There are two broad governance issues that concern every citizen in this country today: corruption at different levels in the government, and grievances arising from the government’s poor functioning. The last few months have seen an outpouring of emotions related to these issues. It is amply clear that the people of India want no one to be above the law; everyone, irrespective of the position they hold, should be accountable. ...

-Express News Service   Maintaining that “the right to dissent” must always be accompanied by the “obligation to listen”, activist Aruna Roy has asked the Anna Hazare-led group to recognise and respect difference of opinions, whether within the civil society groups themselves, or with any other formations. In an interview to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta for NDTV 24x7’s Walk the Talk programme, Roy, who is a member of the Sonia Gandhi-led...

The National Campaign for People's Right to Information (ncpri) said on Saturday that while it fully backed anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare and his team on their right to agitate for a Jan Lokpal Bill, it had strong reservations over the methods adopted by the group and disagreed with the provisions of their Bill. The ncpri objected in particular to the ultimatums flowing from Ramlila Maidan — where Mr. Hazare is fasting...

The National Campaign for People’s Right to Information has rejected Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal bill and said it had sent its version of the proposed anti-graft law to the parliamentary standing committee that is examining the Centre’s draft. At a media interaction today, ncpri members Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander, who are also part of the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC), emphasised the importance of the standing committee which, they...

-IANS   South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) has condemned the arrest of social activist Anna Hazare and others before they launched their agitation for an effective Lokpal bill as "ultra vires" of the Indian constitution. SAHR chairperson Hina Jilani of Pakistan said in a statement that in a democracy all citizens have a right to protest peacefully and the government must uphold the citizens' fundamental right of speech and expression. "This act of...