India Today Warne wishes Tendulkar to reach 100th ton in first Test

Australian spin legend Shane Warne has little doubt that Sachin Tendulkar would get his 100th international century on the present tour Down Under, but he wished the iconic Indian batsman to reach the feat in the first cricket Test starting December 26.
"I feel Sachin would get his 100th century (in Australia) but I wish he does so in Melbourne," Warne said on the sidelines of a function at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where his 300kg bronze statue was unveiled this morning.
Warne, who in his entire career could claim Tendulkar's wicket only thrice in Test matches, has enormous respect for the champion Indian batsman whom he rates as the best willow-yielder of his time.
The first match against Australia would be Tendulkar's 185th Test. He has so far made 15,183 runs from 303 innings with 51 centuries at an average of 56.03 in five-day games.
Tendulkar also has 18,111 runs from 453 ODIs with 48 centuries under his belt at an average of 45.16.
Tendulkar, though, has struggled to add to his tally of 99 international centuries this year - his last ton being 111 against South Africa at Nagpur in March during the World Cup.
His last Test century was also against South Africa - 146 at the Newlands, Cape Town in January and has been without a ton in the longest format of the game in his last 14 innings.
On the present tour, India revisits Melbourne again in February, though it would be for a 50-over match against Australia on February 3.
Meanwhile, Warne also expects the famed Indian batting line up to do well in the upcoming series.
"I think their batters, especially Rahul Dravid, will make big runs. He's a quality person, a quality act, a quality player.
"India has a quality team. In Test cricket we've seen them, against the West Indies. Their batsmen will do pretty well," said Warne, who ended his career with 708 wickets from 145 Tests at a staggering average of 25.42.
The former leg-spinner, however, did not boast of an impressive record against India. In his 14 Tests against India, Warne captured only 43 wickets at an average of 47.19.
If Warne is confident about India's good showing in the batting department in Australia, he has serious doubts over the visitors' bowling abilities.
"Their bowlers will have to stay fit. If Zaheer Khan or Ishant Sharma get injured, then I think their bowling attack could be quite weak. The Australian batsmen could perform pretty well. I think it's going to come down to how India are going to take 20 wickets with their bowling," he said.

Of Gita And the Hindu identity

The recent controversy surrounding the banning of the Bhagwad Gita in Russia is an extension of various attempts in recent years to paint the Hindu religion in poor light.

That said, things ought to be put in perspective here: it needs to be clarified that the present controversy is merely the fallout of a confrontation between the Russian Orthodox Church and Isckon. That the former should resort to seeking a ban, that too, on the grounds of the Gita preaching religious extremism, only exposes the illiteracy or the vindictiveness of the concerned Church.

It's akin to me having a problem with a Church being constructed in my locality and so I file a case seeking a ban on the Bible. Gita preaches tolerance, reason and moral discernment. A society or individual who has a problem with these could be suffering from an acute personality disorder.

Thankfully, as facts coming out of Russia suggest, the Russian society which has always been warm towards India, per se does not entertain those sentiments. In fact, it is believed that the case against the Gita might fall through at the next hearing.

The present episode, notwithstanding, what is inexplicably baffling is the general dearth of pride that an Indian government shows in reacting to such instances of sacrilege.

Remember India's most famous painter in recent years made a career out of mocking Hindu gods and Goddesses. A fashion designer in Australia recently had her lingerie creation adorned with Goddess Laxmi. These instances continue to happen because the Indian establishment shows little pride or initiative in safeguarding the sentiments, leave alone the interests, of India's majority population.

For instance, in the present episode, ISKCON devotees in Russia had written in November to the Prime Minister's Office, asking that the government use high-level ministerial visits to Moscow, ahead of Manmohan Singh's own trip, to ensure the Gita was not banned. A less indifferent PM would have had no reason not to take this up with the Russian authorities. If we couldn't have done this with a friendly nation, I'm sure we can never do it with a Pakistan or China.

What is no less amazing is the silence of India's normally vocal intellectual class. And hence I would take this discussion a step further here: has the Hindu identity become an ambiguous one with no single binding element to evince a common sense of belonging among the different blocks?

If so, it's time to consider a makeover for the religion. That makeover could start with nomenclature. Let the Hindu merely be called a Bharatiya, a name that emanates from the name of the land which is home to more than 100 million Hindus.

