Anna Hazare Begins Hunger Strike Against Corruption in Modi Govt
As the Modi government has a total control over the media, and most journalists in India are also corrupt, the corruption cases are not being reported.
By Rakesh Raman
Social activist Anna Hazare, who is known for his anti-corruption drives in India, is going on an indefinite hunger strike in Delhi today.
This time, he wants to highlight increasing corruption in Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government.
Once again, the venue of his protest is Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, where he had sat on a hunger strike in 2011 to press the then Congress-led government to set up a Lokpal (the top anti-corruption ombudsman in India) to investigate the cases of corruption.
[ Also Read: Congress Leader Refuses to Attend Meeting to Appoint Lokpal ]
Hazare has been demanding the constitution of Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in the Indian states who could exclusively investigate the cases of corruption expeditiously.
Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal was supporting Anna Hazare in the anti-corruption protest. But Kejriwal cheated Hazare to form Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and enter dirty Indian politics. Now, Kejriwal is perceived to be one of most corrupt politicians that India has produced.
As corruption has been increasing in Modi’s India, last month global anti-corruption organization Transparency International lowered India’s rank from last year’s position of 79 to 81 this year.
Corruption in Modi Government
As the Modi government has a total control over the media, and most journalists in India are also corrupt, the corruption cases are not being reported.
The level of corruption has increased manifold in Modi’s government. Besides unchecked bureaucratic and political corruption, Modi himself is also facing serious corruption charges.
Opposition parties in India are up in arms against the government, as they are demanding a thorough inquiry into the alleged corruption deals of Modi.
[ Narendra Modi Corruption Case: What Is the Truth? ]
Although no inquiry against the political bosses in India can reveal the truth, opposition parties including Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) have demanded thorough investigation in the case.
Prashant Bhushan – an Indian lawyer, activist and politician – who has revealed information about Modi’s own corruption said that even the Supreme Court of India is not working freely and has refused to take appropriate action against Modi.
[ इस बार मन की बात नहीं, धन की बात करे मोदी ]
In fact, Modi is not the only politician in his political group Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who is facing corruption charges. Among the BJP leaders and Modi’s friends who are facing serious corruption charges include:
- Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,
- Rajasthan Chief Minsiter Vasundhara Raje,
- Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and
- Former Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel.
But the Modi government did not hold any proper inquiry in all these cases and these politicians are having a ball with public money.
Anna Hazare has decided to start his anti-corruption protest today because on March 23, 1931 India’s great freedom fighter Bhagat Singh was hanged to death by the British.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
