2011 Indian anti-corruption movement
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The 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement refers to a series of protests against the Government of India intended to seek strong legislation against graft, otherwise known as corruption. The protests have centred on a proposed bill, called the Jan Lokpal Bill, which the protestors believe could address the issue if it was suitably worded and enforced. The movement has gained momentum in particular since 5 April 2011, when Anna Hazare, a prominent activist, first went on a hunger strike which he called a "fast unto death".
The protesters are of the opinion that the government desires to dilute proposals contained in the original draft of the Jan Lokpal bill. They believe that the changes would make the body intended to oversee the issue, the Lokayukta, no more than a powerless advisory body in the Indian bureaucracy. Hazare, who is a Gandhian, went on his initial hunger strike when talks designed to consider the issues broke down. He had demanded the creation of a joint drafting committee for the bill, with members from both "civil society" and government.
Following Hazare's initial, much publicised protest action, a second major protest saw controversial events take place at the Ramlila Maidan, New Delhi on 4 June 2011. The figurehead for these protests was Swami Ramdev and their aim was to highlight the need for strong legislation to bring back to the country what has been called "black money" deposited abroad. Ramdev demanded that untaxed money invested abroad should be declared to be the wealth of the nation. Further, that the act of caching money, which is alleged to have been obtained illegally, in foreign banks should be declared a crime against the state. He also demanded that the nation's wealth held in foreign banks should be brought back and that India should sign the United Nations Convention against Corruption. He held a hunger strike on 4 June when his demands were not met. According to Ramdev, 10 million Indians would participate in the satyagraha on 4 June 2011 throughout India. It is estimated that around US$ 350 billion to US$ 1400 billion worth of illegal money is in foreign banks.
The protests led to the creation of a movement that saw protests being organised in various cities and towns of India. Protests included fasts, candlelight vigils and rallies. The protests are unusual in India as they have no political affiliation and the protesters have been very hostile to any political party trying to grab the initiative to meet its own political goals from the activists. The protests to some extent have similarities in methodologies to Jayaprakash Narayan's Bihar Movement (commonly called the JP Movement) of 1974.
Background
Issues regarding corruption in India have become more prominent in recent years. The country was subject to socialist-inspired economic policies between the 1950s and the late 1980s. Extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership led to slow growth. Forbes commented in 2007 that the system of bureaucratic controls called License Raj was often at the core of corruption.
The Vohra Report of 1993, submitted by the former Indian Union Home Secretary N. N. Vohra, studied the problem of the criminalization of politics and of the nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India. The report contained several observations made by official agencies on the criminal network which was virtually running a parallel government. It also discussed criminal gangs who enjoyed the patronage of politicians – of all political parties – and the protection of government functionaries. It revealed that political leaders had become the leaders of gangs. They were also connected to the military. Over the years criminals had been elected to local bodies, State Assemblies, and even the Parliament.
The Right to Information Act of 2005 has helped civilians work effectively towards tackling corruption. It allows Indian citizens (except those living in Jammu and Kashmir) to request information, for a fixed fee of 
Various scandals were discovered in the period 2010-2011, including the 2G spectrum scam, Adarsh Housing Society Scam, and the Commonwealth Games scam. These involved various Ministers and also members of the Armed Forces, and they demonstrated how entrenched corruption had become in India. They led also to popular, non-political movements campaigning to fight graft via new legislation.
The Jan Lokpal Bill is a proposal to establish an independent body to investigate cases of corruption within a year and to ensure a speedy prosecution within two years of an investigation being started.
Protest timeline
- 13 March 2011
Use of cyberspace
Hacker group Anonymous has come out in support of a civil movement against corruption in India by hacking one of the key website of a Indian government of National Informatics Centre. This cyber movement has been called "Operation India".
Government response
Hazare's protest has led to the resignation of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar from the Group of Ministers on corruption. On 8 April, the government started seriously considering the demands of the protesters. The government has stated that it will table the bill in the parliament in the upcoming Monsoon session. On 9 April, the government finally agreed to have a 50:50 distribution of the Government appointed officials and the members of the civil society. On May 13, PM Manmohan Singh stated that the Indian government has completed the process for ratification of UN Convention against Corruption.
