Supporters of Ghandian activist Anna Hazare, 74, gather in front of Delhi's Tihar Jail where he is being held. Photo: Kate Geraghty
DELHI: The might of India's government has been brought to its knees by an old man in a white hat who refuses to eat.
Indian authorities capitulated yesterday in the face of massive protests in support of the anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare, who had pledged to undertake a public fast over government graft.
Mr Hazare was arrested on Tuesday, before he began his public fast, for an unauthorised public protest. That brought tens of thousands of Indians to the streets in protest in cities all over the country.
The main protests were in the capital, Delhi, where Mr Hazare's protest was planned and where the 74-year-old Gandhian activist was being held in Tihar jail.
Under pressure, the government told Mr Hazare he was free to leave prison on Tuesday but he refused to go until his demands to hold an unfettered public protest were met. He was expected to leave jail this morning.
Yesterday, facing growing public opprobrium, the government ceded to almost all of Mr Hazare's demands. The government wanted to limit him to a three-day protest and cap the number of supporters allowed at 5000. Mr Hazare wanted a month and no restrictions.
In the end, the government offered 15 days and said as many as wanted to do so could attend the protest at the sprawling Ramlila Maidan, Mr Hazare's choice of venue.
Mr Hazare has not eaten since he was arrested on Tuesday, but his public fast was expected to begin yesterday evening Australian time.
Schoolchildren, office workers, retired public servants and army officers, even a group of eunuchs, were among those who rallied at the jail and the protest ground in New Delhi yesterday.
They carried placards and pictures of Mr Hazare, chanting he was the ''second Gandhi of the nation''.
Rana Virender, a 47-year-old farmer who came from the neighbouring province of Haryana, said he was ''fed up'' with paying bribes, almost daily. ''I have paid bribe for getting electricity connection, getting seeds, fertilisers. I don't want to pay bribes any more, I want the whole system to change, not only the government.''
Karuna Kant, a 19-year-old Delhi college student, came with dozens of her friends.
''I have seen rampant corruption in college admission,'' she told the Herald at the gates to the jail holding Hazare.
''It's really discouraging for deserving students. We all want fair play everywhere.''
Corruption cripples India. It infects every layer of politics and business, stifles development and cruels foreign investment.
The current government has been especially weakened by a seemingly never-ending string of scandals: a $US40 billion ($38 million) telecom licences rort, a scam in parliament where politicians were given briefcases full of cash in return for their for votes, and a disastrous and deeply corrupt Commonwealth Games that cost Indian taxpayers $US4.1 billion, 15 times what they should have.
Even the man appointed by the government as its corruption watchdog has been charged with corruption.
At particular issue between Mr Hazare and India's federal government is a piece of anti-corruption legislation - known as the Lokpal bill - now before parliament.
Critics of the legislation argue it is toothless because the Prime Minister and judges are exempt from its remit.
While few disagree that corruption is a major issue plaguing India, critics of Mr Hazare say his actions are akin to blackmailing the government.
The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, regarded as one of the country best prime ministers and regarded by many Indians as a good man leading a bad government, said Mr Hazare's use of a public protest to shape the anti-corruption law constituted a direct challenge to the government.
''The path [Mr Hazare] has chosen … is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy,'' Dr Singh told a packed lower house. ''The question is: who drafts the law and who makes the law?''
He said legislation was the ''sole prerogative'' of elected representatives
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