While his means maybe Gandhian, his demands are certainly not. If what we're watching on TV is indeed a revolution, then it has to be one of the more embarrassing and unintelligible ones of recent times. For now, whatever questions you may have about the Jan Lokpal Bill, here are the answers you're likely to get: tick the box — (a) Vande Mataram (b) Bharat Mata ki Jai (c) India is...

-First Post   Rent-seekers playing the politics of tokenism are targeting the movement against corruption led by anna hazare. An array of political forces – from leaders of the Muslim community to Dalit leaders to jholawallas – is stepping out to criticise the atmospherics of Anna’s movement as well the Jan Lokpal Bill that Team Anna is campaigning for. On Monday, the Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, criticised Team Anna’s campaign,...

-AFP   Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy launched a scathing attack on Monday on the "aggressive nationalism" behind the anti-corruption drive led by hunger-striking campaigner anna hazare. In a column entitled "I'd rather not be Anna" published in The Hindu newspaper, the novelist, essayist and rights activist condemned both the style and substance of Hazare's campaign that has mobilised public opinion in India. In particular she questioned Hazare's use of the hunger strike and...

Voices against anna hazare, so far inaudible in the course of his high-decibel campaign, are getting louder. A section of civil society activists, Dalit leaders and some legal experts are gearing up to counter the Hazare wave. Their gripe: Hazare’s movement is teetering on the edge of “fascism”. Udit Raj, a Dalit heavyweight and head of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations, will storm India Gate on August 24 with followers to...

-The Hindu   As the public support for anna hazare's fast swells by the day, the United Progressive Alliance government's reaction is a bewildering mix of dithering, denial, moral confusion, and fear. On the face of it, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that there was a “lot of scope for give-and-take,” and the opening of backroom channels to talk to Mr. Hazare, may suggest flexibility and conciliation. But if the back-of-the-mind calculation...