Anna Hazare ignored several pleas of the government to defer his fast as he stood firm on his demand for a joint committee comprising government and civil society leaders to rework the current draft Lokpal Bill. He maintained that the current Bill covering only politicians was inadequate as politicians often colluded with officials to indulge in corruption.
Hazare wants the Lokpal's office to subsume the CVC so that both political leaders and officials come under its ambit as well as the judiciary. He also wants the Lokpal to have police powers — that is, to not just be a recommendatory body but an effective office that can file FIRs, chargesheet the accused and file cases. Hazare and other activists have been demanding for the Prime Minister's Office to come within the ambit of the Lokpal.
It appears that the 72-year-old activist's protest is taking the contours of a popular movement. Thousands of people, including students, teachers, artistes, retired government officers and activists, joined Anna at Jantar Mantar to lend him support. On the Net, support for Anna is already a viral movement. Unless the government concedes to the demand, this support is only likely to grow.
Anna Hazare said he would rather die than give up the fight for citizens rights. "There is no faith left in politicians and bureaucrats and it is time that people be allowed to decide what they want," he said as more than 2,000 supporters, including activists Arvind Kejriwal, Swami Agnivesh and Kiran Bedigathered around him at the protest site. While activists like Mallika Sarabhai began a parallel protest in Ahmedabad, JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav had to leave Jantar Mantar after activists said they didn't want politicians participating in this campaign.
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