Monday 29 August 2011

Latest on Anna Hazare

Team Anna says the Gandhian will call off his fast today. But, since he's already fasted for 11 days, he will break his fast only after the resolution has been officially adopted by the Parliament.

LATEST  NEWS  UPDATE


* Ramlila Maidan becomes postal address for Anna
     Postmen had never ventured here but for the past one week they have been taking rounds of Ramlila
 Maidan with their mailbags delivering letters to fasting Anna Hazare.


* Traders down shutters to support Hazare
       Traders in parts of Uttar Pradesh downed their shutters on Saturday to support Anna Hazare
whose fast for a strong anti-corruption bill has entered the 12th day, officials said.


*`Govt agrees to Anna’s 3 demands’
The government is likely to present the draft during the ongoing discussion on Lokpal Bill in Parliament.


* Fire near stage at Anna’s protest site
A minor fire broke out near the stage where Anna Hazare is fasting demanding a strong Lokpal at the



* Ramlila Maidan here on Saturday.
End fast by 6 pm: Sri Sri Ravishankar to Anna


* Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Saturday urged Anna Hazare to positively end his hunger strike by 6 in the evening.


* I refuse to tweet about Anna: Omar
Abdullah, often known to air his views on the virtual world, did not post even a single comment from Aug 19 to Aug 25.


* Rajya Sabha allots six hours for Lokpal debate
Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari on Saturday allocated six hours for the Lokpal debate and said this could be extended if the members so wanted.


* How Anna united people for a common cause
Activist Anna Hazare feels "weak and stressed" as his fast for a strong anti-corruption bill entered the 12th day on Saturday, said a doctor monitoring his health.


* Lokpal debate bypassing standing committee: Lalu
The debate comes as activist Anna Hazare`s fast enters its 12th day demanding the civil society`s Jan Lokpal bill to be taken up.
 

Sunday 28 August 2011

Anna ends Fast



                                   ANNA   ENDS  FAST   ,  SAYS   VICTORY  OF  PEOPLE

                                                    
                                         10 : 20 am
       
                                         on  28  August  2011                                                              





Anna Hazare: After about 290 hours, Anna Hazare ended his hunger strike in Delhi this morning. Two little girls, Ikrah and Simran, wearing Anna caps, offered him coconut water and honey to bring up the moment

                
             *     Surrounded by a sea of flags, Anna Hazare received the news that his three conditions have been unanimously accepted by Parliament. At his protest camp at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, thousands gathered to celebrate the 74-year-old and his role in helping India take a huge step forward towards a historic new anti-corruption law

             *    As Anna Hazare's three conditions were unanimously accepted by Parliament, a letter signed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was delivered to the anti-corruption crusader on stage at Ramlila Maidan

             *   Text of Parliament resolution on Anna's demands - This House agrees in principle on the following issues for a strong and effective lok pal.


            *   KEJRIWAL      THANKS    PM ,    PARLIAMENT

            *   ANNA   GREETED   BY   CHEERING   CROWD
           
            *   TEAM    ANNA   THANKFUL   FOR   RECONCILIATION

            *   ANNA   ENDS   FAST

            *   CONGRESS   WELCOMES   ENDING   OF   FAST   BY   HAZARE

            *   ANNA   TAKEN TO    HOSPITAL    IN    GURGAON    AS   MEDICAL PRECAUTION

            *   INDIA   CELEBRATES    THE    VICTORY 

            *   BOLLYWOOD   SUPPORTED    ANNA

            *   Actor Aamir Khan arrived this afternoon at the Ramlila Maidan where Anna Hazare, 74, is on a hunger strike. The actor said, "Anna has not eaten for 12 days...I am worried about you. In everyone's heart, there is concern for you. This will be a long process, and we need Anna's leadership for our struggle. So I urge him here to please end his fast today
                 
            *     In a powerful speech in the Lok Sabha, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj expressed her party's support for Anna Hazare, and said the BJP largely agrees with the three pre-conditions that the activist had given to end his hunger strike. She also tore into the statement made by Rahul Gandhi yesterday in Parliament, and targeted the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar, for allowing the Congress leader to make an unscheduled speech yesterday at virtually no notice.
              
