Social activist Anna Hazare on Friday began a maun vrat (vow of silence) at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, seeking speedy justice in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case and in cases of heinous crimes against women.
Hazare had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 9, informing him that he would observe a maun vrat from December 20 as a penance.
“I have begun my maun vrat to seek speedy justice in the Nirbhaya case and if it is not delivered, I will go on indefinite fast,” Hazare said in a press release.
“The crimes against women are taking place in several states, including Delhi. People in the country welcomed the encounter of the four accused in the Hyderabad rape-and-murder case because of the delay in judicial and police process,” Hazare said.
The delay in justice is causing people to lose faith in the judiciary, he added. Hazare also sought speedy trials in cases of crimes against women.
Apart from this, Hazare also demanded that the judicial accountability bill be passed in the Parliament, vacant posts of judges be filled and the Supreme Court's recommendations for improvement of the police force be implemented.
Hazare had complained to the prime minister that no rapist had been hanged since August 14, 2005, and 426 convicts were on death row.
Interestingly, Hazare has been perceived to be silent on the issue of the ongoing protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which are continuing in multiple parts of India.
The large-scale protests against the Citizenship Act, particularly in large cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata have been compared to the anti-corruption agitation led by Hazare in 2011 over his demand for appointment of a Jan Lokpal.
The Anna Hazare agitation of 2011 had galvanised public opinion on the issue of corruption and was perceived to have become a public relations fiasco for the then-ruling United Progressive Alliance government, led by the Congress.
Since Modi became prime minister, Hazare had alleged the prime minister was ignoring him, claiming in December 2017 that he had gotten no replies despite writing 32 letters to the PM.
Hazare had also warned of holding protests on the Lokpal issue, but his agitations have been low-key events so far.
(With PTI inputs)
