ID :
202328
Fri, 08/19/2011 - 12:28
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/202328
The shortlink copeid
INDIA’S ANTI-GRAFT ACTIVIST OUT OF JAIL, VOWS TO CONTINUE HUNGER STRIKE
NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- After walking out of jail, India's veteran social activist, spearheading a massive anti-graft movement in the country, vowed to continue a 15-day hunger strike on Friday.
The 74-year-old Anna Hazare is heading to the Ramlila ground, a popular site for protestors in Delhi, to continue his fast after spending three days in Tihar jail, where he also spent his days fasting.
Last Tuesday, ahead of his planned hunger strike, Delhi police detained the Gandhian-styled campaigner, fearing it would unleash chaos in the national capital.
Thousands of Anna's supporters, young Indians and even retirees, gathered outside Tihar despite lashing morning rain, while demonstrators converged in solidarity in several other major cities.
"Fight against corruption will go on whether I am alive or not. The second freedom struggle has started, our fight is not over," Anna, clad in white and sporting a Gandhian cap, said in his address to thousands of cheering supports waving Indian flags.
Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Kiran Bedi, a former Indian top
cop-turned-social activist, now a staunch Anna supporter, as saying that "He will fast as long as he can sustain it, he will fast as long as there is no threat to his life."
India's vociferous civil society had been lobbying for a strong anti-graft bill to tackle rampant corruption that had cloud India's image, but for almost 40 years the proposed law laid in the back burner.
Coming under pressure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government introduced its own bill recently, but was shot down by Anna's camp, claiming it was a watered-down version.
Recent major scams such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games scandal and the issuance of second generation mobile phone licences to selected firms had outraged Indians across the nation.
-- BERNAMA
The 74-year-old Anna Hazare is heading to the Ramlila ground, a popular site for protestors in Delhi, to continue his fast after spending three days in Tihar jail, where he also spent his days fasting.
Last Tuesday, ahead of his planned hunger strike, Delhi police detained the Gandhian-styled campaigner, fearing it would unleash chaos in the national capital.
Thousands of Anna's supporters, young Indians and even retirees, gathered outside Tihar despite lashing morning rain, while demonstrators converged in solidarity in several other major cities.
"Fight against corruption will go on whether I am alive or not. The second freedom struggle has started, our fight is not over," Anna, clad in white and sporting a Gandhian cap, said in his address to thousands of cheering supports waving Indian flags.
Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Kiran Bedi, a former Indian top
cop-turned-social activist, now a staunch Anna supporter, as saying that "He will fast as long as he can sustain it, he will fast as long as there is no threat to his life."
India's vociferous civil society had been lobbying for a strong anti-graft bill to tackle rampant corruption that had cloud India's image, but for almost 40 years the proposed law laid in the back burner.
Coming under pressure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government introduced its own bill recently, but was shot down by Anna's camp, claiming it was a watered-down version.
Recent major scams such as the 2010 Commonwealth Games scandal and the issuance of second generation mobile phone licences to selected firms had outraged Indians across the nation.
-- BERNAMA