     


Saturday 27 August 2011

Anna's victory - Country's victory









* Team Anna have received a communication from the government that a resolution carrying their demands on Lokpal Bill will be put to a voice vote and they are now “very happy” with the development



* After Pranab Mukherjee issued a statement on behalf of the House accepting Anna’s three demands on Lokpal Bill, Team Anna said that he would break his fast on Sunday morning at 10 am.


* The BJP has clarified that would vote in both Houses of Parliament in favour of all the three sticking points raised by Anna Hazare


* Both the houses of the Parliament issued a statement supporting the formulation of a strong Lokpal bill.


* Sri Sri Ravi Shankar expressed his contentment on the process of reaching a consensus among political parties on introducing Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament.


* Terming it as a "win-win" situation for both sides, another Team Anna member Medha Patkar said while there was no surrender of Parliament supremacy, there was also victory of people`s power.


* Hazare has been fasting since Aug 16 - over 270 hours so far - demanding a more inclusive Lokpal Bill.


* His normal diet when he is not fasting consists of milk and fruits, dalia (wheat porridge) and simple khichdi. Most of the time he skips even this simple meal.


* After Pranab Mukherjee issued a statement on behalf of the House accepting Anna’s three demands on Lokpal Bill, Team Anna said that he would break his fast on Sunday morning at 10 am.



















Tuesday 16 August 2011

Anna Hazare

" The dream of India as a strong nation will not be realised without self-reliant, self-sufficient villages, this can be achieved only through social commitment & involvement of the common man."

- Anna Hazare 

" It is not the water in the fields that brings true development, rather, it is water in the eyes, or compassion for fellow beings, that brings about real development. "
- Anna Hazare

Anna Hazare is one of India's well-acclaimed social activist and anarcho-pacifist who is especially recognised for his contribution to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the government of India in 1992.

 Early life 

 Real Name               : Kisan Baburao Hazare
 Born on                    :15 June 1937 in Bhingar, a small village near the city of Hinganghat, in  Maharashtra.
 Hazare's father         : Baburao Hazare, worked as an unskilled labourer in Ayurveda Ashram Pharmacy.
 His grandfather        :  A brave person was in the army, posted at Bhingar .
 Native Village         : Ralegan Siddhi


His   grandfather died in 1945 but Hazare's father Baburao continued to stay at Bhingar. In 1952, Hazare's father resigned from his job and returned to his own village, Ralegan Siddhi. Hazare had six younger siblings and the family faced significant hardships. Hazare's childless aunt offered to look after him and his education, and took young Kisan to Mumbai. Kisan studied up to the seventh standard in Mumbai and then sought employment, due to the economic situation in his household. He started selling flowers at Dadar to support his family. He soon started his own shop and brought two of his brothers to Bombay.

 Military service

In 1962, events in South Asia meant that large-scale army recruitments were being undertaken. Despite not meeting the physical requirements, 25-year-old Hazare was selected, as emergency recruitment was taking place in the Indian Army. After training at Aurangabad in Maharashtra he started his career in the Indian Army as a driver in 1963.
During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Hazare was posted at the border in the Khem Karan sector. On 12 November 1965, Pakistan launched air attacks on Indian bases, and all of Hazare's comrades were killed; he was the only survivor of that convoy. It was a close save for Hazare as one bullet had passed by his head. He was driving a truck. This led him to dwell on the purpose and meaning of life and death.
 He came across a small booklet titled "Call to the youth for nation building" by Swami Vivekananda in a book stall at the New Delhi railway station. He realized that saints sacrificed their own happiness for that of others, and that he needed to work towards ameliorating the sufferings of the poor. He started to spend his spare time reading the works of Vivekananda, Gandhi, and Vinoba Bhave. During the mid-1970s, he again survived a road accident while driving. It was at that particular moment that Hazare took an oath to dedicate his life to the service of humanity, at the age of 38. In 1975, he left the army as soon as he become eligible for receiving pension.