In hindsight, a more judicious naming of both 'India' and 'Hindu' could have addressed many of the recurring problems that the country and the religion keep confronting.

India: The Communal Character of Anna Hazare’s Movement

It has now been confirmed that the Anna Hazare-led so-called ‘second freedom struggle’—as some sections of the media have mistakenly chosen to call it—has close links with the RSS. From conceptualizing this media-propelled movement to successfully organizing it, the RSS, it appears, played a key role in it. This being the case, it is imperative to analyse the specific communal character of this self-styled Gandhian movement against corruption.
No movement can be properly understood without taking into account the forces behind it and their underlying objectives. Anna Hazare’s movement has been analysed from several perspectives by both its critics as well as supporters. Thus, it has been asked if the movement was truly a Gandhian one. Was it really politically impartial? Was it democratic? Was it orchestrated by the media? Was it funded by the corporate world? Was it an NGO stunt? Was it all-India in its scope? On all these points there has been heated debate. Yet, lamentably little has been said about whether or not this movement was truly based on the Constitutional principle of secularism and what, in particular, its position has been on the issue of Hindutva.
The men behind Anna Hazare’s movement bluntly deny that their movement has any direct link with Hindutva forces. Some people have accepted this claim at face-value. Yet, the reality seems quite the opposite. It would be amply clear to a perceptive analyst that the movement was heavily based on the support and assistance of the RSS. Members of the so-called ‘Team Anna’ may or may not concede this but the RSS has itself officially acknowledged this fact. After all, ‘India Against Corruption’ has no cadre of its own—all it has are leaders. The massive crowds that poured out onto the streets to participate in the movement could not have been mobilized simply by ‘Team Anna’ and a handful of NGOs. Rather, this was, to very a large extent, the handiwork of Hindutva organizations.
It is now evident that not only did the RSS mobilize crowds in support of Anna Hazare’s movement but that it even prepared the movement’s very roadmap. The decision to launch a campaign against corruption was taken by the RSS at its All-India leaders meeting in Karnataka in March 2011, and it was only after that, in April and then in August, that Anna Hazare sat on a fast against corruption.
It has recently come to light that both the father and uncle of one of the key men in ‘Team Anna’, the Marwari Arvind Kejriwal, have been office-bearers of the RSS and allied groups in Haryana. Kejriwal is not known to have openly condemned the Hindutva forces. On the contrary, he has consistently been soft on them. His close relations with top BJP leader LK Advani are well-known. And the manner in which he maintained close links with top BJP leaders in the course of the recent agitation, including Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Nitin Gadkari, raise several questions about the actual nature of the relationship between Kejriwal and the RSS. Is it that Kejriwal, the RSS and the BJP were seeking to work together to bring the present government down?
Whatever be the case, it is obvious from all this that there is no truth at all in the assertion of key members of ‘Team Anna’ that their movement has no direct link with Hindutva forces. The fact of the matter is that Anna Hazare has for long been a favourite of the RSS. Interestingly, a top RSS leader, the late HV Seshadri, even wrote a book on Anna Hazare’s so-called ‘model village of Ralegan Shiddi, which he hailed as supposedly heralding the arrival of Ram Rajya! This was possibly the first book of its sort on Anna Hazare’s activism. Another leading RSS activist, BM Datte, organized a number of programmes in and around Pune in support of Hazare. According to top RSS ideologue Govindacharya, a number of RSS activists have toured Hazare’s village.
For his part, Anna Hazare has never spoken against the Hindutva ideology. He is said to have had very close relations with the RSS till 1995, when he targeted two ministers of the then BJP-Shiv Sena ministry in Maharashtra, Mahadev Shivankar of the BJP and Shashikant Suthar of the Shiv Sena—for corruption, after which his relations with the RSS were somewhat shaken. But, despite this, the RSS consistently supported him for spending his life based in a temple and for seeking to revive India’s ‘ancient’ culture through village self-government. He has been praised as a great Indian leader in the RSS’s Hindi periodical Panchjanya, even featuring on its cover page.
When the BJP recently failed in its attempt to topple the government, it suddenly remembered its favourite hero Anna Hazare, and, accordingly, so it seems, Hindutva forces decided to achieve their objective by creating this movement ostensibly against corruption. For this purpose, activists of the RSS’s students’ wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, floated an outfit called ‘Youth Against Corruption’. At the same time, Arvind Kejriwal, who was running an organization called Parivartan, got together with flag-bearers of ‘soft Hindutva’, men like Baba Ramdev, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar and other such religious leaders, and established a group that called itself ‘India Against Corruption’. It seems that both these organizations, with very similar-sounding names, were established in accordance with the RSS’s plan of unleashing a countrywide agitation ostensibly against corruption.
Accordingly, the RSS instructed its volunteers, a huge number of people spread all across India, to wholeheartedly participate in this movement. This explains why the overall ethos of Anna Hazare’s agitation at Jantar Mantar was no different from that of the RSS shahkhas—the same image of Akhand Bharat being displayed in the form of ‘Bharat Mata’! The only difference was that she held the Indian tricolor in her hand instead of the Hindutva bhagwa-dhwaj. RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat’s call to the youth of India to join the people’s movement against corruption and the presence of top RSS leader Ram Madhav at Anna’s dais at Jantar Mantar raise the very real possibility that the entire movement was engineered and directed in accordance with the agenda of the RSS. When some people raised questions about this, the men behind the movement became alert and felt it imperative to be a little less indiscreet. And so, at Hazare’s dais at the Ram Leela Grounds instead of well-known Hindutva leaders Ram Madhav and Uma Bharti, another RSS activist, Kumar Vishwas, was present throughout the thirteen-day fast, and even handled the task of managing the dais.
Can ‘Team Anna’ deny that the RSS had sent the same Kumar Vishwas to manage the dais in the very same Ram Leela Grounds during the recent agitation led by Baba Ramdev? The Hindutva hand behind the movement does not stop here, though. Top VHP leader Ashok Singhal is on record as having thanked the volunteers of the RSS for making Anna’s movement a success. He revealed that members of the Dharamyatra Mahasangh, a unit of the VHP, ran food stalls at the Ram Leela Grounds, where some 20, 000 people were fed every day.
In accordance with the RSS’s plans, vast numbers of people were mobilized to come out on the streets to support Anna Hazare. Top RSS leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi declared that RSS volunteers were fully active in Anna Hazare’s movement. The BJP youth leader Tejinder Pal took up the task of gherao-ing the residences of Congress MPs, while BJP MPs Anant Kumar, Gopinath Munde and Varun Gandhi made their appearance at the Ram Leela Grounds. One day before Anna went on his fast, MG Vaid, top RSS leader, issued a statement indicating that the RSS had given its full support to his movement. And that explains why and how RSS activists present at the Ram Leela Grounds as well as in other parts of India where Hazare supporters had gathered kept raising their favourite slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’, and in that same style and with the same sort of fervor as they are wont to in their shakhas. This is clear indication of the massive presence of RSS activists in the movement.
That Hindutva forces strongly backed Anna’s movement and participated in it in a big way across the country, even in remote parts, is clearly evident. To cite just one instance, a social activist called Gopal Rathi, a member of the Samajwadi Jan Parishad, wrote to Prashant Bhushan, a key member of the so-called ‘Team Anna’, from a small town called Pipariya in Madhya Pradesh, saying that in his town BJP activists had donned Anna-caps and launched a motor-cycle rally to protest against Hazare’s arrest. On the occasion of Janamashtami, VHP activists, he wrote, organized a recitation of the Sundar Kand, a section of the Ramayana, in support of Hazare. Volunteers of other Hindutva outfits, he write, such as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the Bajrang Dal, the Durga Vahini, and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, also organized a number of programmes to express their solidarity with Anna Hazare.
But this sort of overwhelming support for Anna Hazare from Hindutva forces was not limited just to this little-known town of Pipariya. The fact is that the same story was repeated across the country, in virtually every village, locality and city, where activists of the RSS and its associated outfits proved to be the backbone of the agitation.
For me the important question is not why the RSS participated in Anna Hazare’s movement. This was, after all, its own decision. As far as I am concerned, the key question is this: How did folks raising Gandhian slogans and who never tire hailing secularism become a part of an RSS-backed scheme? This is a very important question that must be asked and must also be answered. How did people like Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh, Prashant Bhushan and Sandeep Pandey, and many other such activists, who have all along opposed communalism and have themselves been targeted by communal forces, fall prey to this RSS conspiracy and get involved in an RSS-backed movement? Their stance has greatly troubled millions of Dalits, Adivasis and religious minorities of this country, who have not hesitated to express their distaste for Anna Hazare’s movement, not least because of its being so closely linked to Hindutva forces. Is it that these activists simply failed to understand the draconian nature of the Jan Lokpal that Anna Hazare and his Hindutva backers are demanding? Is it that they have failed to understand the nature of the forces at work behind the mob demonstrations that we recently witnessed? Is it that the secularism that they kept talking about earlier was a pretence? These are questions that they have to answer.
It goes to the credit of a number of leaders, activists, and intellectuals from the Dalit and OBC communities to have pointed out not only how the Anna Hazare-led movement and many of its demands militate heavily against the oppressed castes but also how it is heavily communal, being closely allied to the Hindutva agenda. The noted writer Mudra Rakshas, for one, plainly declared, ‘The Jan Lokpal represents the agenda of the Indian Savarna middle-class, which, while claiming to be modern, continues to cling to the communalism of the RSS’. SK Panjam, editor of ‘Dalit Today’, believes that Hazare’s Jan Lokpal is a new tool of Savarna Hindu revivalism. For his part, Rajvir Yadav of the Arjak Sangh insists that it is an assault on the Indian Constitution by the forces of Savarna Hindu chauvinism. Many other ideologues from the oppressed castes opine that Anna Hazare’s movement has been propped up as part of a conspiracy on the part of Hindutva forces to stop the caste-based census and stall the passing of the proposed bill against communal violence.
True to form, the dominant Indian media has deliberately ignored such voices, thus revealing, as Anna Hazare’s movement also does, its Savarna casteist and Hindu communal character

