New hunger strike in India gets mixed reception

December 27, 2011: Tens of thousands of people on Tuesday gathered in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, in support of anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare who is mounting his third fast this year in protest against the draft of an anti-graft bill.
Hazare’s protest started on Tuesday as Members of Parliament in India began a three-day debate of the bill. The 74-year-old, who will be hunger striking for the duration of the debate, began his fast at the Mumbai metropolitan region development authority in the country’s commercial capital.
Hazare is protesting after the federal government ignored one of the demands of his negotiating team to have the country’s top investigating agency in the bill’s purview. He had earlier accused the government of trying to introduce a weak bill.
Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi, a founding member of the India against Corruption campaign which supports Harare’s movement, said parliamentarians are becoming too political regarding the debate, which is not helpful.
“Team Anna is only trying to put pressure on the government,” the Prelate. Meanwhile, some Christian leaders in Mumbai have spoken out against Hazare’s latest fast.
“Hazare is going over the top this time. He should show patience while the bill is being debated in parliament,” said Virginia Saldanha, executive secretary of the Office of Laity of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
Saldanha, who is based in Mumbai, said Hazare should protest only if parliament is unable to come up with a strong anti-graft bill.