Personal life


Anna Hazare is unmarried. He lives in a small room attached to the Sant Yadavbaba temple in Ralegan Siddhi since 1975. He never visited his home though it is in same village. On April 16, 2011, he declared his bank balance of 67,183 (US$1,500) and 1,500 (US$30) as money in hand. He owns 0.07 hectares of family land in Ralegan Siddhi which is being used by his brothers. Two other pieces of land donated to him by the Indian Army and by a villager have been donated by him for village use. He receives pension from the Indian army.



Transformation of Ralegan Siddhi    

After a voluntary retirement from the Indian army, Hazare went to his native village Ralegan Siddhi, a village located in the acute drought-prone and rain-shadow zone of Parner Tehsil of Ahmadnagar district, in central Maharashtra. It was one of the many villages of India plagued by acute poverty, deprivation, a fragile ecosystem, neglect and hopelessness. Hazare made remarkable economic, social and community regeneration in Ralegan Siddhi. He reinforced the normative principles of human development – equity, efficiency, sustainability and people's participation and made Ralegan Siddhi an oasis of human-made regeneration in a human-made desert without any inputs of industrialisation and technology-oriented agriculture.


 Uprooting alcoholism   


Anna Hazare recognised that without addressing the menace of alcoholism, no effective and sustainable reform was possible in the village. He organised the youth of the village into an organisation named the Tarun Mandal (Youth Association). Hazare and the youth group decided to take up the issue of alcoholism. 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 were closed by their owners voluntarily. Those who did not succumb to social pressure were forced to close down their businesses when the youth group smashed up their liquor dens. The owners could not complain as their businesses were illegal.

When some villagers were found to be drunk they were tied to poles/pillars of the temple and flogged, sometimes personally by Hazare. He justified this harsh punishment by stating in an interview to Reader's Digest in 1986 that “rural India was a harsh society”.

Hazare appealed to the government of Maharashtra to bring in a law whereby prohibition would come into force in a village if 25% of the women in the village demanded it. In July 2009 the state government issued a government resolution amending the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949.

It was decided to ban the sale of tobacco, cigarettes, and beedies (a speciality cigarette) in the village. In order to implement this resolution, the youth group performed a unique "Holi" ceremony twenty two years ago. 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.


Grain Bank


In 1980, the Grain Bank was started by him at the temple, with the objective of providing food security to needful 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 same 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


Watershed development programme



 Ralegan is located in the foothills, so Hazare persuaded villagers to construct a watershed embankment to stop water and allow it to percolate and increase the ground water level and improve irrigation in the area. Residents of the village used shramdan (voluntary labour) to build canals, small-scale check-dams, and percolation tanks in the nearby hills for watershed development. These efforts solved the problem of water scarcity in the village and made irrigation possible


Milk production



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 resulted in an improvement in the cattle stock. Milk production has increased. Crossbreed cows are replacing local ones which gave a lower milk yield.


Education


In 1932, Ralegan  Siddhi got its first formal school, a single classroom primary school. In 1962, the villagers added more classrooms through community volunteer efforts. By 1971.

  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.

The trust obtained a government grant of 400,000 (US$8,920) for the school building using the National Rural Education Programme. This money funded a new school building that was built over the next two months using volunteer labour. A new hostel was constructed to house 200 students from poorer sections of society. After the opening of the school, a girl from Ralegan Siddhi became the first female in the village to complete her Secondary School Certificate.


 Removal of untouchability


It was Anna Hazare's moral leadership that motivated and inspired the people of Ralegan Siddhi to shun untouchability and discrimination against the Dalits. People of all castes come together to celebrate social events. Marriages of dalits are held as part of community marriage program together with those of other castes.
 

Collective marriages


Ralegan's people have started celebrating marriages collectively. Joint feasts are held, where the expenses are further reduced by the Tarun Mandal taking responsibility for cooking and serving the food. 



