The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left."^[2] Founded on July 6, 1865, it is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.^[3]

The Nation has bureaus in Washington, D.C., London and South Africa, with departments covering architecture, art, corporations, defense, environment, films, legal affairs, music, peace and disarmament, poetry and the United Nations. Circulation peaked at 187,000 in 2006 but by 2010 had dropped back to 145,000 in print, though digital subscriptions had risen to over 15,000.^[4] Print ad pages declined by 5% from 2009 to 2010, while digital advertising rose 32.8% from 2009-10.^[5] Advertising accounts for 10% of total revenue for the magazine, while circulation totals 60%.^[4] The Nation has lost money in all but three or four years of operation and is sustained in part by a group of more than 30,000 donors called The Nation Associates, who donate funds to the periodical above and beyond their annual subscription fees.^{[citation needed]} This program accounts for 30% of the total revenue for the magazine. An annual cruise also generates $200,000 for the magazine.^[4]

Mission[link]

According to The Nation's founding prospectus of 1865, "The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred."

History[link]

Abolitionists founded The Nation in July 1865 on "Newspaper Row" at 130 Nassau Street in Manhattan. The publisher was Joseph H. Richards, and the editor was E.L. Godkin, a classical liberal critic of nationalism, imperialism, and socialism.^[6] The magazine would stay at Newspaper Row for 90 years. Wendell Phillips Garrison, son of William Lloyd Garrison, was Literary Editor from 1865 to 1906.

In 1881, newspaperman-turned-railroad-baron Henry Villard acquired The Nation and converted it into a weekly literary supplement for his daily newspaper the New York Evening Post. The offices of the magazine were moved to the Evening Post's headquarters at 210 Broadway. The New York Evening Post would later morph into a tabloid; the New York Post was a left-leaning afternoon tabloid under owner Dorothy Schiff from 1939 to 1976 and, since then, has been a conservative tabloid owned by Rupert Murdoch, while The Nation became known for its markedly liberal (and sometimes leftist) politics.

In 1900, Henry Villard's son, Oswald Garrison Villard, inherited the magazine and the Evening Post, selling off the latter in 1918. Thereafter, he remade The Nation into a current affairs publication and gave it an anti-classical liberal orientation: Oswald Villard welcomed the New Deal and supported the nationalization of industries - thus reversing the meaning of "liberalism" as the founders of "The Nation" would have understood the term, from a belief in a smaller and more restricted government to a belief in a larger and less restricted government. Villard's takeover prompted the FBI to monitor the magazine for roughly 50 years. The FBI had a file on Villard from 1915. Villard sold the magazine in 1935. It became a nonprofit in 1943.

Almost every editor of The Nation from Villard's time to the 1970s was looked at for "subversive" activities and ties.^[7] When Albert Jay Nock, not long later, published a column criticizing Samuel Gompers and trade unions for being complicit in the war machine of the First World War, The Nation was briefly suspended from the U.S. mail.^[8]

During the late 1940s and again in the early 1950s, a merger was discussed by The Nation's Freda Kirchwey (later Carey McWilliams) and The New Republic's Michael Straight. The two magazines were very similar at that time—both were left of center, The Nation further left than TNR; both had circulations around 100,000, TNR had a slightly higher circulation; and both lost money—and it was thought that the two magazines could unite and make the most powerful journal of opinion.

During this period, Paul Blanshard was an Associate Editor of The Nation and served during the 1950s as its Special Correspondent in Uzbekistan. His most famous writing was a series of articles attacking the Roman Catholic Church in America as a dangerous, powerful, and undemocratic institution.

The new publication would have been called The Nation and New Republic. Kirchwey was the most hesitant, and both attempts to merge failed. The two magazines would later take very different paths, with The Nation having a higher circulation and The New Republic moving more to the right.^[9]

In June 1979, new Nation publisher Hamilton Fish and then-editor Victor Navasky moved the weekly to 72 Fifth Avenue. In June 1998, the periodical had to move to make way for condominium development. The offices of The Nation are now at 33 Irving Place in the Gramercy neighborhood.

In 1977, Hamilton Fish V bought the magazine and, in 1985, sold it to Arthur L. Carter, who had made a fortune as a founding partner of Cogan, Berlind, Weill & Levitt.

In 1995, Victor Navasky bought the magazine and, in 1996, became publisher.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is the editor and publisher of the Nation as of 2010.^[4]

Notable contributors[link]

The publisher and editor is Katrina vanden Heuvel. Former editors include Victor Navasky, Norman Thomas (associate editor), Carey McWilliams, and Freda Kirchwey, the subject of a biography by the feminist historian Sara Alpern.

Notable contributors have included Albert Einstein, Albert J. Nock, Franz Boas, Patrick Buchanan,^[10] Martin Luther King Jr., Bertrand Russell, Barbara Garson, H. L. Mencken, Gore Vidal, Edward Said, Arthur Danto, Christopher Hitchens, Hunter S. Thompson, Langston Hughes, Ralph Nader, James Baldwin, Kai Bird, Clement Greenberg, Tom Hayden, Daniel Singer, I.F. Stone, Studs Terkel, Leon Trotsky, George Orwell, Henry Miller, Franklin D. Roosevelt, James K. Galbraith, John Steinbeck, Barbara Tuchman, T. S. Eliot, Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Frost, Frank Lloyd Wright, Hannah Arendt, Ezra Pound, Henry James, Charles Sanders Peirce,^[11] Jean-Paul Sartre, John Maynard Keynes,^[12] Naomi Klein, Alexander Cockburn, Tariq Ali, and poet John Beecher.

Regular columns[link]

The magazine runs a number of regular columns. The longest-running of these contributors had written their columns for over 20 years.

• Sister Citizen by Melissa Harris-Perry^[13]
• Beat the Devil by Alexander Cockburn
• The Liberal Media by Eric Alterman
• Diary of a Mad Law Professor by Patricia J. Williams
• Subject to Debate by Katha Pollitt
• Beneath the Radar by Gary Younge
• Look Out by Naomi Klein
• Deadline Poet by Calvin Trillin
• The Nation cryptic crossword by Frank W. Lewis
• Minority Report (1982 to 2002) by Christopher Hitchens
• Dispatches (1984–87) by Max Holland and Kai Bird^[14]

Editorial board[link]

In 2008, The Nation editorial board was composed of Deepak Bhargava, Norman Birnbaum, Barbara Ehrenreich, Richard Falk, Frances FitzGerald, Eric Foner, Philip Green, Lani Guinier, Tom Hayden, Randall Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Elinor Langer, Deborah Meier, Toni Morrison, Victor Navasky, Pedro Antonio Noguera, Richard Parker, Michael Pertschuk, Elizabeth Pochoda, Marcus G. Raskin, Andrea Batista Schlesinger, David Weir, and Roger Wilkins.

See also[link]

	New York City portal
	Journalism portal

• Commentary (magazine)
• Dissent (magazine)
• The American Prospect
• The New Republic

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• The Nation website
• The Nation digital archive
• The Nation masthead
• The Nation Associates home page

A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, or history.^[1] In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government (for example the inhabitants of a sovereign state) irrespective of their ethnic make-up.^[2][3] In international relations, nation can refer to a country or sovereign state.^[1] The word nation can more specifically refer to people of North American Indians, such as the Cherokee Nation that prefer this term over the contested term tribe.^[1]

According to Joseph Stalin writing in 1913 in Marxism and the National Question: "a nation is not a racial or tribal, but a historically constituted community of people;" "a nation is not a casual or ephemeral conglomeration, but a stable community of people;" "a common language is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living together generation after generation;" "a common territory is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common economic life, economic cohesion, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "a common psychological make-up, which manifests itself in a common culture, is one of the characteristic features of a nation;" "A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture." According to Stalin, this would exclude Jews as they have no common territory.^[4]

An alternative view, expressed by Otto Bauer, author of Social Democracy and the Nationalities Question (1907), that "A nation is an aggregate of people bound into a community of character by a common destiny." would include Jews. R. Springer, author of The National Problem (1909), also cited by Stalin in his discussion of this matter, held similar views.^[4]

Etymology[link]

The word nation came to English from the Old French word nacion, which in turn originates from the Latin word natio (nātĭō) literally meaning "that which has been born".^[5]

As an example of how the word natio was employed in classical Latin, the following quote from Cicero's Philippics Against Mark Antony in 44 BC contrasts the external, inferior nationes ("races of people") with the Roman civitas ("community"):

"Omnes nationes servitutem ferre possunt: nostra civitas non potest."
("All races are able to bear enslavement, but our community cannot.")

— Cicero, Orationes: Pro Milone, Pro Marcello, Pro Ligario, Pro rege Deiotaro, Philippicae I-XIV^[6]

An early example of the use of the word "nation" (in conjunction with language and territory) was provided in 968 by Liutprand (the bishop of Cremona) who, while confronting the Byzantine emperor, Nicephorus II, on behalf of his patron Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, declared:

"The land...which you say belongs to your empire belongs, as the nationality and language of the people proves, to the kingdom of Italy.'"

— Liutprand, Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana ad Nicephorum Phocam ^[7]

[edit] Medieval nationes

A significant early use of the term nation, as natio, occurred at mediaeval universities^[8] to describe the colleagues in a college or students, above all at the University of Paris, who were all born within a pays, spoke the same language and expected to be ruled by their own familiar law. In 1383 and 1384, while studying theology at Paris, Jean Gerson was elected twice as a procurator for the French natio. The University of Prague adopted the division of students into nationes: from its opening in 1349 the studium generale which consisted of Bohemian, Bavarian, Saxon and Polish nations.

In a similar way, the nationes were segregated by the Knights Hospitaller of Jerusalem, who maintained at Rhodes the hostels from which they took their name "where foreigners eat and have their places of meeting, each nation apart from the others, and a Knight has charge of each one of these hostels, and provides for the necessities of the inmates according to their religion", as the Spanish traveller Pedro Tafur noted in 1436.^[9]

See also[link]

References[link]

kn

Mohammad Afzal Guru, also known as Afzal Guru, is a Kashmiri terrorist who was convicted of conspiracy in the December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of India in 2004. The sentence was scheduled to be carried out on 20 October 2006. Afzal was given a stay of execution and remains on death row.

Early life[link]

He belonged to Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.^[1] He had completed the first year of his MBBS course and was pursuing for IAS exams. However later on he was involved in terrorist activities and became a member of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and subsequently went to Pakistan and received terrorist training and got involved into such terrorist activities. Unhappy with the situation there, he shifted back to India and surrendered before Border Security Force.^[2] In a 2011 interview to Tehelka, he stated that his family had probably been Brahmins around seven centuries ago.^[3]

In his confessional statement during the trial, he mentioned about joining JKLF, a militant outfit during the year 1989-90 and had received training in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan in insurgent activities and coming back to India with arms. He then confessed about arriving in Delhi with his cousin Shaukat for studies, coming into contact with SAR Gilani while studying in Delhi University, surrendering before Border Security Force in 1993 on the advice of his family members, returning back to his native place Sopore and doing commission agency business, coming into contact with one Tariq of Anantanag at that time, who motivated him to join Jihad for liberation of Kashmir and assured him of financial assistance, Tariq introducing him to one Ghaziabad, Karachi who was a proclaimed offender in Kashmir who further exhorted him to join the movement and apprised him of the mission to carry out attacks on important institutions in India like Parliament and Embassies and asked him to find a safe hideout for the 'Fidayeens' in Delhi.

The case[link]

The attack was conducted jointly by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM). Seven members of the security forces, including a female constable, were killed, as were the five still incompletely identified men who carried out the attack.

Following were the charges against Afzal Guru as per the Chargesheet: The Charges against him included:^[1]

• Leading the Police to recovery of explosive substance from his place of hideout in Delhi.
• Conspiring to commit and knowingly facilitated the commission of a terrorist act or acts preparatory to terrorist act and also voluntarily harboured and concealed the deceased terrorists knowing that such persons were terrorists and he himself were the members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad, a banned terrorist organisation, which is involved in terrorists act and hence committed an offence punishable Under Section 3(3) (4) and (5) of Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act.
• Possession of 10 Lakhs given to them by the terrorists who were killed by the police when they had attacked the Parliament of India.

He was arrested on December 12, 2001 along with Shaukat and later on explosives were found from their hideout in Delhi. Eighty witnesses were examined for the prosecution and ten were examined for defense. The judgment mentions:

"The incident, which resulted in heavy casualties, has shaken the entire nation and the collective conscience of the society will be satisfied if the capital punishment is awarded to the offender."^[4]

On December 19, 2001 he made a confession of the offenses which was recorded and was signed by him. He also confirmed having made the confessional statement without any threat or pressure.^[5]

He was convicted for the offences under Sections 121, 121A, 122, Section 120B read with Sections 302 & 307 read with Section 120B IPC, sub-Sections (2), (3) & (5) of Section 1, 3(4), 4(b)of POTA and Sections 3 & 4 of Explosive Substances Act. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment on as many as eight counts under the provisions of IPC, POTA and Explosive Substances Act in addition to varying amounts of fine.^[6]

An appeal was made to the Delhi High Court but after going through the case and taking in consideration various authorities and precedents, the Court found that the conviction of Afzal Guru was safe and hence his appeal was dismissed.^[1]

Pressure for clemency[link]

There is an appeal to issue clemency to Afzal from various human rights groups including political groups in Kashmir, who believe that Afzal Guru did not receive a fair trial and was subject to a frame up of corrupt and inefficient police work. Human rights activists in various parts of India and the world have demanded reprieve as they believe that the trial was flawed. Arundhati Roy and Praful Bidwai castigated the trial and argued that Afzal has been denied natural justice.^[7][8] Accusations of human rights violations have been made by many.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Indian National Congress and local political groups voiced their support of clemency for Afzal. It is alleged many have done so to appease Muslim voters in India.^[9]

Communist Party of India (Marxist) is critical of both the Congress, who is delaying the legal procedure in the case as well as BJP who tries to whip up enmity between communities in the name of a crime done by a group of criminals. The party wants the law of the land to take its course without any interference.^[10]

Ram Jethmalani holds that it is completely within the President's power to commute the Death sentence and is not a mercy plea. He says, "It’s a misnomer to call it a mercy petition. It leads to total misunderstanding of the constitutional power. The constitutional power is that the President has the power to disagree with the Supreme Court both with its findings of fact and law."^[11]

But others^[who?] are of the view that such a sweeping Constitutional power cannot be given to the President inasmuch as it would subvert the concept of justice enshrined in the Constitution.

The Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party president and MP, Mehbooba Mufti commented that the Centre should pardon Afzal if Pakistan accepted the clemency appeal for Sarabjit Singh.^[12]

Ms. Mufti, said that if clemency appeals were made for Sarabjit citing his Indian nationality, voices should also be raised for Afzal for "he too is an Indian citizen". "Two citizens of India cannot be treated with different yardsticks" she had said.

However, the All India Anti-Terrorist Front Chairman Maninderjeet Singh Bitta has urged the President of India not to accept any clemency pleas on Afzal's behalf. He warned that his organisation would launch agitations if Afzal was pardoned. He also criticised statements of various political leaders and blamed them for "encouraging activities of militants in Jammu and Kashmir".^[13]

An India Today poll in late October showed that 78% of Indians supported the death penalty for Afzal^[9]

On 12 November 2006, the former Deputy Prime Minister of India, Mr. Lal Krishna Advani criticized the delay in carrying out the death sentence on Guru for the Parliament terror attack, saying, "I fail to understand the delay. They have increased my security. But what needs to be done immediately is to carry out the court's orders".

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has severely criticized Arundhati Roy. BJP spokespoerson Prakash Javadekar said:

"Those who are supporting Afzal by demanding that he should not be hanged are not only acting against public sentiment in the country but are giving a fillip to terrorist morale," ^[14]

On 23 June 2010, the Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended the President's office to reject the mercy petition.
On the 7th of January 2011, a whisleblowing site indianleaks.in has leaked a document which states that the mercy petition file is not with President of India.^[15] This was confirmed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi on 23 Feb 2011.^[16]

On the 10th of August 2011 the home ministry of India rejected the mercy petition and sent a letter to the President of India recommending the death penalty .^[17]

Posted on Sep 07, 2011 at 02:42pm IST, HuJI claims responsibility for Delhi HC blast at the Delhi High Court in which 10 people have been killed and 65 others injured. HuJI in an e-mail sent to a media house claimed that the blast was carried out in retaliation to Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's death sentence.

"We owe the responsibility of todays blasts at high court delhi..... our demand is that Afzal Guru's death sentence should be repealed immediately else we would target major high courts & THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA," the e-mail read.

See also[link]

• Justice for Afzal Guru - website
• 2001 Indian Parliament attack
• Maulana Masood Azhar
• Indian Airlines Flight 814
• Ajmal Kasab

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} State v. Mohd. Afzal and Ors., Judgment of High Court of Delhi in Murder Reference No. 1/2003 and Crl. A. No. 43/2003 by J. Usha Mehra and J. Pradeep Nandrajog 9October 29, 20030
2. ^ http://www.amarujala.com/national/nat-Afzal-Compunction-why-not-exploded-a-car-bomb-16054.html.
3. ^ "Afzal Guru invited Tihar jail superintendent Manoj Dwivedi to convert to Islam". Tehelka. 29 August 2011. http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws290811Afzal.asp. Retrieved 27 December 2011. 
4. ^ http://justiceforafzalguru.org/background/AfzalBooklet-1.pdf
5. ^ State ( N . C . T . of Delhi ) vs . Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru, Supreme Court of India, August 8, 2005
6. ^ State ( N . C . T . of Delhi ) vs . Navjot Sandhu @ Afsan Guru, Supreme Court of India, August 8, 2005.
7. ^ Roy, Arundhati (15 December 2006). "India's shame". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,1972788,00.html. Retrieved 13 May 2010. 
8. ^ Afzal must not hang
9. ^ ^{a b} (30 October 2006). No Mercy. India Today, [5(43)], [14-15].
10. ^ Playing With National Security People's Democracy
11. ^ http://www.tehelka.com/story_main21.asp?filename=Ne102806Afzal_was_CS.asp
12. ^ [1]
13. ^ "Bitta urges President not to pardon Afzal". The Times Of India. 8 November 2006. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/366888.cms. 
14. ^ The Hindustani Times
15. ^ "Afzal Guru Mercy petition file is not with President of India!". Indian Leaks. 7 January 2010. http://indianleaks.in/leaks/afzal-guru-mercy-petition-file-in-not-with-president-of-india/. 
16. ^ "Afzal Guru’s mercy petition not yet sent to president: Chidambaram.". Deccan Herald. 23 February 2011. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/140350/afzal-gurus-mercy-petition-not.html. 
17. ^ "Home Ministry rejects Afzal Guru's mercy petition.". CNN-IBN. 10 August 2011. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/home-ministry-rejects-afzal-gurus-mercy-plea/174655-3.html. 

