The Hindu : Karnataka News : Second freedom movement if Bill is not passed: Anna Hazare

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 28, 2011
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka

Second freedom movement if Bill is not passed: Anna Hazare

Bageshree S.

He is mobilising support; addresses meeting in T. Begur

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Social activist Anna Hazare during a meeting at

T. BEGUR: “Dil diya hain jaan bhi denge yeh vatan tere liye.” (We have given you our hearts, dear nation, we will give our lives too.) Starting with this charged patriotic song from the 1980s film “Karma”, 73-year-old leader of the anti-corruption movement Anna Hazare said that he was ready to launch “Aazadi ki doosree ladayi” (second war of Independence) if the Union Government does not table and pass the Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.

Speaking at a public meeting organised at T. Begur village near Nelamangala as part of the nation-wide campaign to mobilise support for the Bill on Friday, Mr. Hazare said that he would go on another fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar if the Government “meddles” with the Bill.

He sought the support of the nation, including the poorest in villages, for the campaign and said that corruption would come down by 70 per cent if the law comes into force.

The tenor of his public address to a mixed gathering of volunteers of the anti-corruption movement and villagers seemed aimed at countering the critique that the movement is essentially centred around the concerns of the urban middle class.

Model village

In an address replete with personal anecdotes, stories about how he built a model village at Ralegaon Siddhi village in Maharashtra, advice to youngsters and philosophy on life in broad strokes, Mr. Hazare said that it was important to focus on corruption as well as development of villages as envisaged by Mahatma Gandhi. Mr. Hazare said that his experiment with building Ralegaon Siddhi into a “model village” had given excellent results, and the people of T. Begur too can achieve it. “My village which 13 years ago had 40 arrack shops now has none. Nobody smokes or eats gutka,” he said. The village has managed to recharge groundwater and the once water-starved village now grows two crops, he added. Offering glimpses of his personal life, he said: “I left everything for a cause at 26, I haven't gone back home in 35 years and I don't have a bank balance.” He said that he lived in a temple, owned no more than a bed to sleep on and a plate to eat from, but was always in a state of “Ananda”, unlike crorepatis who cannot get a night's peaceful sleep. Speaking of his anti-corruption campaign over the years, he said that he had “claimed ‘six wickets' of Ministers and sent 400 officials home”.

Enemy within

Mr. Hazare, a veteran of the Indo-Pak war of 1965, said that he still had a bullet wound. Now his fight was against “Hamare desh me chupe hue dushman” (the enemy within), he said.

Likening his campaign against corruption to “first aid”, Mr. Hazare said that it can be rooted out only if the right values are inculcated from childhood. Addressing particularly the women in the gathering, he said that this can be done most effectively in their homes.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka