-IANS Even as the whole country seems gripped by Anna Hazare's crusade against corruption, one man who started it all in the 1990s, senior journalist Vineet Narain, is all but forgotten and the case itself has been refrigerated for good. Narain is still struggling with his unfinished agenda to seek justice in the hawala racket. The CBI chargesheet is still there, but the case has virtually been closed for want of political...
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Khursheed: plan for constitutional status won't delay Lokpal Bill
The Union government's desire to give the Lokpal constitutional status will not in any way delay the proposed legislation on the subject, Law Minister Salman Khursheed said on Tuesday. Expressing surprise at the response of the Opposition and Team Anna — that it was a delaying tactic — he said that while the government was totally committed to getting the Bill passed, eventually it was the responsibility of Parliament to...
More »Am I still Anna when nobody is watching? by Arvind Rajagopal
Team Anna both galvanised people and captivated the news industry, in two closely related but distinct strategies. India is not yet a society where Big Brother is Watching You. However, the mass spectacle of people wearing “I am Anna” topis and T-shirts signals a new phase of politics. If we recall “Anna” means Big Brother, we may wonder if in this case Big Brother is You, Watching. In the second case too,...
More »Gandhian facade by Praful Bidwai
Anna Hazare's campaign may lead to a new Lokpal Bill, but it has legitimised middle-class vigilantism and other kinds of civil society mobilisation. NOW that Anna Hazare has declared victory, it is time to take stock of one of the most powerful recent mobilisations of people in India, focussed on influencing policy or lawmaking processes. The victory, however, is largely symbolic. The original demand of the movement, carefully built around Hazare's...
More »Deal Would Free Indian Activist and Allow Protests by Jim Yardley
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...
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