-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...

The best thing about Indian politicians is that they make you feel you are a better person. Not surprisingly, Indians often derive their moral confidence not through the discomfort of examining their own actions, but from regarding themselves as decent folks looted by corrupt, villainous politicians. This is at the heart of a self-righteous middle-class uprising against political Corruption, a television news drama that reached its inevitable climax in Delhi on...

The protest leader Anna Hazare appeared to strike a deal with the police early Thursday morning that would enable him to leave a local jail and begin staging a hunger strike against Corruption later in the day, according to a close aide and reports in the Indian news media. One of Mr. Hazare’s aides, Kiran Bedi, announced via Twitter that Mr. Hazare had accepted a police offer to limit any...

An antiCorruption protest leader whose arrest on Tuesday morning reverberated across India, inciting outrage at the government, ended the day with a very different twist: He refused an offer to be released from jail. By late Tuesday, the scene outside Tihar Jail was playing on all-news channels across the country. More than 1,000 supporters waved flags and banners, chanting slogans, as the protest leader, Anna Hazare, rejected a police release order...

PM's announcement in I-Day address went unnoticed in public focus on Corruption Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's announcement on Monday on setting up a commission “to make suggestions for improvements at all levels of education” has largely gone unnoticed amid the public focus on Corruption. Even though his Independence Day address did not elaborate on its mandate, sources in the government indicated, the recommendations of the proposed commission should add up to...