Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, who continued his fast-unto-death protest for the fourth-day on Wednesday, said that he won't quit the protest until his demands are met.
Anna also said that he would allow no room for discussion with any of the ministers, including the Prime Minister, while sticking to his core demand i.e. the passage of Jan Lokpal Bill. He also announced that he is ready to return the honorary Padma Bhushan award bestowed on him in 1992 for his efforts in development and structuring of a village in Maharashtra.
Concerns regarding the 75-year-old's health are rising as the government is yet to make a move on the demands posed by agitating Team Anna members. As of now, the government is showing no indication of taking up Lokpal for debate in Parliament or sending a representative for talks with the protesting activists.
On the other hand, social activists and core team Anna committee members Arvind Kejriwal and Gopal Rai entered the seventh-day of fasting and have also refused to be hospitalised as against doctor's advice. Kejriwal had severely warned against being forcibly hospitalised.
Anna and Kejriwal, who has purportedly launched a 'do or die' protest against the government's discreet stand on passage of Lokpal, have claimed that they wouldn't call off the protest just on mere assurance. Both have vehemently refused to heed to the request of their supporters and well-wishers.
Political observer and senior fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Yogendra Yadav, appealed to the fasting activists to give up the hunger-strike and to float their own political parties as he feels there is a requirement for a political alternative.
"I would tell him to say to the country that it needs an alternative kind of politics. And to say while I will not join a political party, I am here to help you form one by lying foundations of a new kind of a political organization," Yadav said to CNN-IBN commentator Karan Thapar.
On Saturday, Anna joined the protest at the Jantar Mantar along with his fellow crusaders, disregarding the doctors and close aides' advice on not to fast considering his health. This is the fourth indefinite fast launched by Anna in 17 months.
