Explorations In Leadership

https://theprint.in/opinion/dont-laugh-at-anna-hazare-he-was-himself-the-victim/597638/

Main Points

This topic is explored through a review of literature in three areas including, why the movement began, how Anna Hazare became the face of the struggle, and what changes were made due to Anna Hazare’s fight.

How the Movement Began

In 1991, after leaving the army, Hazare began to look at how the corruption in the government was delaying rural development, causing many people to struggle (Murray 2017).

Hazare established the People’s Movement Against Corruption, which found many forestry officials had been involved in corruption, and the federal government was unwilling to punish them (Murray, 2017).

Hazare began a hunger strike, and it was the first of the upcoming movement he would become the face of (Murray, 2017).

How the Movement Began

In 1997, Hazare was arrested and accused of corruption, this arrest gained him the support of all but two political parties (Khandekar 2015).

Many other arrests, of Hazare himself, and others, allowed the movement to gain political steam, and attention from a wider range of parties (Chowdhury, 2017).

Hazare continued to advocate for the removal of cabinet members, and changes in legislation (Khandekar 2015).

How the Movement Began

The impactful changes made at the beginning of the movement, and the hunger strikes eventually put Anna Hazare at the head of the movement.

From this point, Anna Hazare continued to advocate for changes within the government, and eventually had made a list of changes that directly impacted the movement.

These changes made over time by Anna Hazare led to a full blown social movement in India.

How Anna Hazare Became the Face of the

Movement

Hazare first began his activism directly after he retired from the army when he began his first Rural Development Project (Murray, 2017).

This project took place in Ralegan Siddhi, a poor, rural area that suffered from high crime rates, unemployment, and severe droughts (Murray, 2017).

How Anna Hazare Became the Face of the Movement

Hazare began by starting a water conservation project to improve their water supply (Murray, 2017).

This project increased employment to 100%, and allowed the village to become fully self sufficient (Murray, 2017).

After this, Hazare began to focus on the intense government corruption.

In 1991, he began the People’s Movement Against Corruption (Murray, 2017).

How Anna Hazare Became the Face of the Movement

Essentially, Anna Hazare was at the head of the all changes being made in the Indian government (Murray 2017).

He was actively fighting to remove people from government and transform the government policies (Murray, 2017) .

Anna Hazare’s dedication, particularly his hunger strikes really put him at the face of the movement, because he gained so much attention from them, including internationally (Hatzfeldt 2016).

Anna Hazare’s arrests also help him gain support and attention, further helping to put him at the face of the movement (Sengupta 2014).

Changes Incited by Anna Hazare’s Movement

In 1997 Hazare began fighting for the Right to Information Law, this was not passed until he began a “fast unto death” in 2003, and the law was passed in 2005 (Sengupta, 2012).

In 2010, the government drafted a law that would allow officials to look into the corrupt government. However, the law drafted did not give them enough power to stop any corruption from occurring. In 2011, Hazare began another fast in order to encourage officials to draft a new law that gave officials more power. Unfortunately power was taken away from a large group of officials (Sengupta, 2012).

Changes Incited by Anna Hazare’s Movement

Hazare than began another fast for which he was arrested for fasting without permits. He then made a deal he could fast for up to 15 days. His fast lasted 13 days, when the government granted officials more power to fight corruption (Shiv Visvanathan, 2012).