Even as a sudden and acute health problem prevented him from coming to Varanasi for a rally, social activist Anna Hazare chose to keep his date with the masses by addressing them via telephone on Friday.
Even as he was bedridden some 1,600 km away in his village Ralegaon-Siddhi in Maharastra, Hazare's voice alone was enough to enthuse the crowds. "Get ready for the country's second war of Independence. You managed to drive away the
British and now the time has come to drive out those who are damaging the very foundations of this nation," he said while giving a call to the youth to take inspiration from revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Rajguru.
In his 10-minute telephonic address, Hazare urged the common man to wake up and take on the corrupt. "Scamsters are getting away with murder in our country and there is nothing to deter them. It's high time that something was done to send them behind bars through the Jan Lokpal Bill," he said.
"In case hurdles are created in the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill, I will not hesitate to once again sit on a fast at the Jantar Mantar, go to jail and even sacrifice my life for the nation, " he added.
Hazare said that his mission would not stop with the introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill. "There were several other destinations to cover. And these include the Right to Rejection as a part of the much-needed electoral reforms, judicial reforms and decentralisation of power."
Earlier, Hazare's close associates Swami Agnivesh and Magsaysay Awardee Arvind Kejriwal addressed the rally. They strongly defended the inclusion of retired Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde, and top lawyers Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan as representatives of civil society on the drafting committee of the Bill.
"In case, the Bill is not passed by the parliament till August 15, we won't celebrate Independence Day, and instead march down to the Red Fort in New Delhi" Agnivesh told the gathering amid cheers.
Other prominent figures who addressed the rally were former Uttar Pradesh police chief Prakash Singh and well-known satirist Jaspal Bhatti.
A similar rally is slated in Lucknow on May 1 and efforts are being made to ensure that Hazare addresses the crowed through a video-conference.