External links[link]

• Bitta urges President not to pardon Afzal
• Clemency-seekers weakened Afzal's defence
• Terror needs direct response

Anna Hazare
Anna Hazare in Nanded, Maharastra
Born	Kisan Hazare (1937-06-15) 15 June 1937 (age 75) Bhingar, Bombay Province, British India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Kisan Baburao Hazare
Known for	Indian anti-corruption movement - 2012, Indian anti-corruption movement - 2011, Watershed development programmes, Right to Information
Influenced by	Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda
Political movement	Indian anti-corruption movement, Peace movement
Religion	Hinduism
Spouse	Never Married
Parents	Laxmibai Hazare Baburao Hazare
Awards	Padma Shri (1990) Padma Bhushan (1992)
Website
www.annahazare.org www.beinganna.org

Kisan Baburao Hazare  pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: किसन बाबुराव हजारे, Kisan Bāburāv Hajārē ^?) (born 15 June 1937), popularly known as Anna Hazare  pronunciation (help·info) (Marathi: अण्णा हजारे, Aṇṇā Hajārē ^?) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish official corruption. In addition to organizing and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent, to many, of the work of Mohandas K. Gandhi.^[1][2][3] Hazare also contributed to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the Government of India in 1992 for his efforts in establishing this village as a model for others.^[4]

Anna Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011 as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with the power to deal with corruption in public places. The fast led to nation-wide protests in support. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, a day after the government accepted Hazare's demands. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, to draft the legislation.^[5][6]

For the year 2011 Foreign Policy magazine named him among top 100 global thinkers.^[7] Also in 2011 Anna was ranked as the most influential person in Mumbai by a national daily newspaper.^[8] He has faced criticism for his authoritarian views on justice, including death as punishment for corrupt public officials and his alleged support for forced vasectomies as a method of family planning.^[9][10]

Early life[link]

Kisan Hazare was born on 15 June 1937^{[citation needed]} (some sources say 1940)^[11] in Bhingar, near to Ahmednagar. The eldest son, with two sisters and four brothers, the later adoption of the name Anna in Marathi it uses for elder person which is equal to "father". His father worked in a pharmacy and struggled to support the family financially. In time, the family moved to their ancestral village of Ralegan Siddhi, where they owned a small amount of agricultural land. A relative took on the burden of providing Kisan with an education, taking him to Mumbai because the village had no primary school. The relative became unable financially to continue the support and Kisan's schooling ended in the Standard Seventh grade; his siblings never attended school.^[12] He started selling flowers at the Dadar railway station in Mumbai and eventually managed to own two flower shops in the city.^[13] He also became involved in vigilantism, joining groups who acted to prevent landlords' thugs from intimidating the poor out of their shelter.^[14]

Military service[link]

The Indo-China War of 1962 caused the Indian Army to commence emergency recruitment measures. Hazare was drafted in April 1963, despite not meeting the physical requirements, and was attested as a soldier on 16 November of that year after undertaking training at Aurangabad.^[12][15]

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. He was the sole survivor of an enemy attack—variously claimed to have been a bomb, an aerial assault and an exchange of fire at the border—while he was driving a truck.^[12][13][16] The experiences of wartime, coupled with the poverty from which he had come, affected him. He considered suicide at one point but turned instead to pondering the meaning of life and death.^[12] He said of the truck attack, "[It] sent me thinking. I felt that God wanted me to stay alive for some reason. I was reborn in the battlefield of Khem Karan. And I decided to dedicate my new life to serving people."^[13] He spent his spare time reading the works of Swami Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave.^[17] In a blog post, Hazare expressed his views on Kashmir by saying that it was his "active conviction that Kashmir is an integral part of India" and that if required once again for service, he would remain "ready to take part in war against Pakistan."^[18]

During the mid-1970s, Hazare survived a road crash while driving for the army. He interpreted his survival as a further sign that his life was intended to be dedicated to service.^[14] Despite subsequent allegations that he had deserted from the army, official records show that he was honourably discharged in 1975 after completing 12 years of service.^[15]

Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi[link]

Hazare returned to Ralegan Siddhi, a village then described by Satpathy and Mehta as "one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness."^[19]

Although most of the villagers owned some land, cultivation was extremely difficult due to the rocky ground preventing retention of the monsoon rains, this situation was worsened by gradual environmental deterioration as trees were cut down, erosion spread and droughts were also experienced. The shortage of water also led to disease from unsanitary conditions and water reuse for multiple purposes. The economy of the village had become reliant on the illegal manufacture and sale of alcohol, a product on which many of the villagers had become dependent. Many inhabitants borrowed from moneylenders to survive, paying monthly interest rates of as much as 10%. Crime and violence (including domestic violence) had become commonplace, while education and employment opportunities were poor.^[14][20]

Hazare was relatively wealthy because of the gratuity from his army service. He set about using that money to restore a run-down, vandalised village temple as a focal point for the community. Some were able to respond with small financial donations but many other villagers, particularly among the elderly, donated their labour in a process that became known as shramdaan. Some youths also became involved in the work and these he organised into a Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). One of the works of Vivekananda which he had read was Call to the youth for nation building.^[21]

Prohibition of alcohol[link]

Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism to drive a process of reform. At a meeting conducted in the temple, the villagers resolved to close down liquor dens and ban alcohol in the village. Since these resolutions were made in the temple, they became, in a sense, religious commitments. Over thirty liquor brewing units voluntarily closed their establishments. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close their businesses when the youth group smashed their premises. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.^[22]

Drunken villagers were tied to pillars and then flogged, sometimes personally by Hazare. He justified this punishment by stating that “rural India was a harsh society”,^[23] and that

Doesn’t a mother administer bitter medicines to a sick child when she knows that the medicine can cure her child? The child may not like the medicine, but the mother does it only because she cares for the child. The alcoholics were punished so that their families would not be destroyed.^[24]

Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to pass a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In 2009 the state government amended the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 to reflect this.^[25]

It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (an unfiltered cigarette where the tobacco is rolled in tendu also known as Diospyros melanoxylon leaves instead of paper) in the village. In order to implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago.^[when?] The festival of Holi is celebrated as a symbolic burning of evil. The youth group brought all the tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies from the shops in the village and burnt them in a Holi fire. Tobacco, cigarettes, or beedies are no longer sold.^[26][27]

Grain Bank[link]

In 1980, Anna started the Grain Bank at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needy farmers during times of drought or crop failure. Rich farmers, or those with surplus grain production, could donate a quintal to the bank. In times of need, farmers could borrow the grain, but they had to return the amount of grain they borrowed, plus an additional quintal as an interest. This ensured that nobody in the village ever went hungry or had to borrow money to buy grain. This also prevented distress sales of grain at lower prices at harvest time.^[12]

Watershed development programme[link]

Ralegan Siddhi is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment and associated works to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible.^[14][17]

Cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane was banned. Crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and certain cash crops with low water requirements replaced them. The farmers started growing high-yield varieties and changed cropping pattern. Hazare has helped farmers of more than 70 villages in drought-prone regions in the state of Maharashtra since 1975.^[28] When Hazare came to Ralegan Siddhi in 1975 only 70 acres (28 ha) of land was irrigated, Hazare converted it into about 2,500 acres (1,000 ha).^[22]

Milk production[link]

As a secondary occupation, milk production was promoted in Ralegan Siddhi. Purchase of new cattle and improvement of the existing breed with the help of artificial insemination and timely guidance and assistance by a veterinarian improvemd the cattle stock, increasing milk production.^{[citation needed]}

