As I have watched mass hysteria build up over Anna Hazare’s fast, there have been moments when I felt that his supporters had forgotten that India is a democratic country. I have long believed that the most apolitical Indians are those who belong to the English speaking, tweeting, texting middle classes but I had no idea just how apolitical they were till last week. Without reading the Jan Lokpal bill...

Tackling corruption requires economic reforms and a popular re-engagement with electoral politics. We should shun the politics of hunger strikes. The idea of a ‘Jan Lok Pal’ is flawed and profoundly misunderstands the causes and solutions of corruption in India. It seeks to create another chunk of Government, more processes and rules, to solve a problem that, in part, exists because of too many chunks of Government, too many processes and...

On their “day of victory”, leaders of Anna Hazare’s movement faced nepotism charges over the inclusion of the father-son duo of lawyers Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the joint drafting committee for the Lok Pal Bill. Many protesters refused to break their fast when Hazare broke his at 10.45am. They wanted to know why ex-cop Kiran Bedi wasn’t picked while both the Bhushans were in. “This is nepotism. Why is there no...

Revelations by the WikiLeaks are having a positive impact, believes its founder Julian Assange, who claims that the publication of secret US embassy cables by the Indian media had helped inspire an anti-graft movement in the country. Questioned at a public debate about the whistleblowing organisation's own transparency, Assange told an audience of 700 people, many of them supporters: "We are directly supported on a week-to-week basis by you. You vote...

Veteran social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday broke his fast after over 90 hours of spearheading the campaign against corruption After a last-minute twist almost derailed a peace deal between Anna Hazare and the government, the Gandhian on Friday announced that he would call off his fast on Saturday morning with official negotiators accepting all his conditions. Hasare first helped supporters break their fast before ending it himself. Thousands were waiting for...