Anna Hazare wants Lokpal to go the RTI way

Comparing the enactment process of Lokpal bill with that of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, social activist Anna Hazare said on Saturday that the pressure from the civic society will ensure that the landmark legislation comes through. He alleged that the UPA government was undermining the civil society.

Hazare said the RTI Act was enacted only after the pressure from the civic society and if putting pressure on the government over Lokpal is amounting to the blackmail, he was ready to resort to such practices.

He reiterated that he would go on the proposed agitation from August 16 though the government has threatened to ‘crush’ it in the same fashion it did with Baba Ramdev’s agitation. Anna replied what government has stated is the act of dictatorship.

He also has made an appeal to the people to join the agitation from August 16 as it is the ‘second movement for the independence’ and every Indian should fight in it. He also appealed to the people to switch off their lights on that day between 8pm and 9pm and take to the streets to fight against corruption and 63 years of darkness in Independent India.

Referring to the union minister Kapil Sibal’s remarks, Hazare maintained that he never said that he was against the parliamentary democracy.

“Today, the general perception is that the politics is for power and money and this needs to be changed. Lokpal will help in this respect,” he said. “If any minister is raising questions over our demand and calling our team unconstitutional, he should keep in the mind that the civil society members are superior and ministers and politicians are their servants.”

He said that it’s now the responsibility of the prime minister to ensure that his colleagues in the cabinet have impeccable character and high integrity.