Political response to the Jantar Mantar protests
- Bhartiya Janata Party
The Bhartiya Janata Party supported Hazare, with a prominent member, Arun Jaitley, urging the government to take Hazare's fast very seriously.
Another prominent BJP figure, L.K. Advani suggested that a meeting of political parties should be convened to discuss the issue "particularly in the context of black money and curbing money-power in elections".
BJP leader Narendra Modi posted on his Facebook account that he was praying for Hazare's health. He also published an open letter to Hazare thanking him for the latter's support for the development work in Gujarat (being spearheaded by Modi himself as the chief minister of the state). Modi also warned Hazare of possible vilification by a certain 'powerful-group' that wishes to defame Modi and Gujarat. He reiterated his support for the Jan Lokpal Bill.
- Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) came out in support of Anna Hazare. Prakash Karat pledged support to Hazare over the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Ramlila ground protests
Swami Ramdev claimed that Bharat Swabhiman Yatra has evoked massive support from the masses and more than 10 crore people have been directly involved with the movement. His Yatra ended on June 1 at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh after travelling over one lakh km across the country.
Swami Ramdev declared that a people's movement to liberate the country from rampant corruption and build a strong spiritual ‘Bharat' would be launched by him in June. The movement which is second phase of Bharath Swabhiman Yatra is named 'Satyagraha against Corruption'. He declared one of the main objectives of the movement was to bring about an end to corruption and bring back black money stashed away in various financial institutions in the country and abroad. On the midnight of 5 June, police raided the site where Ramdev was fasting against corruption and black money issues in the capital and forcefully detained him and removed his supporters from the site after firing tear gas shells and resorting to lathicharge to end his day-old indefinite hunger strike on black money issue. Seventy-one people were injured and moved to hospital, four of whom were reported to be in critical condition. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee called the police action "unfortunate", but added that the government had to do that as Ramdev had no permission to hold a protest at the Ramlila Ground.
He maintained that second phase of Bharat Swabhiman Yatra would begin from October this year and the Yatra would once again travel a distance of one lakh km.
Background to the Ramlila ground protests
On March 16, 2011, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued its manifesto for the upcoming Bengal polls in 2011, which said that "[if the party came to power, it would] launch a drive to unearth black money, especially those (sic) stashed in Swiss and other tax havens." The issue was taken up by Sharad Yadav of Janata Dal (United), who said on March 27 that there were US$ 1,470 billion stashed by Indians in Swiss banks.
Ramdev started Bharat Swabhiman Yatra, covering 100,000 kilometres (62,000 mi) in India for strengthening the anti-corruption movement. The campaign gained very good responce from public as almost 3.2 million "netizens" joined Ramdev's campaign against corruption.
Four senior Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, Kapil Sibal, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Subodh Kant Sahay met Baba Ramdev and discussed issues and his demands at Delhi Airport on June 1, 2011. Back-channel talk between two sides were held in The Claridges, New Delhi on June 2, 2011. Next day talks were held for a third time between the ministers and Ramdev and both sides claimed consensus. Government gave item-wise response to the demands while Ramdev planned to go ahead with hunger strike.
250,000 square metres (0.25 km; 0.097 sq mi) of overhead waterproof tent was set up and the ground was booked for 40 days for the protest. A volunteer centre at the extreme end of the maidan was set up. 650 bathrooms and toilets was stationed inside the maidan, out of which 40 percent were for women. Also provided for was drinking water facility, medical facility and a media centre with three communication towers.
Police action against the demonstration
Police firing tear gas, burning the place and lathicharging at peaceful fasting men, women and children. Reportedly 53 persons were injured and were treated at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital, AIIMS trauma center and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
About 5,000 supporters were still missing according to Ramdev. Jadeep Arya, a key advisor on Ramdev’s team, said that about 19 girls students from the Chotipur Gurukul, who were seated near the dais, are estimated to be still missing. Behen Suman, women’s representative of the Trust, said many of these girls were roughed up when the police tried to reach Ramdev and were crying since police officials were pulling their hair, dragging them and their clothes were torn. Police, however, said no one was missing.
