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Wednesday 8 June 2011

India activist Anna Hazare plans new anti-graft protest


Indian activist Anna Hazare plans to defy police and hold a protest against corruption in Delhi on Wednesday.

Mr Hazare says he will go without food during the one-day protest. Police have denied permission for the gathering.

Over the weekend they broke up another fast against corruption by yoga guru Baba Ramdev and thousands of his supporters, leading to a public outcry.

A hunger strike by Mr Hazare in April heaped pressure on the government, which is beset by corruption scandals.

Anna Hazare, 72, is part of a panel of campaigners now negotiating with the government for tough anti-corruption laws and he has huge public support.

Baba Ramdev, whose daily TV programme is watched by millions, has vowed to continue his fast against corruption in his home city of Haridwar.
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It is unfortunate that the operation had to be conducted, but quite honestly, there was no alternative”
Manmohan Singh
Indian Prime Minister

He wants billions of dollars of suspected bribe money allegedly held overseas to be returned to India. The yoga guru has called the police operation a "blot on democracy".

Around 30 people were injured when police used batons and tear gas to disperse thousands of Baba Ramdev's supporters in central Delhi on Sunday.

One woman is in a critical condition.

The police broke up Baba Ramdev's fast on Sunday night

The government has been heavily criticised for the way the police dealt with the protest.

"India is a democratic country. Peacefully protesting and assembling without arms is legal," Arvind Kejriwal, a colleague of Mr Hazare, told a news conference.

"If the government obstructs us then we will resist and give ourselves up for arrest. The government's attitude is clearly that we have a right to indulge in corruption and if anyone protests then we will either crush them or... not allow them to assemble."

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the police operation against Baba Ramdev and his supporters had been "unfortunate" but there had been "no alternative".

Police have not given the go-ahead for Wednesday's protest because they say they fear violence.

The gathering is planned at Raj Ghat, where independence leader Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. Mr Hazare was denied permission to return to Jantar Mantar, the site of his April fast.
'Not serious'

Baba Ramdev is openly backed by the Hindu nationalist opposition

That successful protest drew major concessions from the government, which agreed to let them help draft a bill to create an anti-corruption ombudsman.

But reports say campaigners and the government are at odds over how powerful the new post-holder should be.

"The government says the prime minister, the judiciary, the MPs' conduct inside the parliament should not be included [for investigation in the new law], nor should government servants below a certain level. Then what is the point [of the law]?, lawyer and panel member Prashant Bhushan told Tehelka magazine.

The government says the campaigners are "not serious" about the bill.

The protests come as the Congress-led government is struggling with a massive corruption scandal surrounding the sale of mobile phone operating licences.

Auditors say spectrum was sold off on the cheap at an estimated cost to the exchequer of $40bn.

A former government minister and several others have been arrested and are being prosecuted - all deny the corruption charges against them.\
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13677897

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