Aamir Khan and Others Support Anna Hazare's Fight Against Corruption
Kisan Bapat Baburao Hazare — born 15 June 1937, popularly known as Anna Hazare — is the social activist who turned Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district, into a model village, work that earned him the Padma Bhushan in 1992. On April 5, 2011, he began a "fast unto death" at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, pressuring the Government of India to enact a strong Jan Lokpal Bill — a law to establish a Lokpal (ombudsman) with real power over corruption in public office.
By the second day, the movement had claimed its first political casualty. Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, the NCP chief, quit the Group of Ministers on corruption, writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he did not want to be "associated" with the panel any more. The panel was headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. "The chapter is closed from my side," Pawar said.
Meanwhile, political support for Hazare was widening. Maharashtra's opposition parties, Shiv Sena and BJP, came out in support. "We are supporting Hazare's agitation in the public and country's interest," said Sena chief Bal Thackeray — though he added, pessimistically, that he did not know "how many germs of corruption will be killed due to this spraying of pesticide of hunger strike." Maharashtra BJP president Sudhir Mungantiwar, speaking on the party's 32nd anniversary, pledged "solid support."
In Hazare's home state, activists held relay fasts and demonstrations. In his Ralegan Siddhi village, supporters were on relay fast in solidarity. In Mumbai, activists of the India Against Corruption movement fasted at Azad Maidan, joined by NGOs including the Jagruk Nagrik Manch, Loksatta, Bombay Catholic Sabha, Art of Living, and Medha Patkar's Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan.
And from Bollywood came a famous endorsement: actor Aamir Khan said Hazare's fight deserved even greater support than the cricket team's recent World Cup triumph — a remarkable statement just days after India's World Cup victory.
Reporting: DNA India, The Hindu.
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