Anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare has taken on the government yet again; this time through his blog. The activist, in his first blog entry, has accused the government of creating ‘false propaganda' that he gave up his fast because of some “favorite ministers.”
“I came to understand some government agents tried to propagate and create an image that it was the handiwork of their favorite (sic) ministers that I gave up my fast. I came across articles of self-praise, interviews published by them. This is a false propaganda,” he has stated, addressing readers in a blog post titled ‘Revolution! Miles to go…'
These sharp words perhaps point to Vilasrao Deshmukh, Union Minister for Science and Technology and the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was one of the Ministers who met Mr. Hazare for negotiations. It was Mr. Deshmukh who met Mr. Hazare on the 12th day of his fast and presented the Parliament's ‘sense of the House resolution' to him.
“It was only when my inner voice permitted me I broke my fast after getting assurance from the government,” Mr. Hazare said in his multi-lingual blog at http://annahazaresays.wordpress.com. He said that he held dialogues with the ministers considering them “government representatives.”
“They were not here [at Ramlila Grounds] to show their gratitude towards the movement. They were mere government's messengers carrying words to and fro on both sides.”
Mr. Hazare also accused the Ministers of having “different versions, different assurances” and alleged that “till the last moment they [government] tried to break the movement.”
In the past one month, after he broke his fast, Mr. Hazare had been asked several times why he agreed to meet Mr. Deshmukh, who had to step down as the Maharashtra Chief Minister after allegations of corruption in the Adarsh scam.
Though the blog does not directly refer to Mr. Deshmukh, Mr. Hazare said: “It was the responsibility of the government that they scrutinize the people they had sent for negotiations whether they were corrupt or had clean image.”
“In my fight for the truth, I have never ever taken decisions that went against my line of thought. The people who claim that it is because of them that the movement could be curbed are the people who are against the Indian common man and enemy of this second freedom struggle. Such people in order to end the fight against corruption are resorting to corrupt methods, as is seen,” he states.
