The Hindu : Hazare, Minister to begin fast-unto-death

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 09, 2003

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National

Hazare, Minister to begin fast-unto-death

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI AUG. 8. Two public figures — social activist Anna Hazare and Maharashtra's Civil Supplies Minister, Suresh Jain — are all set to go on a fast-unto-death here from tomorrow, the former alleging Government inaction on his demand to cleanse public life of corruption and the latter taking exception to being called "corrupt".

Both are determined to take the issue to their logical conclusion, but Mr. Jain has added a dimension to his agenda: he thinks the Government, of which he is a part, has not acted enough on his demand for action against Mr. Hazare for "irregularities" cited with proof.

Mr. Hazare left his village, Ralegaonsiddhi, with his supporters today to begin his fast on Saturday and also release, as promised, proof of corruption against Ministers, including Mr. Jain.

He told his supporters before starting his journey that he would not return till he made the Maharashtra Government act, though he was unsure if the establishment would act at all.

Mr. Hazare is unfazed by the charges against him, including being called a "fraud" by Mr. Jain.

Mr. Jain, meanwhile, told correspondents today that even if Mr. Hazare withdrew his fast, he himself would go ahead because he felt that the Government had not acted enough though he had been giving the same set of papers to the Chief Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde, and the Chief Secretary, Ajit Nimbalkar, after every press conference.

He said that "during the course of events as they unfold, if I think there has been injustice," he might consider quitting the Government, but "not just yet." At no time, he clarified, did he broach the subject with the Chief Minister directly.

The demands made by both Mr. Hazare and Mr. Jain are similar, even if they vary in the finer details: probe by a High Court judge into the allegations the two have traded.

Corruption in public life is not the only issue that Mr. Hazare is battling.

He had written to the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, last week that should anything happen to him, the onus would be on Mr. Advani, as his pleas to secure Presidential assent to the Right to Information laws of Maharashtra had not borne fruit.

Mr. Hazare has a list of issues and corruption, targeting this time three other Ministers besides Mr. Jain — Nawab Malik, Padmasinh Patil and Vijaykumar Gavit — is one of them. When asked two days ago, Mr. Shinde said he did not want the two public figures to go on a fast but pointed out how Mr. Hazare was needed by society. With regard to Mr. Jain's demands, all he said was, "I have received two bulky set of papers from him."

Meanwhile, Mr. Shinde said the Government was willing to consider a probe by retired judges of the High Court into the mutual allegations by Mr. Hazare and Mr. Jain. He was planning to talk to Mr. Hazare, now on his way to Mumbai, telephonically.

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