The Anna Hazare Movement and the Second Generation Reform

The Anna Hazare’s Anti-Corruption Movement has become an important point of discussion among the general public as well as intellectuals. The first reaction, although mistaken, was that is a battle between the democracy and the oligarchy comprising feudal elites of Indian society who have taken over the parliament, which represented democracy. The second reaction was from the left perspective which was often confusing. Initially it refused to accept it as a movement but later, when it grew ‘big’ -thanks to the corporate media, it gave it a ‘conditional’ support fearing isolation from the ‘masses’. The confusion was due to the demands put forth by movement and the support of the corporate it was getting. Both anti-thesis to each other in form and in essence. The left could not judge what the Team Anna was fighting for and hence was unable to educate the masses. The left also didn’t see that through the Anna Movement the Indian state is initiating the second generation reform. In this phase the major issue is the reform in the bureaucracy. During the first generation reform Ram Mandir hysteria was created this time corruption became the logic of reform.
Although the reforms were initiated- in 1991- but were put ‘slow’ because of the democratic pressure. The era of coalition, which was again a reflection of confusion prevailing among the masses, became the major hurdle for the speedy reform as demanded by the investors. Montek S. Ahluwalia described it as ‘gradualist economic reforms’ and suggested that, ‘this reduced politically divisive controversy, and enabled a consensus of sorts to evolve, but it also meant that the consensus at each point represented a compromise, with many interested groups joining only because they believed that reforms would not go “too far”. The result was a process of change that was not so much gradualist as fitful and opportunistic.’[i]
On the one hand reform demanded pace and not gradualism on the other hand it was ‘restricted’ because of democratic space of Indian system. So the well wishers of reforms moved to trace the democratic space for pressurizing the state for the reforms. In this backdrop the rise of ‘civil society’ could be understood. In the book ‘Social Movements and State Power’ James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer argue, ‘Reconsideration of the limits of state action also led to an increased awareness of the potential role of civic organizations in the provision of public goods and social services, either separately or in a ‘synergistic’ relationship with state institutions. In this context, the idea of ‘civil society,’ like that of ‘globalization,’ was converted into a discursive weapon and ideological tool in service of advancing the neoliberal agenda.’[ii]
In a way the Anna movement could also be seen in this context. It has taken over the issue of reform in the field of bureaucracy which is the most sought after agenda for the proponent of the reforms as they see the bureaucracy frozen in the Nehruvian times as the major obstacle to their agenda. A study by Arvind Panagariya on behalf of The Asia Development Bank suggests, ‘the reform of bureaucracy is essential. The problem of a bloated bureaucracy and the need for downsizing it is well recognized. But with policy making becoming an increasingly sophisticated and specialized activity, it is necessary to open the top bureaucracy to outside specialists. One proposal, made by the present author, is to open the positions at the level of Joint Secretary and above to outsiders rather than limiting competition to the existing bureaucracy as is the current practice.’[iii]
This could work as a point of reference for understanding the Anna Movement. The movement traced the growing anti-corruption feeling among the Indian people and funneled it for the reformist’s agenda of the corporate. The movement was not at all against the parliament as the very people in the parliament tried to show but it actually was powering the reformists inside the walls of the parliament to bypass the long arguments necessary in the parliamentary democracy. Had this movement not taken shape the parliament would have to go for a longer process of arguments and counter-arguments for this bill to go to the standing committee.
