Anna Hazare, the 73-year-old activist at the center of the standoff between India’s government and civil society over the terms of an anti-corruption law.
Mr. Hazare from Ralegan Siddhi village in the western state of Maharashtra who joined the Indian Army in 1963 heeding patriotic calls by the government after Indian forces were defeated in a border war with China.
In 1965, Mr. Hazare narrowly escaped alive from a Pakistani air attack on an Indian border post, which killed all of the other servicemen at the spot. He views that, the biography says, as a turning point in his life, and he took an oath to dedicate himself to public service.
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At the age of 38, Mr. Hazare took voluntary retirement from the army and returned to his native village. Over the next few decades, he gained wide acclaim in his home state and at the national level for transforming his once drought-prone, impoverished village to a prosperous “model village” by encouraging sustainable farming and rural life as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian Independence leader often referred to as Gandhiji.
Mr. Hazare lives on his pension from army service in a room in the temple in his village and says his campaigns are financed by voluntary donations by his supporters. He is always seen in white clothes with a traditional Indian cap.
He has termed the current civil society’s movement against corruption as “India’s second freedom struggle,” and has asked all Indians to participate. Critics say he is using anti-democratic methods of moral coercion to force his will on the elected government.
In the 1990s, the federal government awarded Mr. Hazare with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards, the nation’s third and fourth highest civilian awards respectively, for his social work.
Mr. Hazare from Ralegan Siddhi village in the western state of Maharashtra who joined the Indian Army in 1963 heeding patriotic calls by the government after Indian forces were defeated in a border war with China.
In 1965, Mr. Hazare narrowly escaped alive from a Pakistani air attack on an Indian border post, which killed all of the other servicemen at the spot. He views that, the biography says, as a turning point in his life, and he took an oath to dedicate himself to public service.
Get upto 50% off on Purchases above Rs..1000 at Bevyshop.com
At the age of 38, Mr. Hazare took voluntary retirement from the army and returned to his native village. Over the next few decades, he gained wide acclaim in his home state and at the national level for transforming his once drought-prone, impoverished village to a prosperous “model village” by encouraging sustainable farming and rural life as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian Independence leader often referred to as Gandhiji.
Mr. Hazare lives on his pension from army service in a room in the temple in his village and says his campaigns are financed by voluntary donations by his supporters. He is always seen in white clothes with a traditional Indian cap.
In the 1990s, the federal government awarded Mr. Hazare with the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards, the nation’s third and fourth highest civilian awards respectively, for his social work.
