"When I was India, I used to evade taxes.I dont even try that in HongKong. In India I used to jump signals, Idont do that in HongKong. What I want to say is that I am the same person - I still want to reach my office quickly, I still make more money. But in Hongkong there is a system that I must follow. India needs to have a better system in place and the Jan Lokpal draft is the best piece of legislation drafted in India"
Who told this? it is Sailesh Saraf (29yrs old) who is the vice president with Morgan Stanely in Hongkong.
He is dreaming of a cleaner India to which he can one day bring his children back.
He has put FASTING LEAVE and has come to India to join Fasting with Anna.
This is a enough reason why Lokpal bill is important.
Now let us findout who is this Anna and why the people are blindly following him:
Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare (born 15 January 1940), popularly known as Anna Hazare an Indian social activist who is especially recognized for his contribution to the development of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Government of India, in 1992.
On April 5 2011, Hazare started a 'fast unto death' to exert pressure on the Government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, a law that will establish a Lokpal (ombudsman) that will have the power to deal with corruption in public offices.
Early life
Anna Hazare was born in Bhingar village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state in western India to Baburao Hazare and Laxmi Bai, an unskilled labourer family who owned five acres of land. He has two sisters. Due to adverse conditions in 1952 they had to move to their family home in Ralegan Siddhi. He was raised by his childless aunt in Mumbai but could not continue beyond VII standard and had to quit midway due to problems
In the Indian Army
Anna Hazare started his career as a driver in the Indian Army. He spent his spare time reading the books of Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Acharya Vinoba Bhave that inspired him to become a social worker and activist. During theIndo-Pakistani War of 1965, he was the only survivor in a border exchange of fire, while driving a truck. During the mid-1970s he was again involved in a road accident while driving.
In Ralegan Siddhi
After voluntary retirement from the army, Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi village in 1975. Initially, he organized the youth of the village into an organization named the Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). He also helped forming the Pani Puravatha Mandals (Water Supply Associations) to ensure proper distribution of water
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Indicorps Workshop with Anna Hazare at Ralegan Siddhi |
Uprooting alcoholism
As the next step towards social and economical change, Anna Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of Alcoholism. It was very clear that there could be no progress and happiness in the village unless the curse of alcoholism was completely removed from their lives. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down the liquor dens and ban the drinking of alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became in a sense religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units were closed by their owners voluntarily. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close down their businesses, when the youth group smashed up their liquor dens. The owners could not complain as their business was illegal.
Tobacco ban
To ban sale of tobacco, cigarettes and beedies, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" twenty two years ago. The festival of Holi is celebrated as symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in ‘Holi’ fire. From that day, no tobacco, cigarettes, beedies are sold in any shop at Ralegan Siddhi.
The Watershed Development programme
Anna Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase ground water level. He motivated the residents of the village into shramdan (voluntary labour) to build canals, small-scale check-dams and percolation tanks in the nearby hills for watershed development.
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| water-shed development programme by anna hazare |
Soil erosion.
Contour trenches and gully pluges were constructed along the hill slopes. Grass, shrubs and about 3 lakh trees were planted along the hillside and the village. Ralegan has also experimented with drip and bi-valve irrigation in a big way.The Government of India plans to start a training centre here to understand and implement Hazare's watershed development model in other villages in the country
Milk production
Purchase of new cattle and improvement of the existing breed with the help of artificial insemination and timely guidance and assistance by the veterinary doctor has resulted in an improvement in the cattle stock. The milk production has also increased. Crossbred cows are replacing the local ones which give a low milk yield. The number of milk cattle has also been growing. Some milk is also given to Balwadi (school in Ralegan Siddhi) children & neighbouring village under the child nutrition program
Education
Anna Hazare along with the youth of Ralegan siddhi worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In year 1976 they started pre school to the primary school and a high school in 1979. The villagers started taking active interest in the village school and formed Sant Yadav Baba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal(trust) which was registered in 1979. The trust decide to take over the function of the village school which was in bad state due to government neglect. The school has been instrumental in bringing in lots of changes to the village. This school has a hostel for 150 boarders. Traditional farming practices are tought in this school in addition to the government curriculum.
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| villagers doing shramdhan for construction of school |
Removal of untouchability
The social barriers that existed due to the caste system have been broken down by Ralegan Siddhi villagers and people of all castes come together to celebrate social events. The people of Ralegan have largely succeeded in eradicating social discrimination on the basis of caste. The dalits have been integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The villagers have built houses for the Harijanasand helped to repay their loans to free them from their indebtedness.
Collective marriages
Ralegan's people have started celebrating marriages collectively. The feast is held together where the expenses are further reduced by the Tarun Mandal taking the responsibility of cooking and serving the food. The vessels, the Loud-speaker system, the mandap and the decorations have also been bought by the Tarun Mandal members belonging to the oppressed castes. From 1976 to 1986, four hundred and twenty four marriages have been held under this system.
