Anna ends fast as supporters hail anti-corruption victory

Sipping coconut water and honey, self-styled Gandhian anti-corruption reformer Anna Hazare ended his hunger strike on its 13th day yesterday, a protest that sparked huge rallies across the country, exposed a weak government and ushered in a new middle-class political sentiment.

After initially arresting Mr Hazare and dismissing him as an anarchist, prime minister Manmohan Singh’s government caved in to the demands of the 74-year-old as parliament backed anti-corruption legislation that met many of his demands.

“It’s a proud moment for the country that a mass movement which was carried out for 13 days was peaceful and non-violent,” Mr Hazare told cheering supporters from a stage at an open ground in New Delhi that has become the epicentre of a nationwide crusade.

“The people’s parliament is bigger than Delhi’s parliament.”

Mr Hazare tapped into a groundswell of public anger against endemic corruption, uniting the country’s bulging middle-class against a hapless political elite and underlining voter anger at Mr Singh and the ruling Congress party.

More than 40,000 supporters flocked to witness Mr Hazare break his fast, while TV pictures showed hundreds of people dancing, celebrating and distributing sweets in the activist’s home town in western India.

Tens of thousands across India celebrated the achievement of an unprecedented movement that may usher in a new force in Indian politics and damage the ruling Congress Party in crucial state elections next year.

The so-called Lokpal legislation was presented in early August, but activists slammed the draft version as toothless because the prime minister and judges were exempt from probes.

Mr Hazare had demanded that the bill include bringing civil servants under a proposed corruption agency’s authority, ensured similar agencies at a state level and created a citizen’s charter.

In calling off the hunger strike, his second this year, the veteran activist fired a warning shot at MPs and the weary government, threatening to restart his agitation should parliament renege on its promises.

“We have achieved the first milestone in having a strong Lokpal Act and it may take its own time. It’s not something you can expect today, tomorrow or next month,” Santosh Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge who sat on the panel that drafted the bill, was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying.

“Let not the people of India expect a miracle.”

Mr Hazare also declared his intentions to campaign against “corrupt” politicians in the 2014 general election, in a country where 30 per cent of lower house MPs have pending criminal cases against them, according to research by the Association for Democratic Reforms. Undermined by corruption scandals and seen as out-of-touch with voters battling high inflation, Congress’ failure to deal with Mr Hazare’s campaign before it flared up into a national issue spells danger for the ruling party in state polls next year ahead of the 2014 election.

“Anna wins it for the people,” splashed the front page of India’s Sunday Times newspaper, as grassroot activists across the country revelled in victory.

Supporters surged to Mr Hazare’s protest site from nearby metro stations yesterday, as smiling protesters chanted “long live Anna” and “victory to mother India”.

“It is a historic day,” said Aamir Pratap, 37. “Anna and the whole country succeeded in uniting the parliament yesterday for such a crucial bill.”