New Delhi, July 17 (ANI): Social activist Anna Hazare arrived here on Sunday to discuss provisions of the Lokpal Bill with the government and to move the Supreme Court on the fact that all citizens of the country had a 'Right to Protest'.
"We are going to head to the Supreme Court tomorrow and we are going to tell the government that the Constitution has granted each citizen the 'Right to Protest'. Every citizen has the right to voice their opinion against the atrocities happening in this country," said Hazare
He also revealed the timetable of the movement against corruption and said his hunger-fast would resume on August 16.
Hazare also asserted that the government had said that the Lokpal Bill in its present form was unconstitutional.
Hazare informed mediapersons that civil society has yet to discuss certain clauses of the Lokpal (Ombudsman) bill. He also said that we live in a democracy and crushing anyone's movement is considered wrong.
"The talks that we previously had with the government regarding the Lokpal bill are incomplete. We, the civil society, are going to discuss the Lokpal (Ombudsman) bill with the federal government. The government said that they crushed Baba Ramdev's movement and they have said that we are going to destroy Anna's movement as well. Is this anarchy or a democracy? At one point, we were under the dictatorship of the British, but since we live in a democracy now, all this is considered to be wrong, " said Anna Hazare, social activist.
Recently, Hazare questioned whether the government's willingness to draft an effective Lokpal Bill.
He said this on the sidelines of a function, which he and fellow social activist Kiran Bedi addressed atPune on July 15.
Hazare expressed apprehensions over political leaders' commitment to build a corruption-free India.
The final meeting between the government and civil society representatives on the joint drafting panel of Lokpal Bill on June 22 concluded with divergent views on six key issues.
The key issues of differences were on inclusion of the Prime Minister, higher judiciary and Members of Parliaments within the purview of the Ombudsman committee and the mode of selection and removal of its members.
Two sets of drafts, - one by the government and the other by the civil society representatives were circulated amongst political parties and the proposals would be forwarded to the federal cabinet for the final drafting of the bill.
Graft has long been a part of daily life, but a series of recent scandals - which include violations in granting telecom licences that cost the country 39 billion dollars in lost revenue - are unprecedented.
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