Hafizzz
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UK, US media call Anna 'new Gandhi' but warn of Superman ombudsman
UK, US media call Anna 'new Gandhi' but warn of Superman ombudsman - Indian Express
Likening the Anna Hazare phenomenon to the advent of a new Gandhi, the British media today described his campaign as stunningly successful but warned against the creation of a Superman-like authority to check corruption.
Similarly, in America the media wrote the anti-corruption crusader had driven the Indian government into a political corner, but a leading paper felt the methods being used by the social activist were a recipe for anarchy.
A new 'Gandhi' shakes India, screamed the headline of The Telegraph as it called Hazare the born-again Gandhian, who has been receiving wide publicity in the local media here.
The 73-year-old Gandhian's travails were splashed in almost all British papers.
Stunningly successful campaign of Anna Hazare, the born-again Gandhian who has tied up the government in knots with his hunger strikes, is what The Telegraph said in a long report written by author Patrick French, who also took a dig at the prevalent Indian judicial, political and social system.
However, the article said Hazare's success will make it increasingly difficult to argue against proposals which would, in practice, create yet another layer of government in a country that has too much bureaucracy, and would create a body armed with the kind of powers over the lives of individuals that have previously only been given to Superman.
French lost no words in attacking the UPA-led government for its handling of the situation.
He said Hazare and his cohorts have sought to impose their programme on the government, buoyed by noisy public support.
This bizarre situation -- where elected representatives started to bow to the demands of a self-appointed saint -- has depended only partially on the elderly Gandhian's canny, populist strategy.
The daily said at every turn, the organisers of his campaign have been aided by the blundering of the ruling Congress Party.
Their response has been a masterclass in ineptitude. First, they allowed Hazare and his appointees from 'civil society' to determine the proposed shape of new legislation.
Then they quarrelled with him as he began negotiating with senior ministers; then they made concessions; then he announced he would go on another hunger strike if further demands were not met.
Through all this, the government led by the 78-year-old bureaucrat-turned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, has failed in even the most basic aspects of public and media relations.
They have not faced down the more preposterous aspects of Hazare's campaign," the daily said.
Sonia Gandhi, The ultimate leader of the Congress Party, has been in hospital in the United States, it said.
The opposition BJP has been able to direct the debate over corruption, backing Hazare when and where it suits them, and calling the Congress leaderless.
The Guardian report on Hazare's agitation said that his fight for change has inspired millions of Indians.
It had a write-up by Indian author Chetan Bhagat who said the arrest of Hazare has brought people from all walks of life together to demand an end to the old ways.
Archaic laws, designed for autocratic, colonial rulers with no accountability (yes, blame the British for everything) have been retained and abused to the hilt by the current politicians. Power talks; truth and justice are often crushed.
We remain a poor country, despite having world-class talent and ample natural resources, Bhagat wrote.
The Guardian also carried a profile of Hazare who, the daily said, has caused political heads to roll after previous anti-corruption campaigns. It also wrote about previous
agitations undertaken by the Hazare. The Daily Mail focused on Hazare's supporters, saying "tens of thousands come out in support for hunger-striking Indian crusader christened 'the new Gandhi'.
The Independent said Hazare was a self-styled Gandhian activist who had earlier this year brought part of Delhi and other major Indian cities to a halt with his protests.
The Telegraph said Hazare's message is simple and that he is an elderly ex-soldier, an ascetic and a disciplinarian.
His dress is styled after Mahatma Gandhi. He dislikes alcohol, cable television, the chewing of paan and the eating of meat -- indeed when three men from his village appeared drunk, he tied them to a temple pillar and flogged them with his army belt. To his younger supporters, his old-fashioned, undemocratic simplicity is attractive.
The anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare, his arrest and his negotiation with the government, gorged wide coverage in the American media, with the papers saying the Gandhian has become a thorn in the side of the government.
Hazare, a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, is the face of a nationwide social movement against rampant corruption that has gathered pace this year after a string of high-profile scandals. He has become a major thorn in the side of the government, which is led by the Congress party, The Washington Post reported.
The social reformer has become an unlikely figurehead for the fight against corruption in the country, CNN reported.
He has been able to mobilise public support because there is so much dissatisfaction with the issue. Citizens have even created a website -- ipaidabribe.com -- where people can denounce the corruption they encounter in their daily lives, the news channel reported.
