Hunger strike protest splits India

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose government has been beset by scandal, appeared to dismiss Anna Hazare’s demands, saying “there is no magic wand that can solve the problem in one stroke”.

But the diminutive 73-year-old Hazare remains undaunted. Encouraged by TV cameras and thousands of chanting supporters, he has vowed to fast indefinitely until authorities pass his version of a parliamentary bill – instead of the government’s draft – creating a powerful anti-corruption watchdog.

He has faced little criticism since beginning his fast last Tuesday but prominent activists have begun speaking out as his message gains traction in public debate.

One of India’s best-known writers and activists, Arundhati Roy, wrote in The Hindu newspaper: “The props and the choreography, the aggressive nationalism and flag waving...signal to us that if we do not support The Fast, we are not ‘true Indians’,”

She criticised Hazare’s bill as “so flawed that it is impossible to take seriously,” saying it ignores other prominent institutions like corporations and the media.

Nevertheless, tens of thousands carrying signs saying “I am Anna Hazare” have protested across India to support the hunger strike. TV channels have been giving 24-hour news coverage including urgent updates on Hazare’s weight, and TV anchors have declared “India is One”.

Hazare – styling himself after Indian freedom fighter Mohandas Gandhi – has touched a nerve in a country wearied by rampant corruption.

Everyone from poor rural farmers to urban middle-class professionals complain of having to pay bribes for basic services, including health care, school admission and registration of death.

No one disputes Hazare’s essential message that corruption is harming India but his critics questioned his demand to give the proposed watchdog authority to investigate and prosecute top judges and the prime minister. In many democracies, judges and top elected officials have immunity while in office to protect them from politically motivated prosecutions.

Premier Mr Singh noted his government had only recently tabled its ombudsman bill for a parliamentary debate that would “take time” as MPs seek consensus. He expressed frustration with the protests, saying: “I feel the complexity of the task is not adequately appreciated.”

Hazare’s insistence, through a hunger strike, that only his proposal can fix the problem has also unnerved civic leaders who dispute the impression that he and his team represent all of India.

“Their distrust of parliament is hazardous and also unjustified by past experience of free India,” Harsh Mander, an activist who sits on the National Advisory Council that helps set government social policy, wrote in the Hindustan Times.

Others said Hazare’s demands smacked of demagoguery and trampled democratic institutions.

More than 70 civil society leaders including artists, students, doctors, lawyers and rights advocates sent a letter to the prime minister accusing Hazare of masquerading as the leader of an all-inclusive movement.

“Only the naive would fail to notice the organised forces that are behind Anna Hazare’s campaign,” it said, accusing a Hindu nationalist group of stoking the campaign.

Representatives of India’s bottom-caste dalits, or untouchables, said Hazare’s bill ignored protections needed most by the poor.

“It is an upper-caste, middle-class movement and it addresses their issues,” activist Arun Khote was quoted by Business Standard newspaper.