Cleo Paskal: World's #9 Most Powerful Person Now Accused of Corruption. New Delhi.
Some of India's biggest fish are getting caught up in the country's fast-growing wave of anti-corruption activity. In what could be India's equivalent of a judicial jasmine revolution, previously invulnerable politicians, business icons, and pillars of the community are all nervously keeping their lawyers on speed-dial. India’s anti-corruption movement aims to galvanize democracy.
“People power is bigger than everything, and this movement is bigger than the government and its ministers,” said Anna Hazare.
“This fire will spread.” The 70-year-old disciple of Mahatma Gandhi staged a hunger strike in April that brought the movement to life. Hazare, who dresses in homespun white cotton and a traditional white cap, is threatening another fast next week unless the government strengthens a draft bill to combat corruption. If he is the movement’s most recognizable face, its messengers are the country’s raucous 24-hour television news channels. Its supporters include students and grandmothers, IT professionals and retired civil servants. An Eruption Against Corruption.