cleanmediatoday.blogspot.com
Suddenly, Anna says fasting a ‘waste of time’
Clean Media Correspondent
New Delhi, August 02 (CMC) With the government refusing to play ball, Team Anna announced today that they would end their “indefinite” fast at 5 pm tomorrow — the tenth day of the protest — even as they indicated that they wanted to play a more active political role.
Addressing his supporters today, Anna Hazare said: “It is another two years to go to polls in 2014. We have to go to the people throughout the country in the next one-and-a-half years. Why waste time on fasts?”
Unlike their earlier protests, the latest fast was marked by low turnout.
“It is time for us to think of an alternative. We want a political alternative. But I will not launch or join a party. People should decide who should be given tickets and how to achieve that alternative system,” said Hazare.
Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan sought responses from the people in the next 48 hours on a “political alternative”. Sources in the core committee said while Hazare is opposed to the idea of launching a party, some like Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal have been pushing for it since February.
A tweet on the team’s official Janlokpal handle asked people to reply “yes” or “no” on whether they should “provide a political alternative to the country”.
However, differences within the members on the issue were apparent. Within hours of Bhushan’s statement seeking feedback from the people, an e-mail from Chandramohan, representative of the Chennai India Against Corruption (IAC) chapter in the core committee, was circulated among a section of IAC members questioning the Delhi-centric decision-making process. “If going political is what we want, then why even go through this. I certainly don’t want Annaji or others to suffer in this fast but this is a protest without any clear strategy. It feels like we were just going through the motions and just given up,” said the e-mail.
Chandramohan later denied having written the e-mail, but admited that it was sent from his e-mail ID. “I do not understand what is happening,” he said.
Another core committee member, Santosh Hegde, raised questions of the contours of the “political alternative”. “If any decision was taken in the core committee on this, I am not aware of it,” he said.
Kumar Vishwas said the question of whether IAC should launch a political party is “an open debate”.
Darshak Hathi, another core committee member, said the political alternative in question is unlikely to be a political party as Hazare is opposed to it. “He wants us to support good people as candidates. But if some others want a political party, let us see how things shape up,” he said.
Earlier in the day, a group of eminent personalities, including jurist V R Krishna Iyer, former Army Chief Gen V K Singh, former CEC J M Lyngdoh and Kuldeep Nayar, appealed to Team Anna to end the fast.
“We call upon Anna Hazare and all his associates who have been on an indefinite fast to give up on their expectations from this establishment. Instead we call upon them to focus their energies on creating an alternative political force that is democratic, accountable, ethical and non-violent and capable of leading an electoral revolution to democratise and decentralise power and make the power structures of the country more accountable to the people,” they said in their letter which was read out at the protest site.
Suddenly, Anna says fasting a ‘waste of time’
Clean Media Correspondent
New Delhi, August 02 (CMC) With the government refusing to play ball, Team Anna announced today that they would end their “indefinite” fast at 5 pm tomorrow — the tenth day of the protest — even as they indicated that they wanted to play a more active political role.
Addressing his supporters today, Anna Hazare said: “It is another two years to go to polls in 2014. We have to go to the people throughout the country in the next one-and-a-half years. Why waste time on fasts?”
Unlike their earlier protests, the latest fast was marked by low turnout.
“It is time for us to think of an alternative. We want a political alternative. But I will not launch or join a party. People should decide who should be given tickets and how to achieve that alternative system,” said Hazare.
Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan sought responses from the people in the next 48 hours on a “political alternative”. Sources in the core committee said while Hazare is opposed to the idea of launching a party, some like Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal have been pushing for it since February.
A tweet on the team’s official Janlokpal handle asked people to reply “yes” or “no” on whether they should “provide a political alternative to the country”.
However, differences within the members on the issue were apparent. Within hours of Bhushan’s statement seeking feedback from the people, an e-mail from Chandramohan, representative of the Chennai India Against Corruption (IAC) chapter in the core committee, was circulated among a section of IAC members questioning the Delhi-centric decision-making process. “If going political is what we want, then why even go through this. I certainly don’t want Annaji or others to suffer in this fast but this is a protest without any clear strategy. It feels like we were just going through the motions and just given up,” said the e-mail.
Chandramohan later denied having written the e-mail, but admited that it was sent from his e-mail ID. “I do not understand what is happening,” he said.
Another core committee member, Santosh Hegde, raised questions of the contours of the “political alternative”. “If any decision was taken in the core committee on this, I am not aware of it,” he said.
Kumar Vishwas said the question of whether IAC should launch a political party is “an open debate”.
Darshak Hathi, another core committee member, said the political alternative in question is unlikely to be a political party as Hazare is opposed to it. “He wants us to support good people as candidates. But if some others want a political party, let us see how things shape up,” he said.
Earlier in the day, a group of eminent personalities, including jurist V R Krishna Iyer, former Army Chief Gen V K Singh, former CEC J M Lyngdoh and Kuldeep Nayar, appealed to Team Anna to end the fast.
“We call upon Anna Hazare and all his associates who have been on an indefinite fast to give up on their expectations from this establishment. Instead we call upon them to focus their energies on creating an alternative political force that is democratic, accountable, ethical and non-violent and capable of leading an electoral revolution to democratise and decentralise power and make the power structures of the country more accountable to the people,” they said in their letter which was read out at the protest site.
No comments:
Post a Comment