BANAGLORE, INDIA – Freedom Park in Bangalore buzzed with enthusiasm during the recent 10-day fast against corruption nationwide.
As Anna Hazare, the face of the anti-corruption campaign, led the fast in Delhi in northern India, college students, parents, farmers and retired citizens from various socio-economic backgrounds gathered in the park to fast in solidarity in Bangalore, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Chandrakanth Kodapi Narayanappa, a retired senior official from the State Bank of India, addressed the crowds at the park throughout the day. Taking a break from the microphone, he says that the fast is necessary because corruption has caused inequalities between the “haves” and “have nots” to soar.
“The rich are becoming richer more by illegal and illegitimate earnings than by legitimate means,” he says.
Voicing disappointment, he says that corruption is now happening on a grander scale.
“The corruption scams have no longer remained at two- or three-[digit] level, but they have moved to 10-digit level,” he says.
The anti-corruption movement began last year. Led by Hazare, advocates fasted for 13 days in 2011 to pressure the government to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, which aims to fight corruption through an independent investigative body. The government agreed to consider the bill, and it passed in the Lok Sabha, Parliament’s lower house. But is still pending in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house.
“We are sure that the bill will not be implemented,” Narayanappa says. “There are 162 member[s] of Parliament against whom there are serious charges of corruption. If the bill is implemented, then all of them will go to prison. So they will not give us the bill.”
So the citizens decided to fast again this year.
“We are igniting people with happenings of the country so that we get our solution from people’s movement,” Narayanappa says with great hope.
He says that the citizens’ power to effect change is growing.
“For the first time in the country, even an ordinary citizen has come to this position of challenging the prime minister and president, which has never happened before,” he says.
He explains that for the first time last year, the state chief minister and a member of the state legislative assembly in Karnataka were sent to jail on corruption charges. The cases are still ongoing in court.
“It is definitely a great achievement,” Narayanappa says.
He encourages the people to continue to hold government officials accountable.
“Awakening on corruption should be such a extent that the corrupt people get sleepless nights and have fear of going to jail,” he says.
He then turned back to address the crowd. He gave those gathered in the park the number to send text messages to in order to show their support for the anti-corruption movement.
Citizens across India fasted for the second year in a row to pressure the government to pass an anti-corruption bill. But the government refused to respond to such pressure, imploring the advocates to instead pursue their agenda through the political system. The leaders have ended the fast and have scheduled a meeting this month to plan the formation of an anti-corruption political party. But the move has drawn mixed responses from supporters, some who fear that joining the institution that the campaign criticizes will taint its noble morals.
As many as 200 people turned out at Freedom Park in Bangalore as part of the movement to fast against corruption. Hazare and supporters nationwide fasted for 10 days to pressure the government to pass the proposed anti-corruption bill. The fast ended when Hazare accepted the government’s push to instead form a political party and fight for the cause from within Parliament.
The Jan Lokpal Bill aims to fight corruption. It would set up an independent body called a "Lokpal" to investigate corruption. “Jan” refers to citizens, meaning that the main committee members would not be affiliated with the government. The bill also aims to hasten the investigation and court processes so that convictions are made within two years. Currently, cases can drag on for years.
On the 10th and final day of the fast by Hazare’s team, citizens packed Freedom Park.
Neelam Krishna, 32, and her husband, Kodukulla V.S. Krishna, participated in every day of the fast, devoted to the cause despite several challenges. Krishna says she had her period during the fast. Because of the lack of bathrooms in the park, she developed an infection and had to undergo surgery.
Still, she did not break her fast. After spending one day in the hospital, she returned directly to Freedom Park. Despite the 10 days of fasting and surgery, she remains in high spirits. Her face shines, and her eyes are clear and full of hope.
“I can give my life for my country,” she says, smiling radiantly and making a victory sign with her index and middle fingers.
She says that her whole family supports the anti-corruption cause and is willing to make sacrifices to help it succeed.
“I have a 12-year-old daughter,” she says. “For the past 10 day[s], I do not know where my daughter is eating. I and my husband are fasting here since 10 days. My daughter understands our fight and this noble cause, so last Saturday and Sunday even she was fasting with us here.”
Krishna’s husband calls it a noble movement.
“Opportunistic people should not come here for name or fame,” he says. “Only people who have pure heart and intention can serve.”
Ram Kumar, a farmer from a village in Karnataka, also fasted in the park in support of the movement against corruption, which he says hurts his livelihood.
“When I was a farmer, I faced a lot of problems,” he says. “Whenever I would go to senior official regarding supply for water for our farms, they would ask bribe from me to do my work. But I never bribed them for getting my work done. So after hearing Anna’s movement, I joined to change things.
Yodendra Manjunath, 32, a vibrant scientist, worked at the fast as a volunteer for India Against Corruption, an organization launched by Hazare's team. Wearing a jacket displaying the organization’s name, Manjunath says he has been involved with the campaign since last year.
“I was very inspired by the freedom fighter,” says Manjunath, referring to those who fought to win India’s independence on this very day back in 1947. “And I, too, wanted to do something. I found this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for this great cause, so I joined this movement.”
Manjunath says he has spent more than 40,000 rupees ($720) from his own pocket for many activities in the campaign, such as traveling to various colleges in other regions to garner support for the movement.
“I took 12 days [of] annual leave from my office to work here as volunteer,” he says.
Volunteers like Manjunath took care of the people who were fasting, managed the crowds and traffic, organized online information and rallied the participants during the fast.
“When asked by the coming generations what I did,” he says with a burning sense of pride, “I will be able to tell them that I did something.”
He says he leads a team of 10 people back at the office. But during the campaign, he has done whatever is necessary for the cause – even sweeping the floor.
The fast ended when Hazare and his team decided to accept the government’s proposal of forming a political party. Government officials urged the activists to end their fast and instead to pursue their agenda through the established political process. Local officials could not be reached for comment despite various attempts.
About 80 to 100 supporters plan to meet at the end of this month to discuss the formation of the party, which is scheduled for October. But the move has drawn mixed responses from campaign supporters.
Ramesh Reddy, 27, a cybercafe owner in Bangalore, voiced optimism regarding Hazare’s plans to form a political party. He says that this initiative will be great to clear all corruption from the country.
“I will totally support Anna Hazare’s team if he forms a political party,” he says.
But others disagree. Bhaswati Dutta, 38, a woman who recently attained her Master of Business Administration, says she fears that corrupt politicians will drag Hazare down to their level.
“Corruption has gone deep in politics, so masses have lost faith in politics,” she says in a phone interview from Kolkata, a city in western India. “Anna Hazare represented the masses, and people had faith in him. But if he joins politics, then people will lose faith in the movement.”