Gram Sabha
Meetings are held periodically to discuss issues relating to the welfare of village. Projects like Watershed development activities are undertaken only after they are discussed in the Gram Sabha. All decision like Nasbandi, Nasabandi, Kurhadbandi, Charai bandi, Shramdan were taken in the Gram Sabha. Decisions are taken in a simple majority consensus. In case of difference of opinion the majority consensus becomes acceptable. The decision of the Gram Sabha is accepted as final. In addition to panchayat, there are several registered societies that take care of various projects and activities of the village.
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| grain bank in a village by anna hazare |
Right to Information movement
Anna Hazare led a movement in Maharastra state, which forced the Government of Maharashtra to repeal the earlier weak act and pass a stronger Maharashtra Right to Information Act, which was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI)
Protest against corruption
In the Maharashtra state governmentIn May 1997, Hazare protested against the alleged malpractices in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jamati Vikas Manch and the Mahatma Phule Magasvargiya Vikas Mandal. This institutions were directly under the charge of then Maharashtra Social Welfare minister Babanrao Gholap of the Shiv Sena, since their managing committees were dissolved after the Shiv Sena-BJP government came to power in the state in 1995. Hazare also raised the issue of alleged massive land purchase by Gholap's wife Shashikala in Nashik between April to September 1996. He forwarded the available documentary evidences in support of his allegations to then Maharashtra Governor P. C. Alexander.
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| Women's rally in support of anna hazare's fast |
Arrested
On 4 November 1997, Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was initially arrested in April 1998 and was released on personal bond of Rs 5,000. On 9 September 1998, Anna Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail after being sentenced to simple imprisonment for three months by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. The sentencing came as huge shock at that time to all social activists. Leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena came in support of him .Later due to public protest, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release from the jail.
In 2003, the corruption charges were raised by Hazare against 4 ministers of the Congress-NCP government belonging to the NCP. He started his 'fast unto death' on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one man commission, headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges. The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Suresh Jain, Nawab Malik and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Suresh Jain and Nawab Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.
Lokpal Bill movement
In 2011, Anna Hazare initiated a movement for passing a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament. As a part of this movement, N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court along with the members of the India Against Corruption movement drafted an alternate bill, named as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill) with more stringent provisions and wider power to the Lokpal (Ombudsman). Hazare has started a fast unto death from 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, to press for the demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a new bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states), after his demand was rejected by the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. Before commencing his 'fast unto death' he stated, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention very quickly through various media. It has been reported that thousands of people joined to support Hazare's effort. Almost 150 people are reported to join Hazare in his fast. He said that he would not allow any politician to sit with him in this movement. Politicians like Uma Bharti and Om Prakash Chautala were shooed away by protesters when they came to visit the site where the protest was taking place. A number of social activists including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal and former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, Jayaprakash Narayan of the Lok Satta have lent their support to Hazare's hunger strike and anti-corruption campaign. This movement has also been joined by many people providing their support in Internet social media such as twitter and facebook. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev, many celebrities showed their public support through micro-blogging site Twitter. As an outcome of this movement, on 6 April, 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the draft Lokpal bill 2010.Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi also supported support the anti corruption icon Anna Hazare and has urged cricket fans to carry flags and placards to IPL matches to express support to fasting Gandhian Anna Hazare and Jan Lokpal Bill; this was confirmed through micro-blogging site twitter.
The movement gathered quite a significant amount of support from India's youth visible through the local support and on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. There have also been protests in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad among other cities of India.
Background of the movementThe movement started due to the resentment because of the serious differences between the draft Lokpal Bill 2010 prepared by the government and the Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by the members of this movement, which has received significant public support:
Differences between Draft Lokpal Bill 2010 and Jan Lokpal Bill Draft Lokpal Bill 2010 Jan Lokpal Bill
Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. It can only probe complaints forwarded by LS Speaker or RS Chairman. Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo moto action orreceive complaints of corruption from the general public.
Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body. Its part is only limited to forwarding its report to the "Competent Authority" Lokpal will be much more than an Advisory Body. It should be granted powers to initiate Prosecution against anyone found guilty.
Lokpal will not have any police powers. It can not register FIRs or proceed with criminal investigations. Lokpal will have police powers. To say that it will be able to register FIRs.
CBI and Lokpal will have no connection with each other. Lokpal and anti corruption wing of CBI will be one Independent body.
Punishment for corruption will be minimum 6 months and maximum up-to 7 years. The punishment should be minimum 7 years and maximum up-to life imprisonment.
Lokpal will not be a monopoly for particular area.
Awards and honours
2008 - On April 15 2008, Anna Hazare received the World Bank's 2008 Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service: "Hazare created a thriving model village in Ralegan Siddhi, in the impoverished Ahmednagar region of Maharashtra state, and championed the right to information and the fight against corruption."
1992 - Padmabhushan award, by the Government of India
1990 - Padmashri award, by the Government of India
1986 - Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra award by the Government of India on November 19, 1986 from the hands of Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.
1989 - Krishi Bhushana award by the Government of Maharashtra.
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| photo courtesy: moneylife.in |
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| bollywood actor amir khan's letter to anna hazare |
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