Anna’s back and raring to go; sets 2014 deadline

The Anna magic was back in evidence on Sunday as thousands gathered at Jantar Mantar to show solidarity with the veteran Gandhian in his fight for a strong Lokpal bill.

Team Anna members were all smiles as the crowd swelled by the hour. While Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal took turns to launch a scathing attack on the government while addressing the crowd, a rejuvenated Anna Hazare said the government should vacate office in 2014 if it could not bring a strong Lokpal bill.

It was not clear, though, if the Mumbai flop show three months ago spurred Hazare to give the government time till the next general elections. Before starting his token fast for a day, Hazare said many people have sacrificed their lives while fighting corruption.

“Their (whistleblowers’) mothers, their children, their fathers, their wives are crying for justice. But this government has gone dumb and deaf. It is not listening to the cries of people,” he said.

Hazare demanded that FIRs be registered against 14 “corrupt” cabinet ministers by August failing which Team Anna would launch a “jail bharo andolan” across the country. “We have to be ready for this. Dates will be announced later,” he said. “Twenty-five people were murdered for fighting against corruption. We have been stressing on a law to protect whistleblowers; but the government doesn’t seem to be ready.”

Sunday’s fast, called in the wake of the murder of IPS officer Narendra Kumar by the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh on March 8, comes two days after an inconclusive all-party meeting on the Lokpal bill at prime minister Manmohan Singh’s residence at 7, Race Course Road.

Family members of Kumar and other whistleblowers narrated their experiences to the crowd. Also, giant screens kept telecasting short clips on 25 whistleblowers who have been killed while fighting corruption.  

Kumar’s uncle Rajkumar told the crowd that his nephew always fought corruption; and that is why he started investigating cases of illegal mining himself instead of sending any junior. Kumar was killed around 1.30pm and “strangely his post-mortem was over within four hours”.

Mahendra Kumar Sharma was killed for exposing irregularities in the National Rural Health Mission in Uttar Pradesh. His son Tushar said “senior officers in the administration have threatened us with dire consequences if we name big shots”. “No one is bothered about us,” he said. “The honest officer was killed just because he was doing his duty to save public money. Members of Team Anna are the only people who have approached us till now. I completely support their movement… a strong Lokpal will protect whistleblowers like my father.”

Also, key Team Anna members used the occasion to emphasise that their fight was not against any particular party [the Congress] but against the political class in general. Cases against BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa and Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa were also highlighted. Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s name figured while talking about the killing of whistleblower Amit Jethwa in the state.

Kiran Bedi announced that the Delhi assembly polls, due next year, would be Team Anna’s fresh target. “We have to get ready for the important fight in the country’s national capital,” she said.

Jantar Mantar was teeming with people in Anna caps holding the Tricolour even before Hazare appeared on the dais a little after eleven in the morning, shouting “Vande Mataram, Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Inquilab Zindabad”.

Before finishing his speech Hazare vowed to continue his fight for a strong Lokpal. “We will show them [the government] people’s power in the 2014 elections. Not just this, we would fight to get the right to reject as well,” he said.

Justice Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan and Manish Sisodia too were present.