Fueled by obsessive coverage on India's all-news television networks, the jailhouse protest clearly captured the imagination of the country, and appeared to have backed
government leaders into a political corner, The New York Times said.
The Los Angeles Times said the Indian government attempt to head off a political crisis by arresting a key anti-corruption activist appeared to backfire when Parliament
walked out and demonstrations erupted around the country.
In April, Hazare held a five-day fast that garnered enormous national support and helped make him the public face of a grass-roots anti-graft fight. It also put the ruling
Congress Party under pressure to pass a controversial Lokpal, or people's protector, bill that, among other things, would establish an independent ombudsman able to investigate senior officials, the paper said.
But the Wall Street Journal accused Hazare of undermining the Indian constitution, alleging that the methods used by the social activist are nothing but a grammar of anarchy.
Methods of Hazare's kind have no place in a democratic republic and, as the architect of India's constitution B R Ambedkar warned in 1949, are nothing but the grammar of anarchy, said the paper.
The real issue should be Hazare's demagogic tactics. An open political system like India's resolves differences through the ballot box, but Hazare is intent on forcing the
issue by threatening to fast to the death, the daily said.
Hazare's supporters encourage comparisons to the emergency rule in 1975, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi suspended constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties. But if there is anyone who wants to undermine India's constitution today, it is Hazare, The wall Street Journal said.
He demands that parliament create the unelected post of ombudsman, chosen by a panel of worthies, with sweeping powers to haul up any public official on graft charges, including the prime minister, the daily said.
Who will guard the guardian if he begins to engage in politically motivated prosecutions? the daily asked.
The Journal also held the government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responsible for the present mess as his inability to take concrete action against corruption had created a vacuum which now has been occupied by Hazare.
The New York Times said that corruption is a source of growing public anger and frustration in India, and a yoke threatening to drag down the coalition government led by the National Congress Party.
Mired in scandals for months, Congress Party leaders have tried to convince the public that they are cracking down on corruption, yet public skepticism remains high, it said.
Even Indians living outside of Bharat supports Anna :
Indian-Americans come out in support of Anna Hazare
Indian-Americans come out in support of Anna Hazare - Indian Express
Coming out in support of Anna Hazare, Indian-Americans have appealed to the Indian government to take serious steps to curb the menace of corruption in the country.
We NRIs want to remove corruption out of India. We support Anna Hazare's efforts to eradicate the corruption, pass Lokpal Bill and declare black money as national assets, said Dnyanoba Kendre, a yoga teacher from Pennsylvania.
Of all the protests in India in recent times, this is the most legitimate and at the grass root-level, that can change the fate of the country, said Rangarajan, a student from the University of Maryland.
Another student, Umang Agarawal, said they are emailing Supreme Court en mass directly to take suo motu action and save the nation.
More than Indians fighting against corruption, it seems government is fighting against people who are fighting against corruption. This is going to be one of the watershed moments of Indian history, said Vibhash Jha, a PhD student at the University of Maryland.
Indian-Americans from in and around Washington for the third day held a demonstration in front of the Indian embassy here. Similar events in support of Hazare are being reported from various parts of the country as well.
A large number of Indian-Americans held a similar protest demonstration outside the Indian Consulate in Houston.
We NRI in Houston feel connected to the movement in India and are expressing support in several forms like Facebook, Twitter, Google, websites in addition to their presence in local gatherings around apartment club houses, public parks and other community places, said Raghava R Solipuram.
Shocked and saddened by the arrest of Hazare and his supporters, Non-Resident Indians for Secular and Harmonious India (NRI-SAHI) said Indian-Americans support the demand of Team Anna to bring every one under the Jan Lok Pal Bill.
We demand the government of India keep its promise and promulgate an effective Anti-Corruption Bill, NRI-SAHI said.
In a statement, Atlanta-based US Hindu Alliance strongly condemned the measures taken by the Indian government against the peaceful and democratic anti-corruption movement led by Hazare.
The right to speak freely and the right to protest peacefully have been earned by the people of India after a prolonged struggle which involved the sacrifices of millions of its people.
Hindus around the world cannot remain silent spectators when the government snatches away the fruits of India's freedom movement and attempts to create a political environment which has all the hallmarks of a police state, it said.
The world should set up a NO-Indian Police zone for Anna to protest !!!
