अन्ना हज़ारे कौन हैं?

नवभारत टाइम्स में प्रकाशित प्रदीप सौरभ का आलेख साभार

गांधी की विरासत उनकी थाती है। कद-काठी में वह साधारण ही हैं। सिर पर गांधी टोपी और बदन पर खादी है। आंखों पर मोटा चश्मा है, लेकिन उनको दूर तक दिखता है। इरादे फौलादी और अटल हैं। भारत-पाक युद्ध के दौरान उन्होंने मौत को भी धता दे दी थी। उनकी प्लाटून के सारे सदस्य मारे गए थे। ऐसी शख्सियत है किसन बाबूराव हजारे की। प्यार से लोग उन्हें अन्ना हजारे बुलाते हैं। उन्हें छोटा गांधी भी कहा जा सकता है।

अन्ना आजकल भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ मुहिम चला रहे हैं। वह गुस्से में हैं। उन्होंने धमकी दी थी कि लोकपाल विधेयक की तर्ज पर भ्रष्टाचार विरोधी कानून लागू नहीं किया तो वह 5 अप्रैल 2011 से आमरण अनशन पर बैठ जाएंगे और सरकार ने जब उनकी बात नहीं मानी तो वे आमरण अनशन पर बैठ गए।

पहले भी वह महाराष्ट्र सरकार के पांच मंत्रियों की बलि ले चुके हैं। अन्ना ने आज तक जो सोचा है, उसे कर दिखाया है। उन्होंने शराब में डूबे अपने पथरीले गांव रालेगन सिद्धि को दुनिया के सामने एक मॉडल बनाकर पेश किया। रामराज के दर्शन करने हैं तो उसे देखा जा सकता है। इस काम के लिए भारत सरकार ने उन्हें पद्मभूषण से भी सम्मानित किया। सूचना के अधिकार की लड़ाई में भी उन्होंने महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाई।

पारिवारिक जिंदगी 
अन्ना की शख्सियत बडे़ अनगढ़ तरीके से गढ़ी हुई है। 15 जून 1938 को महाराष्ट्र के अहमद नगर के भिंगर कस्बे में जन्मे अन्ना का बचपन बहुत गरीबी में गुजरा। पिता मजदूर थे। दादा फौज में। दादा की पोस्टिंग भिंगनगर में थी। वैसे अन्ना के पुरखों का गांव अहमद नगर जिले में ही स्थित रालेगन सिद्धि में था। दादा की मौत के सात साल बाद अन्ना का परिवार रालेगन आ गया। अन्ना के छह भाई हैं। परिवार में तंगी का आलम देखकर अन्ना की बुआ उन्हें मुम्बई ले गईं। वहां उन्होंने सातवीं तक पढ़ाई की। परिवार पर कष्टों का बोझ देखकर वह दादर स्टेशन के बाहर एक फूल बेचनेवाले की दुकान में 40 रुपये की पगार में काम करने लगे। इसके बाद उन्होंने फूलों की अपनी दुकान खोल ली और अपने दो भाइयों को भी रालेगन से बुला लिया।

छठे दशक के आसपास वह फौज में शामिल हो गए। उनकी पहली पोस्टिंग बतौर ड्राइवर पंजाब में हुई। यहीं पाकिस्तानी हमले में वह मौत को धता बता कर बचे थे। इसी दौरान नई दिल्ली रेलवे स्टेशन से उन्होंने विवेकानंद की एक बुकलेट 'कॉल टु दि यूथ फॉर नेशन' खरीदी और उसको पढ़ने के बाद उन्होंने अपनी जिंदगी समाज को समर्पित कर दी। उन्होंने गांधी और विनोबा को भी पढ़ा। 1970 में उन्होंने आजीवन अविवाहित रहने का संकल्प किया। मुम्बई पोस्टिंग के दौरान वह अपने गांव रालेगन आते-जाते रहे। चट्टान पर बैठकर गांव को सुधारने की बात सोचते रहते।

जम्मू पोस्टिंग के दौरान 15 साल फौज में पूरे होने पर 1975 में उन्होंने वीआरएस ले लिया और गांव में आकर डट गए। उन्होंने गांव की तस्वीर ही बदल दी। उन्होंने अपनी जमीन बच्चों के हॉस्टल के लिए दान कर दी। आज उनकी पेंशन का सारा पैसा गांव के विकास में खर्च होता है। वह गांव के मंदिर में रहते हैं और हॉस्टल में रहने वाले बच्चों के लिए बनने वाला खाना ही खाते हैं। आज गांव का हर शख्स आत्मनिर्भर है। आस-पड़ोस के गांवों के लिए भी यहां से चारा, दूध आदि जाता है। गांव में एक तरह का रामराज है। गांव में तो उन्होंने रामराज स्थापित कर दिया है। अब वह अपने दल-बल के साथ देश में रामराज की स्थापना की मुहिम में निकले हैं : भ्रष्टाचार रहित भारत।

कुछ और तथ्य

Dr.Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare (b. June 15, 1938), is an Indian social activist who is especially recognized for his contribution to the development of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Govt. of India, in 1992. On April 5, 2011, he has started a fast unto death to make a pressure on union government to enact a law on Lokpal that deals with corruption in public offices.

