Pass strong Lokpal bill or quit, Hazare tells the govt

Social activist Anna Hazare yesterday asked the government to pass a strong Lokpal anti-corruption bill or resign and called on the people to hold demonstrations and fill jails if necessary.He accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of “cheating the people” of the country.“I will start my fast in New Delhi on December 27 and all of you will hold demonstrations carrying the national flag, Hazare told a large public meeting here.“Three days later, you will fill the jails if the bill is not passed by then,” the anti-corruption crusader told the boisterous crowd that enthusiastically responded to almost every statement of his with loud cheers and whistles.He urged the people to “gherao” (surround) the houses of MPs opposing a strong Lokpal but ensure that there was no violence.Calling the central government a ‘jhooti sarkar” (government that lies), Hazare said: “They are not cheating me but the people of this country.”Hazare said the campaign will continue until a strong Lokpal is in place.He said the aim was not bring down the government. “No purpose will be served by bringing down the government because another government that will come will do the same thing.”Hazare said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is an “honest man, a good man but is remote-controlled.”He lashed out at Home Minister P Chidambaram, saying “if Lokpal law was there, he would have been in jail by now.”Hazare said Chidambaram had planned to do a Ramdev on him, a reference to the post-midnight police action to end the yoga Guru’s protest at New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on the issue of black money abroad.The Gandhian was here to address the rally organised by the India Against Corruption movement to “save Lokayukta” ombudsman in Karnataka.The Lokayukta in the state has been headless since Shivaraj V Patil quit on September 19.The Bharatiya Janata Party government led by D V Sadananda Gowda is at loggerheads with Governor H R Bhardwaj over appointing a new Lokayukta.Bhardwaj has not accepted the Gowda cabinet’s choice of former Kerala High Court chief justice S R Bannurmath as he is caught in a controversy over building a house in Bangalore on a site meant for civic amenities.The Bangalore rally was also addressed by former Karnataka Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Kiran Bedi, both prominent members of Team Anna, and freedom fighter H S Doreswamy.Hegde’s term ended on August 2 and his July 27 “explosive” report on illegal mining scam led to the fall of the first BJP government in the state, headed by B S Yeddyurappa, on July 31. Hegde recommended Yeddyurappa’s trial for corruption in the illegal scam.Earlier in the day, Hazare wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and reiterated his threat to start a protest from December 27.“If the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) is not under the Lokpal, it will be a toothless body. It appears the government does not want to let go of the agency,” Hazare wrote in his four-page letter to Singh.