely corrupt nation? For how long can we allow the white collar criminals to rule us? It is high time we demand our birth right to live in corruption free nation and support this decisive war against corruption.VICTORY WILL BE OURS
TEAM ANNA must not care about some allegations like they are hijacking democracy etc...always these politicians 'USE' our constitution as a shield...every time on a tv debate every politician says corruption is there...they accept it openly.If these corrupt politician makes law,will it acceptable according to our constitution??..Team anna is not making law...only their motive is to stop corrupt politicians in the process of law making...is this unconstitutional??
In order to achieve "Total revolution", one should get into the root cause which is Capitalism, the system prevailing Globally. Curbing corruption alone will not suffice and will not solve the problem alone in India. Until and unless Globalization and other policies exist, such issues will come. Politicians(any political party for that matter) are the just pawns under the Capitalists,people under whom wealth is over sufficiently accumulated.
Total Revolution=Remove Capitalists from thier position and ensure equal distribution of resources to the population
While your paper did not lend such support to the movement earlier, your present coverage shows a change in policy! I have simple reason not to support the present agitation. It has become a political movement by the support of some political organisations They achieved a great deal by getting the Parliament to take up the issue and the LOk Sabha even passed the Bill till it got stalled by the very party that supports them!
The movement has to concentrate on issues that need to be addressed and get success. .For example, they should rather take up the issue of appointment of Lok Ayukths in the States. A Lokpal Bill to punish the offenders is no guarantee that corruption will cease. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is fighting a case for years of disproportionate assets and yet winning elections. The Janagraha movement in Karnataka has done more to develop honesty in the dealings with Govt agencies rather than by fasting etc The movement needs a change of perception by its leaders.
All the comments are very though provoking but to readers only.the present
government knows very well that nobody can dislodge them until 2014. so they will
loot as much as possible as they are sure they will be defeated in the next
elections.they simply talk about great words like welfare measures,lokpallbill, health
care etc.every citizen is fed up with the present system but what has to do next?
this is the important question voter has to decide. it is not the crowd on
jantar mantar.
We are with you Team Anna and always will be even if we are not there at Jantar Mantar. We whole heart support the movement and these corrupt politicians and media can not be success in their motive to make it a flop show.
The will of the people is today totally against the current system if politics. We remove one party only to be replaced by an equal set of dishonest politicians. Each of them prove that they are worse than the previous. The cotorie - be they from the congress, DMK, ADMK or the BJP - are the same. There is no sense of pride or vision in them. A Kranti as suggested by Arvind Kejriwal seems the only solution to our current dismal situation. The current politicians are both incapable and unwilling to imporve our lot.
Well there are confusions everywhere in this country and people who are
asking for Annaji to be present in Assam are just being argumentative,
Annaji is fighting against the real cause the real reason for so many
issues that we see all around us,"The general Psyche of this society is
corrupted" corruption has taken different forms...Annaji and his
followers are fighting to put an end to it. Jai Hind !!!!
Barring Anna Hazare's decision to undertake a fast unto death at this stage when he is already having many health problems, his other proposals including the intended tour of the whole country to select competent persons with clean record to contest in the next general elections to take place in 2014 and post on the internet their details for ascertaining the views of the public are truly welcome one. Hence, allowing his other team members to continue with their non-violent agitations, he can devote attention to the meaningful move he has intended to make. That will receive good public support too, fed up as they are with reports of corruption pouring in from various quarters, almost on a day-to-day basis.
Anna, you have a solid following in this country. I request you to make
them pledge not to give or accept bribes. Make all bribe demands people
face public through your speeches and website. Can you do that? That
would wipe out corruption faster than any bill. People should be
educated to be proactive in politics and not merely protest through
fasts.
Anna Tum sangarsh , Desh Tumhare Sath hai
While I agree that people of India must fight corruption and bad governance, Anna
Hazare and his team's strategy of fasting and threatening the government are
becoming stale and inappropriate. They must find more creative ways to fight
corruption.
