Hazare to fast from August 16
NEW DELHI: Gandhian activist Anna Hazare yesterday said he will fast again from August 16 because the government had failed to keep its word on drafting a strong Lokpal bill to fight corruption.
“I stopped my fast at Jantar Mantar (here) because the government assured that our demands will be met. Now that the government is turning its back on the promise, I will fast again from August 16,” Hazare told reporters.
He was speaking a day after civil society activists met government representatives to thrash out the key issues in drafting the Lokpal bill. The meeting ended on a bitter note as there was no consensus, and a decision was taken that both the sides would present their versions of the bill to the cabinet.
“If they bring a wrong bill, there will certainly be agitation,” he said. “We will have to start a Jantar Mantar-kind of agitation again. The government is moving away from its commitments.”
“The people are understanding that if there are two drafts being made, then why a joint committee. It is just a strategy of the government. They have wasted time for the last three months,” he added.
“Bringing in Lokpal bill is not in the government’s mind. We are not getting any personal benefit from this. What is the point of having such a draft that cannot help India get rid of corruption,” Hazare, who celebrated his birthday in New Delhi quietly on Wednesday, said.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh yesterday said the attitude of civil society members towards the government must change. He was reacting to veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare’s threat to protest again.
“The so called civil society members have to understand that this is a parliamentary democracy and there is a constitution. The parliament frames the law, rules and is accountable to the people,” Singh told reporters.
“Eminent people are there in the (Lokpal bill) drafting committee and they should not say that the government is with them or against them,” he added.
Software icon NR Narayana Murthy on Saturday backed Anna Hazare’s movement agisnt corruption.
He said different people have different ways of expressing their opinion, adding, people have the right to express their opinion as long as they don’t hurt anybody and they are law-abiding citizens.