Anna Hazare
Kisan Baburao Hazare, affectionately called Anna Hazare, comes from a poor family in Maharashtra, India. He joined the Indian Army as a driver and had an epiphany of sorts in 1965 when all of his comrades were killed in action and he alone survived in an incident at the Khemkaran border.
Transformation of Ralegaon Siddhi
Retiring from the army in 1975, Anna went back to his village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra. He found the village of about 200 families reeling under drought, poverty, debt, and unemployment. Drinking water was scarce, but liquor was plenty. Inspired by Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi, Anna began to introduce positive changes with the collective support of all the villagers. The changes included temple renovation, soil and water conservation, tree plantation, farm improvement, and the abolition of liquor. Today, Ralegaon Siddhi is a role model among Indian villages.
Anti-corruption activism
After creating such a dream village, Anna Hazare moved on to larger issues. He declared a war on corruption and took on the powerful politicians of Maharashtra. They retaliated by getting him arrested and even imprisoned for a while under false charges. Anna Hazare continued his activism and made the government act on his corruption charges in several cases. He also forced the government to enact a Right to Information Act.
In all the campaigns Anna Hazare used the Gandhian nonviolent approach of satyagraha and fasting. His path inevitably took him to the national level and he joined the campaign for passing the Lokpal Bill for setting up a national anti-corruption authority.
India against corruption
It was August 2011. The large crowd at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, India’s capital, was chanting: Anna tum sangharsh karo, hum tumare saath hain (“Anna, carry on the struggle, we are with you”). The 74-year-old Anna Hazare was on a fast unto death demanding the enactment of the Lokpal Bill. He was leading the ‘India Against Corruption’ campaign. He had been earlier arrested, but was released and allowed to go on fast.
There was unprecedented nationwide support for the cause. Meetings, protests, fasts were held all over the country. The famous “dabbawallas” of Mumbai, who pick up and deliver home-cooked lunch to hundreds of thousands, announced the first strike in their long history in solidarity with Anna Hazare. When the fast entered the 12th day, the government gave in. In an unparalleled gesture, the Lok Sabha ‘agreed in principle’ to three of Hazare’s key demands:
- Lokayuktas (state-level anti-corruption authorities) will be appointed in all the states.
- The Lokpal Bill will be passed covering the entire bureaucracy and not just senior officials.
- There will be a citizens’ charter for redressing public grievances against the administration.
There were differences between the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by the civil society representatives and the version prepared by the government. The government’s Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha (Lower House), but got stalled in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House). Finally, the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill was passed by Parliament in December 2013, even as Anna was observing yet another fast. The Act came into force on January 16, 2014.
The new government (led by the Bharatiya Janata Party), which came to power in 2014, amended the Act in 2016. It also delayed further action, but finally appointed a Lokpal in 2019. During the delay, Anna Hazare went on fasts to force the government to implement the Act.
Anna Hazare never married and has always lived in a single room attached to a temple in Ralegaon Siddhi. All through, he has remained a simple Gandhian. He is the recipient of several awards including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award.
The future
Like the Chipko Movement of 1974, the India Against Corruption Campaign of 2011 was a watershed moment in India’s history. In both cases there were no long-term gains for the people. We can be sure, however, more such mass protests will erupt again!
Many of us believe that the major problems of the world including corruption, social injustice, and environmental chaos can be solved only through people’s movements. Anna Hazare showed us in 2011 a glimpse of such a movement. He also demonstrated to the current generation that what Gandhi did two generations ago was still possible.
Afterword: Two of the books written by Anna Hazare are available in English: My Village, My Sacred Land and Ralegaon Siddhi: A Veritable Transformation. Several books have been written about him. Two films were made on Anna Hazare – Mala Anna Vhaychay (I want to become Anna) in Marathi and Anna in Hindi.
Anna tum sangharsh karo, hum tumare saath hain (“Anna, carry on the struggle, we are with you”). This is the sad part of the story. It is good to be supporting a cause, it is good to join campaigns and work towards public good, but when you see them individually you observe that they are not made of that stuff. When they have to confront issues for themselves, they seem to buckle down to pressure and forget that they were part of campaigns of making the country corrupt free. I have come across many votaries who have participated and commended the acts of Anna Hazare, but when it comes to their own individual priorities they would not mind in indulging and deriving comforts from corruption. We have more hypocrites in our crowd who wish not to see or face discomfort for themselves, but are not against others going through it.