Congress is not happy with the state of affairs taking place at Jantarmantar. Party has declared war against corruption after victory in 2009.Lokpal is the brain child of the party. Ramdev and Anna when jumped into the fray it was set to get momentum. They came in the fight to brush up their images for political and commercial gains. We extended our helping hand to them and ministers of Government remained in their touch to see that conflict of interest may not defuse the tempo of the movement and Parliament clears our Lokpal Bill. We did not have majority in upper house. Congress is sorry to say that movement has deviated from its goal and made the task of party more difficult. Had the movement been in single hand either of Anna or Ramdev the result have been conclusive. Entries of greedy activists have spoiled it and now people have distanced from the movement and political parties are at ease on the issue. Anna is a simple and straight forward person having poor understanding of political moves of his associates in the team. If he doesn’t find way to control them should handover the movement to Ramdev.
anna! we are with you
Go Anna! It is our long sought dream to root out corruption. But the roots are deep with Family politics and corruption from head to toe in every state. No one to question them. Even if you can make a little change, it would change the course. Keep hitting till it sinks in their thick heads.
This is turning out to be an anti UPA campaign - and bloggers (like Anna's team) is attacking just UPA leaders. Is this a political platform for the opposition parties, or this a movement against all political parties?.Like MMS is silent , Anna too is silent in criticizing opposition - Why? I'm no longer supporting Annaji, this year. If Anna wants to destabilise India at this critical juncture,let him side with the BJP and have his demands met and let them make him their PM - Good riddance
Media have done wonderful job of reducing/ eliminating coverage of Anna's protest. Many Indians do not share Anna's view, and are publically ridiculed if they disagree with him. He is nowhere in the shadow of Gandhiji, and is surrounded by vested interests. Anna - pls think for yourself and get back to lead us wrt fighting for a strong and effective Lokpal - not focussing on petty issues like SIT, dharna outside PM house etc
The entire media seems to be against the people's movement led by Anna Hazare. In this
information age this is a severe handicap for the movement. The government having
managed to get the media on its side on almost all issues is not bothered about any agitation
by the people. Will 2014 elections make any difference? Since we, the people of this country,
are docile and reconciled to our present condition, we will let that condition to continue. 2014
will come and quietly go.
Anna ji is right! Our country cannot progress under Congress and BJP. We
need more honest and educated people to lead the country. You have our
endless support Team Anna!
We support Anna.
If I see the reality of an educated individual's life in India then I
see they have to prove their knowledge on the test floor through
written exams, interviews etc. before getting any job to suit their
education level. But those individuals responsible for making laws
what are the mechanism in place for testing their knowledge/skill to
ensure their suitability for a constituency? Just throwing random
individuals onto people by a party does not ensure suitability of a
candidate. Also seeing the wide disparity in the social/economical
status among the people some section of financially week group is
forced to vote for money. Ironically this has also come to light in
forming/saving a government where MPs found accepting money/position
to support a government. I think there has to be a radical change in
ensuring eligibility of a candidate for an election in a democratic
country like India where law makers decide the future of 1.2billions
people.
Anna Hazare who is taken fasting right from tomorrow onward is for destitute people of India.India is the one of the worst crupted
country of the world, destitute people better to suicide themselves, because there is no alternative to alive in like India, every govt
officer
,Minister, MLA, Panchayat leaders is crupted. i appealed all the
destitute people please come out openly to supported the Anna Hazare
cruption movement against India.liberty from crupt is only one is
passed the Lokpal bill in India. then every one will right to get
his/her privelige.
Nothing should happen to Annaji else it will be the biggest shame of our lives.
These politicians are scoundrels and scoundrels have thick skin but weak hearts.
It will not be long when they start shivering.
Not Only Annaji,Every Indian should struggle hard to get rid of
Corruption by protesting strongly..........!!
