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Parties never allowed democracy to thrive in India: Anna Hazare
Social activist Anna Hazare said he had chosen March 23 to start his agitation on Jan Lokpal, electoral reforms and farmers’ issues as it was martyrs’ day.
Social activist Anna Hazare on Monday said he had chosen March 23 to start his agitation on Jan Lokpal, electoral reforms and farmers’ issues as it was martyrs’ day. Freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Shivram Rajguru and Sukhdev Thapar were hanged by the British Raj on March 23, 1931.
“I have chosen March 23 as it happens to be martyrs’ day. A number of farmers have committed suicide in the last 12 years but those who promised to bring back black money in 30 days and deposit Rs 15 lakh in each account have failed in addressing the issues of farmers. Farmers need to get good returns for their yield and need their crops to be insured,” Hazare said at a rally at Sadarauna Kanshi Ram Slum Colony under Para police station here on Monday.
Slum dwellers and farmers from nearby areas attended the rally.
Hazare called for committed volunteers, who will not leave his movement for politics, hinting at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
He said anyone who wanted to join him on March 23 in Delhi would have to give an undertaking on stamp paper that he will never join politics, but will always work for the society.
“That’s why no politician will be allowed on the dais or near the place of the satyagraha. I will not allow the politicians to use the forum,” he said.
“When I fasted for 16 days in 2011, the then UPA government accepted the demand for Lokpal. But they passed a diluted Lokpal Bill and the Modi government has diluted it further. Politicians don’t want a strong lokpal,” he said.
He said this time his agitation will be on the pattern of 2011 and it was up to the government to accept the demands or the country must remain ready for a change.
He said government must respect the verdict of the people as they had fought for a strong lokpal, not for a weak one.
Earlier, hundreds of volunteers of Loktantra Mukti Morcha and India Against Corruption welcomed Hazare at Lucknow airport on Monday morning. From airport, he went to Sadarauna Kanshi Ram Slum Colony under Para police station.
