India: Anna Hazare calls for anti-corruption protests

The 72-year-old campaigner is on the fourth day of a fast to push for stringent new anti-corruption laws.

He wants his followers to "fill India's jails" in a mass campaign of non-violent civil disobedience on 13 April.

Thousands of people have joined Mr Hazare's protest. In recent months India has been rocked by a string of corruption scandals.

On Thursday, the government agreed to include civil society members in a new panel which Mr Hazare is demanding be set up to draft tighter anti-corruption legislation.

But there were differences over who would lead the panel and whether it would have legal powers.

Latest reports say the government has agreed to most of Mr Hazare's demands and he will end his fast at 1000 (0430 GMT) on Saturday.

'No violence'

"But you should participate in the agitation keeping in mind Mahatma Gandhi. There should be no violence anywhere," he told his supporters.

India's governing Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi has urged Mr Hazare to give up his fast. She said his views would receive the government's "full attention" in the fight against corruption.

Doctors are checking Mr Hazare twice a day to monitor his health. The 72-year-old says he will refuse food until the government accedes to his demands.

There has been widespread support for Mr Hazare with protests and hunger strikes reported across India.

Some 2,000 people have joined the activist at the historic Jantar Mantar observatory in Delhi, where he is conducting his fast.

Correspondents say Mr Hazare has rallied people across the country disillusioned with the recent spate of scandals - he is highly respected as a social activist with an untarnished reputation.

Some of the recent corruption scandals to have angered Indians include a multi-billion dollar alleged telecoms scam, alleged financial malpractices in connection with the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and allegations that houses for war widows were diverted to civil servants.

Last month the head of the country's anti-corruption watchdog was forced to resign by the Supreme Court on the grounds that he himself faced corruption charges.

Lokpal Bill: Four catalysts of change during Anna campaign

Arvind Kejriwal 

An IIT graduate, Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1992 only to realize that "much of the corruption in government is owing to lack of transparency in the process". In 2006, he quit his job to work full time as a social activist. Now, Kejriwal is one of the main people behind the campaign for a Jan Lokpal Bill. On Saturday, as the government accepted civil society groups' demand to include them in the drafting of the bill, Kejriwal called it a "victory of the people of India". 

Santosh Hegde 

After retiring as Supreme Court judge in June 2005, Hegde was appointed Lokayukta of Karnataka in 2006. During his tenure, Hegde exposed major irregularities in Bellary's mining industry and recommended banning iron ore exports. In his campaign against corruption, Justice Hegde caught babus and netas in the act. Now, Hegde has accepted the government's decision to appoint him to the 10-member panel that will draft the Lokpal Bill. "Though the government has met our requests, powers against netas and requirement for sanction for prosecution are needed to strengthen the institutions," he says. 

Kiran Bedi 

India's first woman IPS officer has always had the shining image of an upright and no-nonsense officer. She took voluntary retirement from the service in 2007 and ever since, has been involved in various campaigns for social justice. Last year, her attempt to become Chief Information Commissioner failed, leading Bedi to plunge into the campaign for the Jan Lokpal Bill. "People who get blessings from Anna Hazare do not need anything else to devote to the country. We are getting the inspiration of sacrifice from Anna Hazare," says Bedi, who was at Jantar Mantar throughout Hazare's fast unto death. 

Swami Agnivesh 

A law and economics graduate from the University of Calcutta, Swami Agnivesh lectured on business management in 1963. In 1977, Agnivesh became an MLA and served as a minister in the Haryana government. In recent months, he has been acting as an interlocutor between the government and Maoist rebels. On Saturday, as the government issued a notification on the Jan Lokpal Bill, the saffron-clad social activist shouted from the dais that the fight had just started and this was not the end.