The movement was first tested in April for two days. It was not a presentation to the government but to the corporate to show that the Team Anna was worth supporting. The corporate understood but they saw problem in Baba Ramdev who due to his political ambition was ‘actually’ fanning the issue of the corruption among his supporters. The ‘black money’ issue was against the corporate interest hence they could not entertain Baba for too long. This also explains government’s ‘duel’ approach for the ‘single’ issue of corruption. It used force against one and bowed down in front of another. Had Baba Ramdev adjusted according to wish of the corporate he could have been well accommodated in the stage.
From this angle Left must work. The Ramdev episode shows that the Team Anna was not against corruption as was being propagated but for the reform in the bureaucracy. The bill if passed would surely accelerate the process of reform which somehow get slow due to the ‘hurdle’ created by the bureaucracy. One thing should be noted here is that the hurdle is not created because of some goodwill prevailing in the bureaucracy but only because of their working style which demanded tip every time the file moved. An extra burden on corporate.
So what was in the bill that they wanted it to pass immediately? Unlike government’s bill, which wanted only higher bureaucracy to be investigated by the Lokpal, the Janlokpal Bill as suggested by the Team Anna wants to include total bureaucracy under the realm of the Lokpal Committee. The government’s bill could have worked well for the corporate but would have surely exposed the Team Anna. It could also have given space to the other political parties to take the initiative to make it an issue against the government which Team Anna wanted to avoid at any cost.
Now we come to question: why social movements and not political or why ‘civil society’ instead of political party? To answer this question first let us go back and re-read the history of India since 1991. It was in this year that the government of India agreed to the policy of reform in the backdrop of crisis ridden economy. The conditions for bailout as advanced by the IMF were heavy reforms which were against the idea of welfare state practiced since 1950. The pressure was built from both outside and inside. If the congress didn’t surrender to the demands the IMF would put it weight behind the neo-fascist group which had already demonstrated it might during Ayodhya ‘movement’ and had already committed itself for economic reforms. Along with this the national bourgeois also changed it class alliance. Unlike previously when it wanted restriction on the home market so that it could grow now it needed foreign capital and technology.[iv] The other important factor is during last ten years the imperialism had tried to project itself against fundamentalism and for ‘democracy’. This is because its honeymoon with fundamental during 1980s has not born desired fruits instead it has given it a negative image. In Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan the fundamental forces have threatened the same arrangement which they once promised to safeguard! So to put weight behind it could have boomeranged. Hence for corporate, as James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer suggest: … ‘civil society’ was seen as an agent for limiting authoritarian government, strengthening popular empowerment, reducing the socially atomizing and unsettling effects of market forces, enforcing political accountability, and improving the quality and inclusiveness of governance.[v] That is why we could see the emergence of multitude of NGOs in every corner of world which are funded and supported by the big multinationals. This alliance brings the same result without threatening the structure of the society

The Anna Hazare Movement Explained

Here’s a quick and dirty explanation of the so-called India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. Draw your own conclusions. Click the thumbnails to view the full-size image.

Picture 1: Rough timeline of major events surrounding the IAC movement

Picture 2: How the IAC’s demands were met (with inputs from a friend over email)