  Gram Sabha


Hazare campaigned between 1998 and 2006 for amending the Gram Sabha Act, so that the villagers have a say in the development works in their village. The state government initially refused, but eventually gave in due to public pressure.



Right to Information movement

In the early 2000s Hazare led a movement in Maharashtra state which forced the state government to pass a stronger 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.

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


 Lokpal Bill movement

In 2011, Hazare initiated a Satyagraha movement for passing a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament as conceived in the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill).


Hunger strike in DelhiHazare began his fast unto death 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 the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh.

 He stated, "I will fast until Jan Lokpal Bill is passed".
The movement attracted attention in the media, and thousands of supporters. Almost 150 people reportedly joined Hazare in his fast. Social activists, including Medha Patkar, Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Jayaprakash Narayan lent their support to Hazare's hunger strike and anti-corruption campaign. People have shown support in Internet social media such as Twitter and Facebook.

Hazare decided that he would not allow any politician to sit with him in this movement




End of hunger strike after meeting demands

On the morning of 9 April 2011 Hazare ended his 98-hour hunger strike by first offering lemon juice to some of his supporters who were fasting with him. Hazare then broke his fast by consuming some lemon juice. He addressed the people and set a deadline of 15 August 2011 to pass the Lokpal Bill in the Indian Parliament

"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 does not pass he will call for a mass nation-wide agitation. He called his movement as "second struggle for independence" and he will continue the fight.



Arrest



On August 16 2011, Hazare was arrested four hours before the planned indefinite hunger strike. Rajan Bhagat, spokesman for Delhi Police, said police arrested Hazare under a legal provision that bans public gatherings and protests at the park in Delhi where he was planning to begin his hunger strike.

 Police took that action after Hazare refused to meet the conditions put forward by police for allowing the protest. The conditions included restricting the length of the fast to three days and the number of protesters at the site to 5,000. Later Anna was sent to Tihar Jail under judicial custody for 7 days. Large scale protests against his arrest is being shown by his supporters and common people throughout the country.
 





Year of Award     Name of Award                AwardingOrganization

2008                 Jit Gill Memorial Award                  World Bank

2005                 Honorary Doctorate                          Gandhigram Rural University

2003                 Integrity Award                                Transparency International

1998                 CARE International Award               CARE (relief agency)

1997                 Mahaveer Award 

1996                 Shiromani Award 

1992                 Padma Bhushan                                 President of India

1990                 Padma Shri                                        President of India

1989                 Krishi Bhushana Award                    Government of Maharashtra

1986                Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award      Government of India



  Writings


.  Adarsh Gaon Yojana: government participitation in a peoples program : ideal village project of the Government of Maharashtra

  My Village – My Sacred Land

. Ralegaon Siddhi: a veritable transformation. Translated by B.S. Pendse.

. ANNA HAZARE: The Face of Indias Fight Against Corruption



"  Anna is a shining example of creativity and service by an ex-Serviceman. "
— Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa

Anna Hazare says,


* Over every huge tree that we see over ground, there always is a seed that had submerged itself into the darkness of the soil.
* Ban on consumption and sale of alcohol lays the foundation of rural development.
* It is impossible to change the village without transforming the individual. Similarly it is impossible to transform the country without changing its villages. 
* If villages are to develop, politics have to be kept out.
* Education without spirituality cannot help development.
* Money alone does not bring development, but it certainly corrupts.
* In the process of rural development, social and economic development should go hand in hand.
* The work of social transformation is neither easy nor impossible.
* The ultimate goal of all politics and social work should be the upliftment of society and of the nation.
* Books alone cannot prepare future citizens, it requires cultural inputs to do so.
* Educational institutions are not enough to make good citizens, every home should become an educational center.
* Indulgence causes disease whereas sacrifice leads to accomplishment.
* One should not accept anything free; accepting charity makes one lazy and dependent.
* When the person learns to see beyond his self-interest, he begins to get mental peace.
* One who performs all worldly functions and still remains detached from worldly things is a true saint.
* Salvation of the self is a part of salvation of the people.
* It is experience that gives the direction but it is youth that gives the drive to every plan. 

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