{"id":10116,"date":"2011-08-26T19:08:53","date_gmt":"2011-08-26T19:08:53","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-08-26T19:08:57","modified_gmt":"2011-08-26T19:08:57","slug":"India-MPs-to-debate-graft-in-bid-to-end-hunger-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=10116","title":{"rendered":"India MPs to debate graft in bid to end hunger strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

India’s government declared that the nation’s democracy was at a “crossroads” as lawmakers debated anti-graft proposals in a bid to end a 74-year-old activist’s fast against corruption.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee appealed to Anna Hazare to call off his 12-day hunger strike<\/strong>, which has galvanised nationwide support, as parliament met to discuss the reformer’s demands for a tough anti-corruption agency.<\/p>\n

Critics fear Hazare’s demands for a new anti-corruption bill that would create the post of national ombudsman (a government official) to monitor politicians and bureaucrats could undermine parliamentary democracy.<\/p>\n

The debate came as doctors voiced worry over Hazare’s weakening condition<\/strong>, saying they would soon decide whether the self-styled Gandhian protester should continue his fast in which he has lost over seven kilos (15 pounds).<\/p>\n

But in a speech to thousands of flag-waving supporters in a large open-air venue, Hazare insisted he was ready to continue the water-only fast he is staging in front of a huge photograph of the independence icon Mahatma Gandhi.<\/p>\n

The corruption issue has snowballed into a full-blown crisis for the Congress-led government, with massive protests across India in support of Hazare’s campaign.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Other Indian civil activists, while saying they are disgusted at the government’s failure to combat a rampant culture of corruption, have echoed Gandhi’s concerns about the Hazare campaign’s attempts to bypass parliamentary processes.<\/p>\n

UPDATE: Indian hunger-striker Anna Hazare, who has led a huge public campaign against corruption, has agreed to end his fast on Sunday morning after forcing concessions from lawmakers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Source AP<\/em>
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