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Rediff.com » News » The Anna Hazare interview: PM made promises, his govt cheated me
'There is enough enthusiasm for another anti-corruption campaign'
Last updated on: August 22, 2013 14:17 IST
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Anti-corruption
crusader Anna Hazare’s trip to the United States and participation in
the India Independence Day Parade, was “to meet NRIs and connect with
like-minded people in the United States and get their support -- wake
them up -- for the next anti-corruption agitation in India.”
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa on August 21, in Glenn Dale, Maryland, at the home of Indian American community activist Om Sharma, who hosted a dinner reception in honour of Hazare, the 76-year-old social activist declared that an integral part of his visit to the US was “to have an international platform” for his anti-corruption message.
This correspondent posed the questions to Hazare in English and he replied in Hindi. His replies were then translated into English by Sachin Narode, a medical researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who is his chief handler in the US.
Hazare denied that the initial energy and enthusiasm his anti-corruption drive had elicited and the critical mass the campaign was able to muster had dissipated.
He predicted that if the government doesn't enact the Jan Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session -- which, he admitted, was an unlikely option -- he would start his agitation again.
“There is enough enthusiasm among the people for another campaign like the last one,” he said.
“People this time will come in larger crowds -- much more than before,” he said, and added, “I am working hard for over six months and I totally know that the government cheated and deceived me. The movement is gaining more strength; we will start our agitation in the next winter session if the government doesn’t agree to enact our bill.”
Asked if there was any hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the government led by him would eradicate corruption -- as he had pledged to do -- or if it is so embedded and entrenched that this government had to go, Hazare said it doesn’t matter which government is in power.
“Changes don’t come simply by changing a government and having a different government,” he said.
“We have to wake up the people and the masses and bring the right kind of leaders with a moral character who will change the system -- not the government,” he said.
Hazare reiterated, “The government doesn’t matter and I don’t like to play the game of party politics -- I don’t support that. One (government) will go and another will come but not much change of system can be brought about by this.”
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In an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa on August 21, in Glenn Dale, Maryland, at the home of Indian American community activist Om Sharma, who hosted a dinner reception in honour of Hazare, the 76-year-old social activist declared that an integral part of his visit to the US was “to have an international platform” for his anti-corruption message.
This correspondent posed the questions to Hazare in English and he replied in Hindi. His replies were then translated into English by Sachin Narode, a medical researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who is his chief handler in the US.
Hazare denied that the initial energy and enthusiasm his anti-corruption drive had elicited and the critical mass the campaign was able to muster had dissipated.
He predicted that if the government doesn't enact the Jan Lokpal Bill in the monsoon session -- which, he admitted, was an unlikely option -- he would start his agitation again.
“There is enough enthusiasm among the people for another campaign like the last one,” he said.
“People this time will come in larger crowds -- much more than before,” he said, and added, “I am working hard for over six months and I totally know that the government cheated and deceived me. The movement is gaining more strength; we will start our agitation in the next winter session if the government doesn’t agree to enact our bill.”
Asked if there was any hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the government led by him would eradicate corruption -- as he had pledged to do -- or if it is so embedded and entrenched that this government had to go, Hazare said it doesn’t matter which government is in power.
“Changes don’t come simply by changing a government and having a different government,” he said.
“We have to wake up the people and the masses and bring the right kind of leaders with a moral character who will change the system -- not the government,” he said.
Hazare reiterated, “The government doesn’t matter and I don’t like to play the game of party politics -- I don’t support that. One (government) will go and another will come but not much change of system can be brought about by this.”
Click on NEXT for more…
Image: Anna Hazare at a press conference in New York
Photographs: Paresh Gandhi/Rediff.com
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