Education[link]

In 1932, Ralegan Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school.^{[clarification needed]} In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971, out of an estimated population of 1,209, only 30.43% were literate (72 women and 290 men). Boys moved to the nearby towns of Shirur and Parner to pursue higher education, but girls were limited to primary education. Hazare, along with the youth of Ralegan Siddhi, worked to increase literacy rates and education levels. In 1976 they started a pre-school and a high school in 1979. The villagers formed a charitable trust, the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal, which was registered in 1979.^{[citation needed]}

Removal of untouchability[link]

The social barriers and discrimination that existed due to the caste system in India have been largely eliminated by Ralegan Siddhi villagers. It was Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the villagers to shun untouchability and caste discrimination. Marriages of Dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes. The Dalits have become integrated into the social and economic life of the village. The upper caste villagers built houses for the lower caste Dalits by shramdaan and helped to repay their loans.^[29][30][31]

Collective marriages[link]

Most rural poor get into a debt trap as they incur heavy expenses at the time of marriage of their daughter or son. It is an undesirable practice but has become a social obligation in India. Instead, Ralegan's people started celebrating marriages collectively. Joint feasts are held, where expenses are further reduced by the Tarun Mandal taking responsibility for cooking and serving the food. The vessels, the loudspeaker system, the mandap, and the decorations have also been bought by the Tarun Mandal members belonging to the oppressed castes. From 1976 to 1986, 424 marriages have been held under this system.^{[citation needed]}

Gram Sabha[link]

The Gandhian philosophy on rural development considers the Gram Sabha as an important democratic institution for collective decision-making in the villages of India.^[32] Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that villagers have a say in the village's development. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in to public pressure. It became mandatory to seek the sanction of the Gram Sabha (an assembly of all village adults, and not just the few elected representatives in the gram panchayat) for expenditures on development works in the village.^[25]

Activism[link]

Anti-corruption protests in Maharashtra[link]

Anna Hazare listening to the problems of people at Nanded, Maharashtra.

Anna Hazare's Supporter's cap which reads " I am Anna Hazare".

In 1991 Hazare launched the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Aandolan (BVJA) (People's Movement against Corruption), a popular movement to fight against corruption^[33] in Ralegaon Siddhi. In the same year he protested against the collusion between 40 forest officials and timber merchants. This protest resulted in the transfer and suspension of these officials.^[34]

In May 1997 Hazare protested alleged malpractice in the purchase of powerlooms by the Vasantrao Naik Bhathya Vimukt Jhtra Governor P. C. Alexander.^[35] On 4 November 1997 Gholap filed a defamation suit against Hazare for accusing him of corruption. He was arrested in April 1998 and was released on a personal bond of 5,000 (US$100).^{[36][dead link]} On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court.^[16][37] The sentencing caused leaders of all political parties except the BJP and the Shiv Sena to support him. ^[38] Later, due to public protests, the Government of Maharashtra ordered his release. Hazare wrote a letter to then chief minister Manohar Joshi demanding Gholap's removal for his role in alleged malpractices in the Awami Merchant Bank.^[39] Gholap resigned from the cabinet on 27 April 1999.^[40]

In 2003 corruption charges were raised by Hazare against four NCP ministers of the Congress-NCP government.^[41] He started his fast unto death on 9 August 2003. He ended his fast on 17 August 2003 after then chief minister Sushil Kumar Shinde formed a one-man commission headed by the retired justice P. B. Sawant to probe his charges.^[42] The P. B. Sawant commission report, submitted on 23 February 2005, indicted Sureshdada Jain, Nawab Malik, and Padmasinh Patil. The report exonerated Vijaykumar Gavit. Jain and Malik resigned from the cabinet in March 2005.^[43]

Three trusts headed by Anna Hazare were also indicted in the P. B. Sawant commission report. 220,000 (US$4,390) spent by the Hind Swaraj Trust for Anna Hazare's birthday celebrations was concluded by the commission as illegal and amounting to a corrupt practice,^[44][45] though Abhay Firodia, an industrialist subsequently donated 248,000 (US$4,950) to the trust for that purpose.^[46] The setting apart of 11 acres of its land by the trust in favour of the Zilla Parishad without obtaining permission from the charity commissioner was concluded as a case of maladministration. The commission also concluded that the maintenance of accounts of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Janandolan Trust after 10 November 2001 had not been according to the rules and 46,374 (US$930) spent by the Sant Yadavbaba Shikshan Prasarak Mandal Trust for renovating a temple thwarted its object of imparting secular education.^[44][45]

Right to Information movement[link]

In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to enact a revised Maharashtra Right to Information Act. This Act was later considered as the base document for the Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI), enacted by the Union Government. It also ensured that the President of India assented to this new Act.^[47]

On 20 July 2006 the Union Cabinet amended the Right to Information Act 2005 to exclude the file noting by the government officials from its purview. Hazare began his fast unto death on 9 August 2006 in Alandi against the proposed amendment. He ended his fast on 19 August 2006, after the government agreed to change its earlier decision.^[48]

Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act[link]

Before 2006 in the state of Maharashtra, honest government officers were transferred to other places according to ministerial wish, while some corrupt and favoured officials stayed put for decades. Anna fought hard for a law whereby a government servant must clear a file within a specified time and that transfers must take place only after three years. After many years of Anna's relentless efforts, on 25 May 2006 Maharashtra issued a notification announcing the Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act 2006. This act provided for disciplinary action against officials who move files slowly and enabled monitoring of officials who overstay a post, and for involvement in a corrupt nexus.

This act mandated the government to effect transfers of all government officers and employees, except Class IV workers, no sooner and no later than three years, except in emergency or exceptional circumstances. Maharashtra was the first state to have introduced such an act.^[25] However, like others, this law was not fully followed.^[49][50]

Campaign against liquor from food grains[link]

Article 47 of India's Constitution commits the State to raise the standard of living, improve public health and prohibit the consumption of intoxicating drinks and drugs injurious to health.^[51][52][53]

In 2007 Maharashtra rolled out a grain-based liquor policy aimed to encourage production of liquor from food grain in light of the rising demand for spirits—used for industrial purposes and liquor. It issued 36 licenses for distilleries for making alcohol from food grains.^[53]

Anna Hazare opposed the government's policy to promote making liquor from food grains. He argued that Maharashtra had to import food and referring to food grains observed that promoting producing liquor from food grains was nappropriate.^[54] One of the State ministers Laxman Dhoble said in his speech that those opposing the decision to allow use of food grains for the production of liquor were anti-farmers and that opponents should be beaten with sugarcane sticks.^[55][56] Hazare began fasting at Shirdi, but on 21 March 2010 the government promised to review the policy and Anna ended his 5 day long fast.^[57] But the government later granted 36 licences and grants of 10 (US$0.2) (per litre of alcohol) to politicians or their sons who were engaged in making alcohol from foodgrains. Recipients included Amit and Dheeraj Deshmukh, sons of Union Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde's daughter Pankaja Palwe and her husband Charudatta Palwe, sons-in-law of P.V. Narasimha Rao and Rajya Sabha MP Govindrao Adik.^[54][58][59] The government approved the licenses despite stiff opposition from the planning and finance departments, saying there was a huge demand in other countries for distilled spirits compared to that of molasses.^[60] Anna sued Maharashtra over the policy in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. On 20 August 2009 Maharashtra stopped the policy. However, distilleries sanctioned before that date and those who started production within two years of sanction were entitled for subsidies.

