An Indian anti-graft campaigner whose jailing sparked mass protests and fierce criticism of the government has accepted a police offer to fast in a New Delhi park for two weeks, an aide said Thursday, prompting euphoria from his followers.
Protests swelled across India Wednesday in support of Anna Hazare, a Gandhian-style campaigner who had refused to leave jail until he won permission to continue his fast until death at the Ramlila Maidan, a popular rallying site in the heart of old Delhi.
Crowds outside the Tihar jail where Hazare was staying erupted in joy at news of the deal, reached in the middle of the night, shouting his name «Anna,» singing, playing guitars and waving the Indian flag. He is expected to go to the protest ground at 3 pm local time (5:30 a.m. ET).
«Anna wanted three weeks but … has finally settled on two weeks,» Kiran Bedi, one of India’s first female police officers and a widely respected figure for her anti-graft-drive, told Times Now television.
«None of us is looking at this as a victory,» said Bedi, who had also been briefly arrested. «We are not playing games. We are doing this to move the country forward.»
Beleaguered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government had appeared at a loss over how to end the standoff. The arrest of Hazare shortly before he was due to start the fast Tuesday sparked nationwide outrage and promoted lawmakers to block parliament proceedings and shout «shame» at the government.
The arrest and sudden about-turn to release him appeared to confirm a widespread feeling Singh’s government is cornered, clumsy and too riddled with scandal to govern Asia’s third-largest economy effectively.
The focus now turns from the arrest to the fight against corruption, proving headaches for the government for weeks to come.
A weak political opposition means that the government should still survive the crisis, but it could further dim the prospect for economic reforms that have already been held back by policy paralysis and a raft of corruption scandals.
Bedi said the police had agreed to look at extending the permission to fast if needed after the two-week period.
The squat and slight 74-year-old Hazare fasted as tens of thousands of his followers gathered at key locations in the capital, including outside the jail.
His arrest, along with the brief detention of about 1,500 followers, shocked many in a country with strong memories of Gandhi’s independence battles against colonial rule with fasts and non-violent protests.
CANDLE-LIGHT VIGILS
Spurred on by messages on social networking sites, thousands of people held peaceful candle-light vigils through the night from Delhi to Hyderabad.
Singh, 78, who is widely criticized as out of touch, dismissed the fast as «totally misconceived,» sparking outrage as lawmakers cried «shame.»
«We don’t have faith in our government,» said Sujeet, a young software engineer from the IT city of Gurgaon, as he protested at tourist site of India Gate in the capital. «We are living in a democracy but only in letter, not in spirit.»
Many of the crowd were young, with rucksacks on their backs, some with their faces painted. Others were older, decked out in outfits as worn by the bespectacled Hazare, with his trademark white cap and kurta, a long-time social activist who is often compared to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
Demonstrations are part of daily life in the towns and cities of India, a country of 1.2 billion people made up of a myriad of castes, religions and classes. But spontaneous and widespread protests are rare and the scale of this week’s outpouring of public fury has taken the government by surprise.
Hazare became the unlikely thorn in the side of the Congress-led coalition when he went on hunger strike in April. He called off that fast after the government promised to introduce a bill creating an anti-corruption ombudsman.
The legislation was presented in early August, but activists slammed the draft version as toothless because the prime minister and judges were exempt from probes.
Critics say Singh’s government of mainly elderly politicians has no idea how to react to spontaneous protests, highlighting a generation gap as social networks galvanize thousands, including many of India’s growing urban middle class, from Supreme Court lawyers to students.
Source: Reuters