You said that the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies conducted a survey asking people what they felt about street protest. What did you find? One of the first national representative surveys was the National Election Study held in 1971. This is when a protest culture was beginning to take shape in the country. There was the Naxalite movement and also a time when the Congress was dislodged for the...

Anna Hazare has reached Ramlila Maidan to continue his fast. Along his route, Delhi is out in big numbers to cheer the man India is looking at as the icon of the war against corruption. Watching keenly, is the UPA government, battered by the events of the last few days and in desperate need of a concrete strategy to meet the Anna challenge. In its new approach, sources say, the government...

-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 Times of India   Civil society activist Anna Hazare left Tihar jail after three days to be received by cheering crowds, many of who had been waiting for days. Just past the gates he addressed the crowd, raising his hand to the air and shouting "Victory to Mother India" before slowly winding his way in a truck decorated with flags through massive crowds. Anna, who is on day four of his hunger strike,...

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...