On 5 May 2011 court refused to hear the suit, saying, "not before me, this is a court of law, not a court of justice" as a reason for not hearing the plea.^[61][62] A Maharashtra Principal Secretary, C.S. Sangeet Rao, stated that no law existed to scrap these licences.^[54]

Lokpal Bill movement[link]

Anna Hazare's hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

In 2011, Hazare initiated a Satyagraha movement for passing a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament, the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill). The Jan Lokpal Bill was drafted earlier by N. Santosh Hegde, former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court and Arvind Kejriwal, a social activist along with members of the India Against Corruption movement. The draft incorporated more stringent provisions and gave wider power to the Lokpal (Ombudsman) than the government's 2010 draft.^[63] These included placing "the Prime Minister within the ambit of the proposed lokpal’s powers".^[64]

Hunger strike[link]

Wikinews has related news: Anna Hazare begins "fast-unto-death" hunger strike to end corruption.

Hazare began his Indefinite Fast^[65] on 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi to press for the demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a stronger anti-corruption bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states), after his demand was rejected by Prime Minister Singh.^[66] He stated, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".^[67]

The movement attracted attention in the media, and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast.^[68] Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support. People showed support in social media. In addition to spiritual leaders Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Swami Agnivesh and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev, many celebrities supported him.^[69][70] Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him. The protesters rejected Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and others when they visited the protest.^[71] On 6 April 2011 Sharad Pawar resigned from the group of ministers formed for reviewing the 2010 draft.^[72]

Protests spread to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl and other cities.^[73]

On 8 April the Government accepted the movement's demands. On 9 April it issued a notification in the Gazette of India on formation of a joint committee. It accepted the formula that there be a politician chair and an activist, non-politician co-chair. The notification stated, “The Joint Drafting Committee shall consist of five nominee ministers of the Government of India and five nominees of the civil society. The five nominee Ministers of the Government of India are Pranab Mukherjee, Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram, Union Minister of Home Affairs, M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resource and Development and Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Salman Khursheed, Union Minister of Water Resources and Minister of Minority Affairs. The five non-politician nominees were Anna Hazare, N. Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan Senior Advocate, Prashant Bhushan, Advocate and Arvind Kejriwal.^[74][75]

On the morning of 9 April Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August to pass the bill.

"Real fight begins now. We have a lot of struggle ahead of us in drafting the new legislation, We have shown the world in just five days that we are united for the cause of the nation. The youth power in this movement is a sign of hope."

Anna Hazare said that if the bill did not pass he would call for a mass nation-wide agitation.^{[76][77][dead link]} He called his movement as "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.^[78]

Draft bill[link]

During the meeting of the joint drafting committee on 30 May, the Union government members opposed the inclusion of the prime minister, higher judiciary and the acts of the MPs under the purview of the Lokpal in the draft bill.^[79] On 31 May, Mukherjee sent a letter to the chief ministers of all states and party leaders seeking their opinion on six contentious issues, including whether to bring the prime minister and judges of India's Supreme Court and High Courts under the law's purview.^[80] But the civil society members of the drafting committee considered that keeping them out would be a violation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption.^[81]

Anna Hazare and other civil society members decided to boycott the 6 June drafting committee meeting to protest the forcible eviction of Swami Ramdev and his followers by the Delhi Police from Ramlila Maidan on 5 June, while they were on a hunger strike against black money and corruption and doubting the government's seriousness.^[82]

On 6 June, the civil society members wrote to Mukherjee, explaining reasons for their absence and also asking government to go public on the major issues. They also decided to attend only future meetings that were telecast live.^[83] On 8 June at Rajghat, describing his movement as the second freedom struggle, Anna criticised the Government for trying to discredit the drafting committee and threatened to go on indefinite fast again from 16 August if the Lokpal Bill had not passed. He also criticised the Government for putting hurdles in front of the Bill and for maligning the civil society members.^[84][85][86]

Indefinite fast[link]

India Against Corruption campaign in Whitefield, Bangalore.

On 28 July the union cabinet approved a draft of the Lokpal Bill, which kept the Prime Minister, judiciary and lower bureaucracy out of the ombudsman's ambit. Hazare rejected the government version by describing it as “cruel joke’’ and wrote a letter to Singh announcing his decision to begin an indefinite fast from 16 August at Jantar Mantar, if the government introduced its own version of the bill without taking suggestions from civil society members.^[87][88] Hazare wrote:-

Why are you (government) sending the wrong draft? We have faith in Parliament. But first send the right draft, our agitation is against government, not Parliament. The government has overlooked many points. How will it fight corruption by excluding government employees, CBI and prime minister from the Lokpal's purview? We were told that both the drafts would be sent to the Cabinet. But only the government's draft was sent. This is a deceitful government. They are lying. How will they run the country? Now I have no trust in this government. If it is really serious about fighting corruption, why is it not bringing government employees and CBI under Lokpal?^{[89][dead link]}

Within twenty four hours of cabinet's endorsement of a weak Lokpal Bill, over ten thousand people from across the country sent faxes directly to the government demanding a stronger bill.^[90] The Mumbai Taxi Men’s Union, comprising over 30,000 taxi drivers supported Hazare’s fast by keeping all taxis off the roads on 16 August.^[91] Lawyers of Allahabad High Court described the government proposal as against the national interest and pledged their support to Hazare by hunger striking at Allahabad on 16 August.^{[92][dead link]} On 30 July Vishwa Hindu Parishad supported his fast by saying movement for an effective anti-corruption ombudsman needed the people's backing.^[93]

On 1 August, Public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court of India by Hemant Patil, a Maharashtra-based social worker and businessman, to restrain Hazare, alleging that Hazare's demands were unconstitutional and amounted to interference in the legislative process.^[94]

Arrest and aftermath[link]

Wikinews has related news: Anna Hazare to resume "fast-unto-death" hunger strike from August 16, 2011.

