'Gandhi' urges corruption fight
2011-09-03 12:31
New Delhi - Indian anti-graft campaigner Anna Hazare has urged people to give the scandal-hit government in New Delhi "repeated shocks" to rid the country of the scourge of corruption.
Back in his village in Maharashtra state after a nearly two-week fast in New Delhi in August, Hazare - dressed in his customary plain white cotton clothes and cap - vowed late on Friday to fight corruption to "the bitter end".
"We have to give repeated shocks to the government to ensure there is a corruption-free India," the 74-year-old activist said in a strongly worded speech, according to the Press Trust of India.
Around 10 000 village supporters gathered to greet Hazare in his home village of Ralegan Siddhi, some 165km from India's financial hub Mumbai, the news agency said.
The former army driver drew together tens of thousands of Indians, especially from the urban middle class, during his hunger strike against corruption that chimed with deep popular discontent over the issue.
Heated debate
"After 64 years of independence from the British rule, nothing has changed in this country. The whites have been replaced by Indians. Loot, corruption and terrorism is rampant," said Hazare.
"What have we achieved? But now, the torch of the second battle of independence has been lit and the way the youth have participated in it is important."
Hazare urged young people to be prepared to fill India's jails whenever he campaigned "on pro-people" issues.
"You will get breakfast and two meals in jail. Going to jail for a cause is not something to be ashamed of but one should feel proud of it," he said.
Hazare also said the Congress-led government was not serious about bringing in a strong anti-corruption legislation.
He ended his fast last weekend after heated debate in parliament in which lawmakers agreed to his conditions for a tough new anti-corruption law in principle.
Hazare, who modelled his image and tactics on independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, transfixed the country but polarised opinion during his fast.
Many see him as a moral leader who exposed the government's apathy. But critics view him as an autocrat who sought to strong-arm parliament through his fast to impose his views on lawmakers.
