Veteran social reformer and Gandhian Anna Hazare, who launched a crusade against corruption and saw the entire country rallying around him in his endeavor, today gave up his 97-hour fast following the Centre’s assurance that it would introduce a Jana Lok Pal Bill in the monsoon session of parliament to tackle corruption in the higher echelons of the administration.
As hundreds of admirers sang the favorite hymn of Mahatma Gandhi ‘Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram’ and shouts of ‘Vande Mataram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ rent the air, the 72-year old untiring Gandhian accepted a glace of juice from a tiny tot and ended up his fast and said that there would be further revolutions on other issues confronting the country. “We shall continue this unity with an unending zeal,” he declared.
His giving up the fast followed an official gazette notification by the government constituting 10-member Joint Committee of ministers and civil society activists, including Hazare to draft an effective Lok Pal Bill.
The five ministers are Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Chairperson, Home Minister P Chidamabaram, Law Minister Veerappa Moily (Convenor), HRD Minister Kapil Sibal and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid.
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Hazare says it is only the beginning,
hints at agitation for electoral reforms
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The civil society will be represented by Hazare, former Supreme Court judge N Santosh Hegde, former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan (Co-Chairperson), lawyer Prashant Bhushan and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal. The committee shall complete its work latest by June 30, it said.
Setting August 15 as the deadline for passage of the proposed bill, the reformer said that he will hold national flag and join the people once again for another agitation if the deadline is not met by the government.
Hazare began his fast-unto-death Tuesday morning at Jantar Mantar in the Capital demanding that a joint committee of officials and civil society members be constituted to suggest proposals to be included in the Lok Pal Bill. “All investigating agencies like the CBI must be brought under the jurisdiction of this Lok Pal to end the phenomenon of corruption in an effective manner,” he demanded.
The government agreed to the proposals of Hazare after the highly respected anti-corruption activists Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi held discussions with the Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal at his residence on the proposals of Hazare.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement that civil society and government have joined hands to evolve a consensus to move this historic legislation and it would augur well for our democracy. “I am pleased that Anna Hazareji has agreed to give up his fast,” Manmohan said.