On 16 August, Hazare was arrested, four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike.^[95] Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare for illegally gathering in a Delhi park to begin his hunger strike, claiming that Hazare refused to meet police conditions for allowing the protest.^[96] The conditions included restricting the fast to three days and the number of protesters to 5,000. Later in the afternoon, Hazare refused bail. The magistrate dispatched him to Tihar jail for seven days.^[97] After announcements by Prashant Bhushan, local television, and social media sites (including Facebook), thousands marched in support from the India Gate to Jantar Mantar.^[98]

Media reported that about 1,300 supporters were detained in Delhi, including key members of the India Against Corruption movement such as Arvind Kejriwal, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Manish Sisodia.^[99] Other reports other protests with people courting arrests in different parts of the country. Opposition parties came out against the arrest, likening the government action to the emergency imposed in the country in 1975. Both houses of Parliament adjourned over the issue.^[100]

After four hours in detention he was released unconditionally on a request by the police, but refused to leave Tihar Jail.^[101] He demanded unconditional permission to fast at Ramlila Maidan (Ground) and refused to leave.^[102] Hazare continued his fast inside the jail.^[103]

After his arrest, Hazare received support from people across the country. There were reports of "nearly 570 demonstrations and protests by Anna supporters across the country".^[64][104] Due to the millions of protesters nationwide,^[105] the government allowed him to begin a public hunger strike of fifteen days.^[106] After talks with public authorities, Hazare decided to hold his protest at Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi.^[107] On 20 August Hazare "left the Tihar Jail for the Ramlila Grounds".^[108] Hazare promised reporters "he would fight to the 'last breath' until the government gets his team's Jan Lokpal Bill passed in this session of Parliament, which ends on 8 September."^[64]

Fast at Ramlila Maidan[link]

Anna Hazare on fast unto death protest.

On 20 August thousands came to show their support for Hazare,^[109] while "his advisers made television appearances to rally public support and defend themselves against criticism that their protest campaign and refusal to compromise is undermining India's parliamentary process."^[110] The National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) condemned Hazare's deadline for passing the bill as undermining democracy, which operates by

"holding wide-ranging consultations and discussions, allowing for dissent and evolving a consensus. ...He [Hazare] has the right to protest and dissent. But nobody can claim it as an absolute right and deny the right of dissent to others."^[111]

The Congress party confirmed that Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umesh Chandra Sarangi (who has a history of mediating between Hazare and officials) was meeting with him again "to find points of consensus and defuse the situation".^[112] On 21 August "tens of thousands" watched Hazare as he sat on an elevated platform.^[113] It was reported that Hazare at that point had "lost more than seven pounds since beginning his fast". Despite this he stated, "I will not withdraw my hunger strike until the Jan Lokpal bill is passed in the Parliament. I can die but I will not bend."^[113] Hazare ended his fast on 28 August, after the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously.

He was admitted to Medanta Medicity, Gurgaon for post-fast care.^[114] He had lost 7.5 kilograms (17 lb)^[114] and was very dehydrated after the 288 hour fast.^[115]

I Am Anna Chant[link]

Within a few days of Anna Hazare's first fast demanding a strong Lokpal (on 5 April 2011), supporters started a campaign known as "I Am Anna Hazare", which was similar to the "We Are All Khaled Said" campaign from the Egyptian uprising.^[116] During Anna Hazare's second fast, his topi, the cap which became synonymous with Anna Hazare, became almost a fashion statement.^[117] Sales of the topis hit an all-time high.^[118] Kiran Bedi recommended that the "I am Anna" topi be displayed whenever someone asked for a bribe.^[119]

Fast on MMRDA ground[link]

On 27 December, Hazare began a 3–day hunger strike at MMRDA grounds, Bandra Kurla Complex, to demand a stronger Lokpal bill than was in debate.^[120] Hazare ended the fast on 28 December, after his doctors said that his kidneys might fail if he continued.^[121]

Before reaching the venue, Anna paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Juhu Beach. On his way to a rally with several thousand people,^[120] he took two-and-half hours to reach the ground, passing through Santacruz, Tulip Star Hotel, Mithibai College, SV Road, Vile Parle, Khar and Bandra Highway.^[122]

A PIL petition filed against the fast was turned down by the Karnataka High Court. A judge noted that there was no public interest in the petition.^[123]

Electoral reform movement[link]

In 2011, Anna Hazare demanded an amendment to the electoral law to incorporate the option of None of the above in the electronic voting machines during the Indian elections.^[124][125] The "None of the above (NOTA)" is a ballot option that allows an electorate to indicate disapproval of all of the candidates in an electoral system, in case of non-availability of any candidate of his choice, as his Right to Reject. Soon, the Chief Election Commissioner of India Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi supported Hazare's demand for the electoral reforms.^[126]

Protest against atrocities against Swami Ramdev and his supporters[link]

On 8 June Anna Hazare and thousands of his supporters fasted from 10 am to 6 pm at Rajghat to protest against the midnight crackdown of 5 June by the Delhi Police on Swami Ramdev’s fast at Ramlila ground protests.^[84][127] Anna Hazare held the Prime Minister of India responsible for the atrocities^[128] and termed the police action as an attempt to stifle democracy.^[84] According to one of Anna's young supporters, the large presence of youths at the protest was due to his use of nonviolent protest, similar to Gandhi.^[129]

Controversies and criticism[link]

Alleged link with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh[link]

Anna Hazare has been criticized for being an agent of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a right-wing Hindu body.^[130] United Progressive Alliance,the present ruling government in India has seldom made that charge. According to Digvijay Singh a senior leader of the Indian National Congress the entire crusade of 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement was planned by RSS in which Plan-A was Baba Ramdev while Plan-B was Anna Hazare. Their basic job was to disturb national security.^[131] Further Digvijay Singh had charged Hazare for having links with late RSS leader Nanaji Deshmukh^[132] with whom he worked as a secretary.^[133] Anna denied any such associations.

