Anna Hazare arrest: 'Gandhi' takes world media by storm

NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare and his anticorruption movement have taken the world media by storm. British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran an article headlined, A new ‘Gandhi’ shakes India. Los Angeles Times says that few can easily dismiss Hazare’s “commitment, energy or swelling support” . Even Pakistan daily, Dawn, published an editorial on the anti-corruption crusader.

“At every turn, the organisers of his campaign have been aided by the blundering of the ruling Congress Party. Their response has been a masterclass in ineptitude... Through all this, the government led by the 78-year-old bureaucrat-turned-prime minister Manmohan Singh, has failed in even the most basic aspects of public and media relations,” said writer Patrick French in The Daily Telegraph.

In an article by Seema Sengupta, “What lies behind the crackdown on India’s Anna Hazare?” The Guardian newspaper suggests a conspiracy theory behind the allegations made at the anti-corruption crusader.

Los Angeles Times’ Mark Magnier reports that “the government gained little politically and stood to lose a great deal by arresting Hazare on Tuesday as he was about to launch an anti-graft hunger strike, analysts said. If anything, his stature has risen since he challenged the government and all but forced it to back down. Ministers have been left looking defensive as anger has spread.”

The New York Times reports that “Mr Hazare’s refusal to leave jail had seemed to jolt his supporters and tapped into a visceral public disgust with official corruption ... College students mingled with retirees and middle-class workers in a throng energized by the moment. People waved banners and chanted Mr Hazare’s name. One hand-scrawled poster declared “Corruption - Virus, Anna - Antivirus.”

In an editorial, The Dawn said, “Anna Hazare has added a dynamic new twist to the corruption allegations plaguing the government in New Delhi.”

The editorial also pointed out that “parallels can be drawn here between the two neighbours on either side of Wagah.... It could be argued by some that the time may have come for the same sort of dissent in Pakistan. True, the present Supreme Court is seen as coming down heavily on corruption. But other voices too must be raised if we are serious about salvaging society.”