The Anna Hazare movement demands no activism from its followers, not even a clear understanding of the specific demands. “COMBATING corruption”, like “promoting peace”, can mean anything to anyone; and precisely because of this “fuzziness” it appeals to everyone. Some join the anti-corruption movement because they are against “corporate loot”; others join because they are against the Nehru-Gandhi “dynasty”; and still others join because they oppose the “corrupt practice of...

Anna Hazare’s fast is over, but the conjuncture of which that fast was an episode is not: Hazare’s own movement, or other similar movements, are bound to recur in the coming months. The question naturally arises: what are these movements all about? And to start with: what was Hazare’s own movement all about? It was certainly not about “corruption” in any definable sense. That word meant different things to the...

RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal today dubbed as “baseless” the questions being raised about interests of US bankrolling the nation-wide anti-corruption agitation under his Gandhian leader Anna Hazare. In a talk with Business Standard, the Ramon Magsaysay awardee said the NGO, Kabir, he runs along with social activist Manish Sisodia, did receive funding from the New York-based Ford Foundation, but pointed out that it had stopped about two years ago. “How can...

-The Business Standard   There are victors and vanquished only in a war. In a genuinely political engagement everyone must emerge a winner. That is made possible only through compromise, through “give and take”. Through his reasonable statement in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has opened the door to an honourable compromise between the government and civil society on the issue of the Lok Pal Bill. Dr Singh only stated the obvious...

Anna Hazare’s Ramlila brinkmanship flamed deep into another night despite the UPA’s many accommodations and in defiance of mounting civil society and intelligentsia opinion that the government had committed to enough on the Lokpal legislation for him to break his fast. Hazare and his core team of Arvind Kejriwal. Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi remained unmoved by public and bipartisan commitment from the highest quarters that key features of their Jan...