Views on Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar[link]

In a press conference in April 2011, Anna Hazare praised Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat and Nitish Kumar, chief minister of Bihar for his efforts on rural development, saying that other chief ministers should emulate them.^[134] Subsequently, Modi wrote an open letter to him, hailing him as a Gandhian anti-corruption activist^[135] while Digvijay Singh, the General Secretary of the Congress party, criticised him for his comment.^[136] In May 2011, during his visit to Gujarat, Hazare changed his view and criticised Modi for rampant corruption. He urged Modi to appoint a Lokayukta. He also commented that the media had projected an incorrect image of Vibrant Gujarat.^[137]

Fraud during fasts[link]

A cardiologist from Pune, Abhijit Vaidya—founder of Arogya Sena, a non-governmental agency active in public health, disaster management and social campaigns—claimed that he was informed by Hazare's close associates that during a fast in Ralegan-Siddhi, Hazare was given glucose and electrolyte solutions during a fast. Hazare and his associates refused to comment on the allegation.^[138]

Accusations of corruption[link]

The government of the state of Maharashtra instituted a Commission of Inquiry under Justice PB Sawant in September 2003 to enquire into allegations of corruption against several people, including four ministers in the state as well as the "Hind Swaraj Trust" headed by Hazare. The Commission submitted its report on 22 February 2005, indicting the Trust for corruptly spending Rs. 2.20 lakhs on Hazare's birthday celebrations.^[139]

Two days ahead of Hazare's Lokhpal fast, the Indian National Congress, attacked him, alleging that "the moral core of Hazare has been ripped apart" by the Justice P B Sawant Commission.^[140]

Hazare's lawyer Milind Pawar responded that the commission had remarked about "irregularities" in the accounts, but had not held him guilty of any "corrupt" practices. Pawar said that on 16 June 1998, a celebration was organised to congratulate Hazare on winning an award from a US–based NGO and it coincided with his 61st birthday. The trust spent Rs 2.18 lakh for the function. Abhay Phirodia, a Pune-based industrialist, who took the initiative to organise this function donated an amount of Rs 2,48,950 to the trust by cheque soon afterwards.^[141] Hazare dared the government to file a First Information Report (FIR) against him to prove the charges.^[142]

Accusation of being anti-democratic and anti-Dalit[link]

An article written in Kolkata Telegraph by Ramchandra Guha stated that that environmental journalist Mukul Sharma claimed that Anna Hazare forced the Dalit families in Ralegan Siddhi to adopt a vegetarian diet, and that those who violated the decree were tied to a post and flogged.^[143] Mukul Sharma also found that no panchayat elections have been held in the village for the past two decades, and that no campaigning was allowed during state and national elections, upon Hazare's instructions.^[143]

Dalit columnist Chandrabhan Prasad opined that Hazare's anti-corruption movement rejected representative democracy and alleged that it was an upper-caste uprising. He also claimed that centralising powers in Lokapal, which was a non-elected entity, was anti-democratic.^{[citation needed]}

Dalit activist Kancha Ilaiah commented in a similar fashion, that "The Anna movement is an anti-social justice, manuvadi movement. The Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities have nothing to do with it. We oppose it."^[144] Activist Anoop Kheri claimed that "The language, symbols used by the movement clearly reflects its upper caste Hindu nature, a very rightwing Hindu patriotism is being used to get the entire country against corruption. And as a dalit, I have a problem with it."^[144]

There was also an allegation that an RTI activist was denied permission to protest by having a fast-unto-death at Ralegan Siddhi, the grama sabha stating that the reason was that only Anna Hazare can hold such fasts in his village.^[145]

Activist Udit Raj was denied permission to protest against Anna Hazare, whom he claimed was against parliamentary processes. Raj warned that succumbing to Hazare's demands would set a dangerous trend rendering the "backward" classes more vulnerable. He claimed that mass mobilisations coerced the government into a "set of solutions" against constitutional processes could be used against affirmative action and threatened democracy.^[146] Later, it came to light that poor dalits had been paid up to 200 each to shout slogans against Anna, although the organizers denied it. Some protesters said that they had been told that it was a pro-Anna protest, but felt cheated after realising that it was against Hazare.^[147]

Accusation of being anti-Muslim[link]

On 22 August 2011 writer-actor Arundhati Roy accused Hazare in a newspaper article of being nonsecular. She questioned his secular credentials, pointing out his "support for Raj Thackeray's Marathi Manoos xenophobia and [has praised] the 'development model' of Gujarat's CM who oversaw the 2002 pogrom against Muslims". The website of the newspaper published many responses to her article and these were mostly critical of her views.^[148] Activist Medha Patkar criticised Roy, saying that her views were misplaced.^[149]

Hazare in the past stood in firm opposition to the Shiv Sena and BJP governments in Maharashtra. Activist and writer Asghar Ali Engineer in an EPW article on Communalism and Communal Violence reported,^[150]

The Shiv Sena is also facing serious problems from the social activist Anna Hazare who has accused its ministers of corruption and demanded their resignation. The SS-BJP government is facing serious corruption charges and is greatly worried. The Anna Hazare movement began in late November when he went on fast against the corrupt practices of the Shiv Sena ministers. The BJP initially supported the Hazare movement and now its deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde is also under a cloud. Initially the Hazare movement had created a rift between the Shiv Sena and the BJP but with Gopinath Munde himself under a cloud, both may close ranks. The Anna Hazare movement has certainly posed a great challenge for the saffron government at the end of 1996.

Hazare was accused of working for RSS and BJP's behest, and against Muslims by cleric Bukhari of the Jama Masjid. Bhukhari was subsequently criticised for being a Royal Imam and for claiming that his personal views represented the view of ordinary Muslims.^[151]

Support for selective violence[link]

Hazare acknowledged his belief in violence after his "just one slap" remark in which the victim of violence was Sharad Pawar, a rival in Maharashtra.^[152]

Conspiracy to murder Hazare[link]

Anna Hazare exposed corruption in cooperative sugar factories in Maharashtra, including one controlled by Dr.Padamsinh Bajirao Patil, a member of Parliament of 15th Lok Sabha and higher-ranking Leader of Nationalist Congress Party from Osmanabad. Patil was accused in the 2006 murder case of Congress leader Pawanraje Nimabalkar.^[153][154]

The conspiracy to kill Hazare was exposed when Parasmal Jain, an accused in the Nimbalkar murder case, in his written confession before a magistrate said that Patil had paid him 3,000,000 (US$59,850) to murder Nimbalkar, and also offered him supari (contract killing sum) to kill Anna Hazare.^[155][156] After this written confession, Anna appealed to the state government of Maharashtra to lodge a separate First Information Report ( FIR ) against Patil but the government declined. On 26 September 2009 Hazare lodged his own complaint at Parner police station of Ahmednagar District in Maharashtra against Patil.^[157] Patil approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail but on 14 October 2009, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court rejected his application, observing that there was prima facie case against him.^[158][159] Padmasinh Patil appealed to the Supreme Court of India losing again, on 6 November 2009.^[160] On 11 November 2009 Patil surrendered before the sessions court in Latur and was sent to judicial remand for 14 days.^[161] On 16 December 2009 the Aurangabad bench granted bail.^[162] As of 16 August 2011 (2011 -08-16)^[update], the verdict is pending.

As of December 2011, Anna Hazare received Z+ security. ^[163]

Honours, awards and international recognition[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)

Personal life[link]