Anna Hazare was born at Bhingar on 15th June, 1938. He was the eldest grandchild in the family and had his primary school education at Bhingar. During the 1962 Chinese Aggression, Anna responded to a call to join the army. Anna signed up and after due training was assigned to the army supply corps as a driver of a supplies truck. It was between 1962 and the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 that Anna Hazare was overcome by the urge to seek meaning in life.

In 1965, while on active duty reading supplies to the front during the war near Khemkaran in the Lahore sector, the supplies convoy Hon. Anna Hazare was with, was attacked by a couple of enemy salore Jets leaving most people dead or grievously injured. The vehicle being driven by Hon. Anna Hazare was severely hit, the Jawan (soldier) sitting next to him had his legs blown off. Apart from a sharpnel piece grazing his forehead, Anna Hazare was miraculously unharmed. On thinking about this incident a while later he took this incident to mean that he had been given a new lease of life to spend it in the service of the Country's poor. He made it his life's mission to follow this tenet lucidly expounded by Swami Vivekanand.

Anna opted for voluntry retirement, and armed with a modest pension returned to his native Ralegan Siddhi to serve his community. He resolved not to marry and would start a family for that would have only bound him to family responsibilities of keeping the Kitchen fires well tended to. But he was never able to rid himself of family bonds. Instead of the couple of children his family would have been limited to he was now responsible for the whole community his true family. It was in 1965, during the Indo-Pak war that he had a close brush with death, in the enemy attack. All his colleagues were killed, He considered it to be a virtual rebirth for himself, in a sense, the previous life was over and a new life to begin. He decided to devote rest of his life to social work. When he returned to Ralegan in August 1975, he found that there were 35-40 illicit liquor stills operating in the village . Because of little rain, agriculture output was low and hence some people per force turned to this business. He began his activities with the rehabilitation of this structure out of his own provident fund and the gratuity receipts amounting to about Rs.20,000. He knew that a Mandir is always regarded as a sacred place by the villagers and it would be the right place to bring the people together.

Arrest

Anna Hazare was arrested in 1998 when a defamation suit was filed against him by then Maharashtra Social Welfare minister Babanrao Golap. He was released following public uproar.

Lokpal Bill movement

In 2011, Anna Hazare led a movement for passing a stronger anti-corruption Lokpal (ombudsman) bill in the Indian Parliament. As a part of this movement, N. Santosh Hegde, a former justice of the Supreme Court of India and Lokayukta of Karnataka, Prashant Bhushan, a senior lawyer in the Supreme Court along with the members of the India Against Corruption movement drafted an alternate bill, named as the Jan Lokpal Bill (People's Ombudsman Bill) with more stringent provisions and wider power to the Lokpal (Ombudsman). Hazare decided to start a fast upto death from 5 April 2011 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, to press for the demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a new bill with more stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Ombudsmen in the states), after his demand was rejected by the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh

The movement attracted attention very quickly through various media. It has been reported that thousands of people joined to support Mr. Hazare's effort. Almost 150 people are reported to join Mr. Hazare in his fast.[7] This has been joined by people providing their suppport in Internet social media such as twitter and facebook. Many celebrities like Shekhar Kapur, Siddharth Narayan,Anupam Kher, Madhur Bhandarkar, Pritish Nandy, Prakash Raj showed their public support through twitter.

Awards

Padmashree award by government of India in the year 1990

Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra award, by government of India on November 19, 1986 from the hands of Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi.

Krishi Bhushana award by Maharashtra government in 1989.

Felicitation by Ahmednagar Municipal Corporation 15 January 1987

Felicitation by Pune Municipal Corporation.

On April 15, 2008, Kisan Baburao Hazare received the World Bank's 2008 Jit Gill Memorial Award for Outstanding Public Service: "Hazare created a thriving model village in Ralegan Siddhi, in the impoverished Ahmednagar region of Maharashtra state, and championed the right to information and the fight against corruption." From Wikipedia

Salient features of Jan Lokpal Bill

Drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal, this Bill has been refined on the basis of feedback received from public on website and after series of public consultations. It has also been vetted by and is supported by Shanti Bhushan, J M Lyngdoh, Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare etc. It was sent to the PM and all CMs on 1st December. 

1. An institution called LOKPAL at the centre and LOKAYUKTA in each state will be set up

2. Like Supreme Court and Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.

3. Cases against corrupt people will not linger on for years anymore: Investigations in any case will have to be completed in one year. Trial should be completed in next one year so that the corrupt politician, officer or judge is sent to jail within two years.

4. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.

5. How will it help a common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.

6. So, you could approach Lokpal if your ration card or passport or voter card is not being made or if police is not registering your case or any other work is not being done in prescribed time. Lokpal will have to get it done in a month’s time. You could also report any case of corruption to Lokpal like ration being siphoned off, poor quality roads been constructed or panchayat funds being siphoned off. Lokpal will have to complete its investigations in a year, trial will be over in next one year and the guilty will go to jail within two years.

7. But won’t the government appoint corrupt and weak people as Lokpal members? That won’t be possible because its members will be selected by judges, citizens and constitutional authorities and not by politicians, through a completely transparent and participatory process.

8. What if some officer in Lokpal becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/ Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.

9. What will happen to existing anti-corruption agencies? CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.

   
   
   इंडिया अगेंस्ट करप्शन वैब साइट पर जाएं