Anna Hazare ends day-long fast at Rajghat

NEW DELHI: Anna Hazare and his supporters ended on Wednesday evening their day-long fast to protest police crackdown against yoga guru Ramdev and his followers at Ramlila Maidan here.

Hazare, joined by his associates and a few thousand supporters, went on the hunger strike to protest the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev's supporters during their agitation against corruption here on Saturday night, which he termed as a "blot on humanity" and attempt to "stifle democracy".

He ended the fast at 6pm. Taking on the government, Hazare said that his agitation against corruption was the "second freedom struggle" and threatened another hunger strike from August 16 if Lokpal Bill is not passed by then.

Anna described his movement as the second battle of independence but underlined Gandhi's non-violent path. He said his Wednesday fast was to condemn the police action on Ramdev's supporters at Ramlila ground. Anna likened the police brutality to the British repression of Indians in Jalianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919. He advised his supporters to refrain from violence. "The government is very powerful, if we indulge in violence, it will give the government an excuse to quash the movement," he warned.

The Gandhian reiterated, "The government has forgotten that people are the masters and not the government. They need to understand that we are one, not different."