Regionalism in India

On 15th of December 1953, when Potti Sriramulu succumbed to death not able to sustain 52 days of marathon fast that was undertaken to demand a separate state for Telugu speaking people, little did he realize that his death would become a launch pad for the dawn of Political Regionalism in India – that would in course of time alter the whole landscape of India.
But the brand of regionalism that evolved after Potti Sriramulu’s death was legitimate, genuine and logical. It reflected the aspirations of people at that time. It stood for fulfilling the longstanding desire of people to have their own linguistic state. Thus, Andhra Pradesh became the first linguistic state of India. Today, Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh is renamed as Potti Sriramulu.
After the death of Sriramulu, reluctant Nehru was forced to accede to the various cries from other parts of the country with similar demands. In 1954, a States Reorganization Committee was formed with Fazal Ali as its head, which recommended the formation of 16 new states and 3 Union Territories based on the language people spoke in those respective regions. This heralded a new phase in the Indian politics. The subsequent movements for separate states and territories gave birth to slew of regional parties which eventually became prominent at national level and thus started coalition culture in Indian politics.
Regionalism: Meaning
Regionalism is a feeling or an ideology among a section of people residing in a particular geographical space characterized by unique language, culture etc. that they are the sons of the soil and every opportunity that exists in their land must be accorded to them first but not to the outsiders. It is a sort of Parochialism. In most of the cases it is raised for expedient political gains but not necessarily.
Growth and Development
Regionalism in India can be traced back to Dravida Movement started in Tamil Nadu. The movement initially focused on empowering Dalits, non-Brahmins, and poor people. Later it turned against imposition of Hindi as sole official language on non-Hindi speaking areas. Finally, the movement for some time focused on seceding from India to carve out their own Dravidastan or Dravida Nadu. The movement slowly declined and today they have become prominent regional parties after many splits and factionalism.
Throughout India regionalism persisted. In Maharashtra Shiv Sena against Kannadigas in the name of Marathi pride and recently MNS activists against Biharis; in Punjab against non-Punjabis that gave rise to Khalistan Movement and earlier Akali Movement; in Andhra, Telangana Movement with an aim of separate state; in Assam ULFA militants against migrant Biharis and Bengalis; in North-East against other Indians.
It can be traced that regionalism slowly turned from non violent means to violent means to achieve their goals. From Potti Sriramulu’s non violent means of fatsing to Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) and ULFA’s violent means, regionalism has come a long way.
Regionalism in present day India is readily used for political gains by petty politicians and secessionist organizations. Economic reasons are exploited for political dividends.
When violence is used against people in the name of regionalism it is a criminal act and is punishable. Article 19 of the Constitution of India provides a citizen of India to move freely throughout the territory of India, to reside and settle in any part, and to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. When ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) militants or MNS(Maharashtra Navnirman Sena) activists used violence against poor migrant workers, they clearly violated law of the land and also the Constitution which is above all, even above the Parliament.
Do we need to fear Regionalism?
No. Regionalism in India is only a short cut to attain the political ambitions by emotionally exploiting the sentiments of the people. The fear of Balkanization is void of any logic. India is bound by a common culture that has flourished on this land many thousand years ago. I may be Kannadiga or Tamil but I am an Indian first. My identity outside India is that of an Indian.
The states which fought for complete independence are now part of Indian Union and they have renounced violence to some extent ; they include Mizoram, Nagaland, Kashmir, Bodoland, Tamli Nadu. India is too big for these states to fight against and win.
Today regional parties define how the governments are formed and conducted both at the centre and the state level. Indeed it is a good development as some political entities such as RJD, BSP, LJP, DMK, AIADMK, BJD have to some extent represented those people who were neglected in the political process for long time. As long as they thrive for regional development without discriminating against outsiders, regionalism is good for India.
Every Indian is a son of this soil. A Bihari becomes Mumbaikar when a bomb explodes in Mumbai and a Mumbaikar becomes Bihari when Kosi wrecks havoc in the plains of Bihar. We are united by an idea called India and that unity is imperative if we want to do a  ’Chinese’ thing in future – that of actually walking on the path to becoming a global superpower instead of daydreaming….

India Against Corruption

India Against Corruption (IAC) is a citizen's movement to demand strong anti-corruption laws. Lokpal bills were introduced several times since 1968, yet they were never passed by the Indian Parliament. After a fast by veteran social activist Anna Hazare and widespread protests by citizens across India the Government of India constituted a 10-member Joint Committee of ministers and civil society activists to draft an effective Jan Lokpal Bill. The primary focus of IAC movement is to ensure a strong Lokpal bill. The IAC is a strictly voluntary organization and its participants are bound by the IAC code of conduct.
The success of this campaign depends entirely on its volunteers — folks like you from all across the world who are willing to lend their time and their talents to free India of Corruption. You can choose your level of involvement based on the time commitment you wish to make.
We are all part of this historic movement to eradicate corruption. Together, under the leadership of Anna Hazare ji, we are demanding the “Jan Lokpal Bill” – a strong law to ensure swift and certain punishment to the corrupt. Jan Lokpal Bill is a Law being made by the people and for the people.