Anti-graft campaign

The breakthrough between the two sides came in the wee hours of the day after top aides of Indian anti-graft campaigner Anna Hazare met New Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta to battle out an agreement.

The crowds which had gathered outside the Tihar Jail where Hazare was detained erupted in joy at the news of the deal, shouting "Anna" and "We are with you." They sang, played the guitar and waved the Indian flag.

After hours of hard negotiations, Hazare's team acquired permission to hold a 15-day fast at Ramlila Maidan, an open venue in the Indian capital that is often used for political rallies and festivals.

The deal marked a major climb down for the government and the police, which had tried to make sure Hazare’s public anti-corruption fast would take place at the smaller venue of JP Park and would not last for more than three days. They had also tried to limit the number of participants to 5,000 - a condition that Hazare refused to accept.

He and several of his aides were arrested on Tuesday morning. Police then ordered his release in the face of mounting protests, but Hazare refused to leave jail until restrictions on his planned fast were lifted.

'We are not playing games'

"The police offered seven days; Anna wanted it for one month, so in the course of the negotiations we agreed on 15 days. There is now no police limit on the number of people who can come to Ramlila Maidan. Anna is satisfied with the conditions and that is why he has agreed to leave Tihar jail," said Aswathi Muralidharan, a spokesman for Hazare's India Against Corruption campaign.

"None of us is looking at this as a victory," Kiran Bedi, a former police officer who also took part in the negotiations after being briefly detained herself, told the Indian media on Thursday. "We are not playing games. We are doing this to move the country forward."

Meanwhile, another close aide of the activist Arvind Kejriwal said Hazare would not go to the venue until proper arrangements had been made because it was still full of muck and needed a thorough cleaning up. The plan was to erect tents and to ensure there was full provision of drinking water.

Although Hazare began his fast in jail after being arrested on Tuesday, the public hunger strike was expected to begin in Delhi on Friday once the park was ready.

Kejriwal said Hazare's health was perfectly okay and that doctors had certified him fit for the fast.

'Totally misconceived'

In the past few days, tens of thousands of Indians have taken to the streets to support Anna Hazare's campaign to strengthen a new anti-corruption law.

The movement has deeply shaken the Congress Party-led coalition of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who on Wednesday condemned Hazare's campaign as "totally misconceived" and a threat to India's parliamentary democracy.

The controversial Lokpal Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on August 4, promises to create a new anti-corruption watchdog so citizens can file complaints against officials, including federal ministers and senior bureaucrats who are currently protected by Indian law.

However, Anna Hazare and other civil rights activists have criticized the decision to remove sitting prime ministers and high-ranking representatives of the judiciary from the ombudsman's purview.

Author: Sachin Gaur (dpa, PTI, Reuters)
Editor: Anne Thomas