Anna Hazare

The spate of exposures on corruption in the high offices of the Indian government last year was extraordinary even by Indian standards. Even Supreme Court -- the country’s apex court -- demanded to know what was going on and resorted to not-so-judicial a language in exasperation. Anna’s fast-unto-death that began on April 5 came at an opportune moment for the masses who were feeling stifled and helpless amid the waves of scandals that were rocking the country.

His venue for the fast was Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and his immediate demands to the government were to form a joint committee comprising  government representatives and the civil society who would draft a new bill with more stringent penal actions and enhanced autonomy to Lokpal and Lokayuktas in the states. Anna began his fast by stating that he would end it only when Parliament passed the Jan Lokpal Bill. The government initially rejected his demands and announced that Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would instead head the committee.

Mass uprising: This led to Anna declaring a ‘jail bharo’ agitation from April 13 whereby common citizens would voluntarily court arrest. Anna’s fast not only received ample media coverage but also spread like a wildfire across the breadth of the country whose people needed just this sort of an impetus to stoke the fire of outrage that was kindling in their hearts. Thousands thronged Jantar Mantar in Anna’s support while nearly 150 people joined him in his fast.

No politician was allowed to join Anna as he sat cross-legged on a thin mattress. Those who attempted to were unceremoniously dismissed by his supporters.

People from all walks of life stood behind Anna in his anti-corruption campaign. But above all, it was the common man who rose to the occasion, with the movement gaining significant momentum in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Protests against corruption were organized not only in the major metros but Tier II cities also witnessed similar demonstrations.

In fact, the entire nation awoke to what they believed was a life-changing phenomenon. They saw Anna Hazare as their light at the end of the tunnel and the only hope who would fight to the finish to eradicate the enormous graft that has been plaguing India throughout the years since it gained independence.

A triumphant: In the face of the relentless nationwide protests, the government had no option but to accept Anna’s demands and Finally, on April 8, the movement saw its success. Consequently, it issued a notification in the Gazette of India -- an authorized legal document and official journal of India government -- the following day announcing the formation of a joint committee. The government accepted Anna’s demand of appointing a politician as the committee’s chairman and a non-politician as its co-chairman.

The notification stated that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee would be the chairman of the draft committee while Shanti Bhushan would be its co-chairman. The Joint Drafting Committee would comprise five nominee ministers of the government and an equal number of nominees from the civil society.

Anna ends fast: Having secured the government’s promise, Anna ended his 98-hour fast on the morning of April 9 by first offering lemon juice to some of those who had also gone on hunger strike along with him. After breaking his fast by drinking some of the juice, Anna addressed the huge gathering and set the government a deadline of August 15, 2011 to pass the Lokpal Bill in Parliament. Notably, the activist has also warned against a nationwide agitation if the bill is not passed on the stipulated date , stating that this would be the “second struggle for independence” and that he would continue fighting.

For Anna Hazare, it is another battle. And he has fought quite a few, including some as a soldier for 15 years in Indian Army. He enlisted after the 1962 Indo-China war when the government exhorted young men to join the Army.

In 1978, he took voluntary retirement from the 9th Maratha Battalion and returned home to Ralegaon Siddhi, a village in Maharashtra's drought-prone Ahmadnagar. He was 39 years old.

He found farmers back home struggling for survival and their suffering would prompt him to pioneer rainwater conservation that put his little hamlet on the international map as a model village.

They say, “Thanks to Anna's agitations, we got a school, we got electricity”.