Anna Hazare –
New Delhi 25 March 2012. Anna Hazare on Sunday set out on a hunger strike in Delhi seeking protection for whistle blowers fighting corruption and demanding and seeking justice for slain police officer Narendra Kumar. The 30-year-old police officer was allegedly mowed down by a tractor-trolley in Morena, in Madhya Pradesh, when he tried to stop the vehicle carrying illegally mined stone. Tractor driver has since been arrested.
Team Anna has blamed on the ruling Congress for sabotaging the Jan Lokpal Bill, marking a departure from its stand of not targeting a single party.
At least 15 people, who tried to blow the lid on scams or fought the menace of corruption in other ways, have been killed since 2010, according to Team Anna. These killings have brought to fore the need for a strong whistle blowers’ protection system, under control of Jan Lokpal and Jan Lokayukta, it has said.
During the Assembly elections, Team Anna had campaigned for a strong Lokpal though it had not named any single party. However, Congress leaders had claimed that the tone and tenor of their campaign was anti-Congress.
