The burgeoning movement against corruption set off by social activist Anna Hazare appears to be turning into an undemocratic battle for power without votes or elections, sections of Indian economists and sociologists have said. Tens of thousands of Indians across the country have pledged their alliance with the movement led by Hazare —from schoolchildren yanked by teachers out of classes to slogan-shouting municipal workers, from preachers to actors to lawyers. But some...

Anna Hazare told his supporters to prepare for a bigger battle against the government, if the Parliament fails to pass the Lokpal Bill, a law that the country has been waiting for more than 40 years. Setting August 15 as the deadline, Hazare said that certain corrupt politicians might not let the bill pass easily and if need be a stronger fight against corruption would be required. "This is the battle,...

Anna Hazare has turned a simple idea into mass frenzy Jantar Mantar, one of the few places in Delhi where the government of India allows protests, is suddenly being termed as “India’s Tahrir Square”. On a hot summer day, over 600 people have turned up at the spot. Three young girls from an elite college in Delhi have appeared, wearing dark shades. “Is he the man?” one of them asks her friends....

In two hundred cities across India on Tuesday, thousands of college students, young executives and housewives joined a campaign that asks the government to enact an important new law to fight corruption. At the centre of the movement is respected social activist Anna Hazare who has begun a hunger strike that he says will not end till the government proves its commitment to the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's Ombudsman Bill). What...

Social activist Anna Hazare's hunger strike in New Delhi demanding changes in the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill entered the second day on Wednesday. The anti-corruption campaign began has now been joined by thousands of people with more than 150 people joining Hazare’s fast-onto-death at the Jantar Mantar. Almost 5,000 people from all walks of life have gathered at Jantar Mantar to show their support for Hazare. Social activists and people in 400...