There is an allegation that CCTV footage of the raid is missing.
Police clarification on action
A senior police officer commented on the police action saying, "there were talks in the police headquarters since June 2 that Baba Ramdev would be detained as we knew he is definitely not going to hold a Yoga camp." Allegedly, Ramdev's detention was not a spontaneous decision but had been planned for several days.
The police said Ramdev was informed around 11 pm (IST) on Saturday that his permission to continue his agitation had been canceled. By that time, over 5000 police officers, including 12 battalions of the Delhi Police, three battalions of Rapid Action Force, two of Central Reserve Police Force commandos and local police were briefed by senior police officers to get ready for action. The Ramlila Ground was then surrounded by several buses and tempos, heading towards the ground from Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab but were sent back from the borders.
Protest against police action on Ramdev's demonstration
How can the government stop anyone from protesting? The
land is not their 'father's property'. The citizens are the masters of
this country and the ministers are their servants". - Anna Hazare
( When some press reporter ask him how can he protest
at Jantar Mantar since prohibitory orders)
On 6 June the National Human Rights Commission of India issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Delhi Chief Secretary and the Delhi City Commissioner of Police seeking reports within two weeks regarding the midnight crackdown at the Ramlila Ground.
In a response to the crackdown Hazare said that he would hold a one day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on 8 June. The venue was changed to Rajghat when he could not get police permission to do so.
Aftermath of the Ramlila ground protests
Protests were held in many different parts of country, including the cities of Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jammu, and Lucknow. Protests against the action also spread to Nepal.
Civil society response
Ramdev accused the government of not being serious about discussing issues of corruption and black money, alleging that government negotiator Kapil Sibal had cheated him through "scheming and cunning" attitude. He alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him and a "threat" was given to him during a meeting with senior ministers. He also claimed that the ruling government chairperson Sonia Gandhi and the United Progressive Alliance government will be responsible for any threat to his life and alleged that he was nearly strangled by the police. After being evicted from Delhi, Ramdev wanted to continue his fast from Noida but was denied permission to do so by the Uttar Pradesh government. He decided to continue his hunger strike and satyagraha from Haridwar only until June 12, 2011.
Hazare said there might have been some faults with Ramdev's agitation but that the beating up of people at night rather than in the day-time was a "blot on democracy" and that "There was no firing otherwise the eviction was similar to Jallianwala Bagh incident." He said that the "strangulation of democracy" would cause civil society to launch protests throughout the country to "teach government a lesson". Other civil society leaders, such as Arvind Kejriwal, also termed the use of police force of non-violent sleeping protesters as undemocratic. Shanti Bhushan and Swami Agnivesh also criticised the police action to end the hunger strike.
Government response
The government had been talking with Ramdev, but on the night of 5 June it used force to break the strike. Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh called Ramdev a "cheat" and "fraud". According to him the government had reached an agreement before the protests were held. The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote to Ramdev, asking to cease-and-desist from holding the protests. Nationalist Congress Party General Secretary Tariq Anwar said that "Both Hazare and Ramdev are blackmailing the government and they should first peep into their own hearts." Pawan Bansal commented on the midnight police action and said that "It was not a crackdown, we [the government] had to do it to maintain law and order".
Other political parties response
Suo Moto Cognizance by The Supreme Court
A vacation bench of the Supreme Court of India comprising justice B. S. Chauhan and Justice Swatenter Kumar issued notices to the Union Home Secretary, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Delhi administration, and Delhi Police Commissioner asking them to respond within two weeks, after taking suo motu cognizance of forceful eviction of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his followers from the Ramlila ground in New Delhi.
However, the court declined to entertain a petition filed by advocate Ajay Aggarwal, who said that no FIR had been registered against the police officials, who resorted to lathicharge on helpless sleeping satyagrahis at the maiden pandal. The bench expressed its displeasure that before the matter came up for hearing before it, the entire contents of the petition were leaked to the media.
See also
References
Further reading
External links
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Indian_anti-corruption_movement
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