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India's anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare reacts in front of the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on 22 August Mustafa Quraishi/AP/Press Association Images
India
Indian hunger striker "willing to talk"
Anna Hazare has been on hunger strike for a week – he said he will fast until his version of an anti-corruption bill is passed by the government.
AN INDIAN ANTI-CORRUPTION activist who is currently on hunger strike has said he is willing to talk about an anti-corruption bill.
The BBC reports that Anna Hazare said he will talk to “responsible government mediators” about the bill.
Hazare has been on hunger strike since last Tuesday and is reported to have lost 5kgs.
Criticism mounted yesterday against Hazare, with public figures saying it threatens democracy.
However, thousands supported his protest demanding stronger anti-corruption legislation.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh commented that “there is no magic wand that can solve the problem in one stroke.”
But 73-year-old Hazare has vowed to fast indefinitely until authorities pass his version of an anti-corruption bill — instead of the government’s draft — which would create a powerful anti-corruption watchdog.
Prime Minister Singh has invited party leaders to meet tomorrow to decide how to deal with Hazare.
But Arundhati Roy, one of India’s best-known writers and activists, wrote in The Hindu newspaper that Hazare’s bill is “so flawed that it is impossible to take seriously”.
- Additional reporting by AP
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