Social activist Anna Hazare again stirred the hornet’s nest by changing his view on the assault on union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar — with a rider, of course, that violence for betterment of society is justified.
On November 24, after asking whether Pawar was slapped only once, Hazare withdrew, later condemning all violence. But in a fresh blog post on Tuesday, he said the slap was possibly justified.
He mentioned a series of incidents regarding government negligence towards farmers when Pawar was at the helm of affairs. Hazare and Pawar have been at loggerheads for almost two decades.
Hazare said, “Pawar’s supporters hurled the dirtiest abuses against me. I have kept a CD of it and will play it before the public at an appropriate time.”
Declaring himself an admirer of Shivaji, Hazare wrote that his earlier anti-violence comment was from the Gandhian point of view. But now, he thinks “for the betterment of society, I do not consider this violence as wrong”.
Hazare wrote that it was important to discuss why the youth slapped Pawar. People take the law into their hands when they reach the limit of their patience he said.
{{/usCountry}}Hazare wrote that it was important to discuss why the youth slapped Pawar. People take the law into their hands when they reach the limit of their patience he said.
{{/usCountry}}During the last assembly elections in Maharashtra, Hazare had made serious allegations against Pawar, including charges of corruption, land grabbing and use of muscle power. Recently, Hazare blamed Pawar for protecting the Lavasa project for his personal interest in the project.
“Why should politicians be so angry when a politician is slapped?” Hazare wrote on Tuesday.