Specific to this Fast/Dharna;Is there any real and meaning and
objective?Parliament is not in secession,hence the bill can not be
passed.Assurance?can be take back at any time.we have seen it earlier
also.SIT is a non starter.can't paint everyone.They say it is the
congress is reason behind for not passing the bill.What happened during
the discussion everybody knew.It is not the congress,many others differ
on many provisions.The congress want to bring FDI,NCTC,reduce the
subsidy etc.They can not do it.Because they are not in majority. They
say they are fighting for common man's corruption.The lokayukta
provisions were opposed by everyone except congress.why these people
are not targeting them?In my view it is just an anti congress, Soniya,
MMS etc.Nothing more or nothing less.By saying this i am not saying
that congress is holier.They also have their own share for not passing
the bill.My point is they are targeting congress alone where some of
the hurdles to the bill from others also
At the out set thanks to the Hindu for giving a detailed coverage of
Anna's efforts at Jantar mantar.I am shocked to watch some of the TV
debates last two days about Anna Hazare and his team unable to draw
crowds.The same media was over enthusiastic to project Annaji as a
messiah of the honest citizens and started campaign for anti
corruption movement last August when people showed much resentment to
our rulers.With in eleven months most of these over zealous anchors
made a u turn and started anti Anna slogans "Is Anna losing sheen?"one
anchor shouts,"No crowds, people lost interest in Anna's team"cries
another.I fail to understand what these journalists want,a most
corrupt government with most of the politicians pumping out the
national wealth to foreign banks which is non productive?It is
sickening to watch the same faces in almost all debates from Anna
hazare to Assam violence and a child falling from a school bus.Time is
ripe to improve the quality of journalism in India.
Dear anna ji, all students and honesty people are supporting you. You will definitely win. Thank You Sir.
@shashi prakash: dear shashi annaji neither trying to be Gandhi nor he is messenger of peace. HOWEVER he is trying to uproot at least a part of
corruption which has penetrated deeply into our systems.
I am with you sir. we want strong lokpall bill
Politicians in parliament will never pass the Lokpal bill which will
force them to be accountable and transparent. They know it so even the
BJP which was trying to fish in the troubled waters during the initial
phase of Anna's agitation put an obstruction in passing the Lokpal
Bill in the parliament. Politicians of all hue oppose an anti -
corruption body with some teeth, not a recommendary one as is one now
in the CVC. The public has seen through this game plan. The UPA-II is
trying its best to put any type of anti-corruption law in the cold
storage. So hoping for an effective anti-corruption body coming into
existence with this bunch of corrupt politicians is remote. But the
struggle must go on to keep the public aware of the issue.
Let us pray that the Lokpal bill's introduction in the very near future.
We want also Election reforms. After these we request the Hazare
team to involve in politics and maintain a non-corrupt Government in the
Central and the State
There is logic and sincerity in Anna's assertions and one can see the simplicity and
straight forward answers which speaks for themselves as to the man within. Those
against anti-corruption are sure to put spokes in his efforts and this time I wish they
will not succeed.
It is such a shame for Indian media/Newspaper that they are not spreading the movement of India against corruption spearheaded by TEAM ANNA...Hope THE HINDU will mobilize the public in supprot of TEAM ANNA..
Anna Hazare who is planning to bring to Parliament, in the 2014
elections, some people who will be selected by the people and who will
win elections with his backup without spending crores as other
politicians are doing. As responsible citizens we should all extend
our moral support to the Gandhian Hazare. Unfortunately he is
undertaking a fast unto death from tomorrow. He should have spared
himself this risk at least for our and country's sake. His four days
warning to government is over and the later is unmoved. His colleagues
fasted and it didn't help.
If we have to believe the media he doesn't care for the crowds at his
fasting site, he doesn't care for his life nor for the Governmnt.But
he should care for the country and rethink about his strategy.
His strategy for next elections is more promising and he should start
right now preparations for that. He promises to tour the whole country
in search of honest, people's candidates. That takes lot of effort and
time.
The change is much needed and Anna Hazare is leading and motivating the people in right direction. Its now upon us,we people who have to bring the momentum all over the country and bring a wave of change.
Any movement against corruption will have to strike at its roots which
are widely distributed from the top to the bottom of the society.
Those who are at the helms of the affairs, such as the politicians,
babus and the business persons are targeted. Indeed, a very large part
of the public in general, knowingly or unknowingly and willingly or
unwillingly, happens to be colluding in the corrupt activities of
those very politicians, babus and the business persons.This they do in
their self interest and thus they are not able to really support a
movement against corruption even knowing that the movement would
ultimately benefit them.
Dear Anna, Gandhiji would have been in Assam and fasting for peace in
Kokrajhar.
I totally agree with Anna ji. There should be mobilization at ground level as daily earners
would not be able to come all the way to Delhi but can reply through votes if educated
properly with lot of hard works.
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