Anna Hazare decided to go on a hunger strike against the Modi government. He said the fast will continue till the government didn’t present a roadmap to ensure fair remuneration for agricultural produce, the appointment of Lokpal and Lokayuktas, etc.
He is holding the fast in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. The 82-year old has been fasting for nearly a week now. He called an indefinite hunger strike on March 23rd to commemorate martyrs’ day. He has lost 4Kgs so far but also seems to be considering ending the fast. Hazare was paid a visit by Maharashtra’s Cabinet Minister Girish Mahajan who promised Hazare that the Centre would agree to his demands.
Anna Hazare has decided to call off the march only if and when the centre agrees to his demands in writing. He is expecting a response in a day or so. Hazare is also expecting a visit from Nitin Gadkari on 27th March. Hazare made it clear that if the government made the promises but won’t live up to them then the people could expect to see Anna Hazare back at the Maidan fasting again.
This Anna Hazare’s 19th fast and seven years after the movement India Against Corruption which turned into a full-fledged movement. But in this case, even the support for the fast doesn’t seem to be all that tremendous. On 26th March about 800-900 people were seen supporting him. His committee tried to garner more farmer support from neighbouring states worried about the low response. They will also send student volunteers to rally support in various colleges around Delhi. The movement in 2011 was a force to be reckoned with finding support among the RSS and the urban middle-class population. But this time the team is attributing the low support to a lack of an anti-corruption sentiment. It’s yet to be seen whether this fast will achieve what it set out to do.