Indian anti-graft activist falls foul of corruption allegations
Indian anti-graft activist falls foul of corruption allegations
The high-profile campaign for anti-corruption legislation with teeth by charismatic Indian social activist Anna Hazare has fallen into confusion amid allegations there is corruption in his own organization and of partisan political motivations.
In an attempt to regain control of the situation and resume pressure on the government to propose legislation, Hazare on Friday ended a 20-day vow of silence and promised to reform the leadership of the "India Against Corruption" movement.
Allegations of financial irregularities have been made against two of Hazare's most senior aides, both of whom have attempted to justify their actions.
Two other senior aides have quit the movement after Hazare called on his followers to campaign against India's ruling Congress Party candidates in five upcoming state legislature elections and support candidates for the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Hazare sprang to international prominence earlier this year with his campaign demanding the Indian parliament address endemic corruption by creating an independent anti-graft watchdog with the power to call all politicians and government officials to account, from the prime minister down to the lowliest bureaucrat.
Tens of thousands of Indians flocked to listen to Hazare at a fairground in the capital, New Delhi, where he held court.
When Hazare, 74, went on a hunger strike in August, the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh buckled and agreed to introduce anti-corruption legislation in the next session of parliament, which is due to start on Nov. 22.
But Hazare's team are not satisfied that the proposed legislation is strong enough, and have submitted 32 amendments to the standing committee of parliament.
There is no doubt, however, that Hazare's stature - he portrays himself as a modern version of India's passive resistance promoter of independence from Britain in the 1940s, Mohandas Gandhi - has suffered and his political clout is diminished.
On Friday, Hazare told local journalists he would make new rules defining how leaders of his movement are chosen and how they are expected to act.
"The movement started suddenly and we did not have enough time to think about the structure of the core committee," he said.
The corruption allegations have been made against two members of Hazare's organizing committee, Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal.
Bedi, who was India's first high-ranking female police officer and became famous for having the official car of former prime minister Indira Gandhi towed away for a parking violation, admits that she inflated dozens of travel bills.
Bedi now runs a non-governmental organization called the India Vision Foundation and she is often invited to speak by organizations and charities.
But she garnered thousands of dollars out of her travel expenses in a number of ways.
In some cases, she travelled economy class but billed her hosts for business class and pocketed the difference.
She also billed two hosts for the same airfares, and sometimes bought discount tickets but billed for full fares.
Bedi agrees that she gathered money by these means, but she insists she used the money to fund good works through her own charity, and that the corruption allegations are "silly" and "stupid."
Kejriwal has been accused by a former core committee member of diverting the equivalent of $162,000 to his own organization, the Public Cause Research Foundation.
Kejriwal says that as Hazare's India Vision Foundation is a movement, not a legal entity, it could not open a bank account to receive donations.
He therefore used his own foundation's account to hold the funds.
Two members of Hazare's core committee quit recently after he decided to campaign against Congress Party candidates at a byelection in northern India.
Hazare denies that this decision makes him a partisan for the BJP opposition.
But one of the core committee members who resigned, Rajendra Singh, is quoted as saying Hazare's leading followers have strayed from the goal of fighting corruption and become a "bunch of power brokers."
.. you really are taking this job seriously... aren't ya??
his country was already sold to US & China for loans & weapons..
