Thousands join Indian yoga guru as he fasts against corruption

[News_Editor]

Thousands join Indian yoga guru as he fasts against corruption

2011-06-04 21:09:32 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW DELHI (BNO NEWS) -- India's most popular yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Saturday began his indefinite anti-corruption hunger strike as thousands of followers joined him in the protest around the country.

Press Trust of India reported that Ramdev began the protest after a two-hour yoga practice along with thousands of his followers in New Delhi. Ramdev announced that the fast will be called off only after all his demands are fulfilled.

The yoga guru wants to repatriate Indian illicit funds supposedly stashed away in offshore banks. Ramdev has said that this 'black money' suspected of being funds paid for bribes or other illegal transactions and stashed away to evade taxes could provide a huge boost to the Indian economy. His other proposals also include introducing the death penalty for corrupt officials and dispose of graft lawsuits within one year.

"Nothing is impossible, everything is possible and we are not going to be defeated," the saffron-robed Baba told the gathering, referring to bringing back of black money stashed in tax havens abroad.

After five hours of negotiations between two senior ministers Kapil Sibal and Subodh Kant Sayay with Ramdev and his associates, the government had offered to consider declaring illegal wealth as national assets and substantially increase the punishment for corrupt people after a committee goes into these issues in six months.

Tens of thousands of Ramdev's followers also went on hunger strike in Mumbai, Jammu and some other cities in solidarity with him.

On Wednesday, the Indian government failed to convince Ramdev to call off his anti-corruption hunger strike. Top ministers invited him to the capital to negotiate his demands since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fears that an April-like situation, when another anti-corruption five-day hunger strike forced him to give in to his demands, will happen.

In April, Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare launched a similar campaign that forced the government to form a joint panel of ministers and activists to draft a tough ombudsman bill - the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Transparency International ranked India, one of few yet to ratify the United Nations convention against corruption, at 78, placing it below neighboring rival China.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-04