Anti-Corruption Protest In India Grows

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told parliament that the hunger strike by anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare is “totally misconceived”. He said the 74-year-old was trying to circumvent democracy by demanding the overhaul of an anti-corruption bill. Hazare spent the night inside Tihar jail in Delhi after rejecting an offer by the authorities to release him. He has said he will remain there unless he can resume the public protest stopped by his arrest on Tuesday. Protests backing his campaign have been gathering momentum across the country. Lisa Mullins will get the latest from the BBC’s Rahul Tandon in today’s broadcast.

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Lisa Mullins: I’m Lisa Mullins, and this is The World. A frail looking 74-year old man is inspiring protests across India today. The man is Anna Hazare. He’s in jail in New Delhi. He’s fasting and he’s refusing to leave jail until authorities allow him to hold a public hunger strike with no conditions attached. To say Hazare has touched a nerve would be an understatement. Thousands of people demonstrated in cities around India today to express their support for him and their anger at their government. The BBC’s Rahul Tandon was standing amid hundreds of Hazare supporters in Calcutta today when we reached him, earlier on.

Rahul Tandon: In front of me many of them are wearing those famous Gandhi hats. They’re lighting candles at the moment, that they are holding, in the air. They’ve been here for hours today. They’re shouting patriotic slogans and many of them say they won’t leave this place until Anna Hazare leaves jail in Delhi.

Mullins: It seems as though, since Anna Hazare has been incarcerated in jail, that the protests have grown. Is that the case?

Tandon: Absolutely. I was down here yesterday in the center of Calcutta and there were a few people on the street. Across this city today there are hundreds of people gathering at different locations. Across India there are thousands of people who are gathering across different locations. I think it helps to understand that here in India, corruption has almost become a part of life. You look at every single opinion poll that is done with the youth of this country, and they say the number one issue that faces them is corruption. I think what we’re seeing is people now standing up in a peaceful way, in a Gandhian way, and saying to the government they want things to change. They are not prepared to tolerate this any longer. The key question is whether the officials in Delhi will listen to the people in front of me.

Mullins: I want to ask you about the leadership in Delhi, but first, when you say corruption has become part of life, give me an example of that.

Tandon: Anything you want to do. I sat with an elderly couple this morning. They were telling me when they were trying to get their son into school, you have to pay a bribe. When you want to get a good job in a government service, you have to pay a bribe. I was in Aslam (???) earlier today, talking to some youngsters there who wanted to become police officers. They say to get those jobs they have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars. And that means that when they become police officers, they have to become corrupt themselves so that they can pay that money back. It is in almost every form of Indian life. I think it was best summed up by an older man who is in the protest behind me, who said it is now a cancer that has affected the bones of every Indian.

Mullins: And Delhi itself, how is it responding to this? Because we should say that there seems to be a disconnect, at least from the outside here, because everybody who we are hearing in the background now is protesting for an end to corruption, and the government in New Delhi has said it is indeed addressing the corruption problem. So what’s the disconnect there?

Tandon: I think it’s the way that the protestors behind me want to tackle corruption. They follow Anna Hazare, this man who comes from Maharashtra, in western India, a man who follows those Gandhian ideals. He wants a bill placed in Parliament, basically setting up an ombudsman who can go in and check up on corruption and take action. The government says there are systems in place at the moment. They’re not working, but it’s a question of fixing the existing systems rather than following the will of one man. I think the disconnect has come from the fact that while the government doesn’t seem to realize this, this is not the voice of one man. This is the voice of millions of Indians who are speaking with him at the moment. Though I have to say there are some who say this is a middle class movement, and it has not as yet inspired the whole country – the taxi drivers, the rickshaw wallahs – those who are at the bottom of society.

Mullins: The BBC’s Rahul Tandon speaking to us from Calcutta, where demonstrations are going on in support of Anna Hazare, the 74-year old anti-corruption campaigner who is on a hunger strike to protest corruption. Thank you very much, Rahul.

Tandon: Thank you very much.

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Rahul Tandon spoke with some of the people protesting in support of Hazare:

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