<p>With thousands shouting "Bharat Mata Ki Jai", singing a tuneful "Lokpal, Lokpal" and devotional songs as well as waving placards at Rajghat, Hazare got on to a raised platform and went on a hunger strike, his second in two months.<br /><br />In a hard hitting speech, his associate Arvind Kejriwal accused the Congress as well as other political parties of ruining the nation and said civil society now wanted a systemic change.<br /><br />"We are not here to change the government, we want to change the system," he thundered, speaking mostly in Hindi, to the cheers of the large crowds.<br /><br />He said the government had tried to browbeat Hazare and his team by demanding various financial details including their personal incomes and their expenditure on various protest campaigns.<br /><br />"Today we ask the Congress to put on the website all their income and expenditure of the past six decades," he said.<br /><br />Former top cop and activist Kiran Bedi said: "We need a stronger law against corruption which can be trusted. The system should be approachable. We will consider ourselves free only when India is free from corruption. It is a second war of independence."<br /><br />Listening intently were hundreds of supporters at Rajghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, as the tricolour fluttered behind Hazare. <br /><br />They had started thronging as early as 7 a.m. although the fast was not to begin before 10 a.m. There was also a heavy police presence at the site. The fast will go on till 6 p.m.<br />One of the first to reach the venue was Kuldeep Singh of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Party who came with his friends from Punjab.<br /><br />"We have come here to support Anna. What the government did at the Ramlila ground was wrong and it should not have taken such a step. Corruption is a big issue and we have the right to protest against it," Kuldeep Singh told IANS.<br /><br />"Anna and Baba Ramdev should come together and fight this battle together," he added.<br />In April, Hazare's five-day fast drew widespread support across the country and forced the government to set up a joint panel to draft a Lokpal bill to combat corruption in high places. <br /><br />Vaibhav Kumar, one of the many young supporters of Anna, said: "Just like Gandhiji took the path of non-violence, Anna Hazare is doing the same and we are supporting that." <br />The people also referred to the police crackdown on Ramdev post midnight Saturday.<br /><br />"What happened there is shameful. The people who gathered there were protesting peacefully. If the government can baton-charge peaceful protestors, then they should remove Gandhiji's photo from all government offices and the currency notes as well," he added. <br /><br />Wearing a Nehru cap, another young Anna supporter said: "We are not aligned to any political party. Our only aim is to fight corruption."<br /><br />Earlier in the day, before proceeding towards the fast site, Anna Hazare said: "The government action at Ramlila ground was an attack on democracy."</p>
<p>With thousands shouting "Bharat Mata Ki Jai", singing a tuneful "Lokpal, Lokpal" and devotional songs as well as waving placards at Rajghat, Hazare got on to a raised platform and went on a hunger strike, his second in two months.<br /><br />In a hard hitting speech, his associate Arvind Kejriwal accused the Congress as well as other political parties of ruining the nation and said civil society now wanted a systemic change.<br /><br />"We are not here to change the government, we want to change the system," he thundered, speaking mostly in Hindi, to the cheers of the large crowds.<br /><br />He said the government had tried to browbeat Hazare and his team by demanding various financial details including their personal incomes and their expenditure on various protest campaigns.<br /><br />"Today we ask the Congress to put on the website all their income and expenditure of the past six decades," he said.<br /><br />Former top cop and activist Kiran Bedi said: "We need a stronger law against corruption which can be trusted. The system should be approachable. We will consider ourselves free only when India is free from corruption. It is a second war of independence."<br /><br />Listening intently were hundreds of supporters at Rajghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, as the tricolour fluttered behind Hazare. <br /><br />They had started thronging as early as 7 a.m. although the fast was not to begin before 10 a.m. There was also a heavy police presence at the site. The fast will go on till 6 p.m.<br />One of the first to reach the venue was Kuldeep Singh of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Party who came with his friends from Punjab.<br /><br />"We have come here to support Anna. What the government did at the Ramlila ground was wrong and it should not have taken such a step. Corruption is a big issue and we have the right to protest against it," Kuldeep Singh told IANS.<br /><br />"Anna and Baba Ramdev should come together and fight this battle together," he added.<br />In April, Hazare's five-day fast drew widespread support across the country and forced the government to set up a joint panel to draft a Lokpal bill to combat corruption in high places. <br /><br />Vaibhav Kumar, one of the many young supporters of Anna, said: "Just like Gandhiji took the path of non-violence, Anna Hazare is doing the same and we are supporting that." <br />The people also referred to the police crackdown on Ramdev post midnight Saturday.<br /><br />"What happened there is shameful. The people who gathered there were protesting peacefully. If the government can baton-charge peaceful protestors, then they should remove Gandhiji's photo from all government offices and the currency notes as well," he added. <br /><br />Wearing a Nehru cap, another young Anna supporter said: "We are not aligned to any political party. Our only aim is to fight corruption."<br /><br />Earlier in the day, before proceeding towards the fast site, Anna Hazare said: "The government action at Ramlila ground was an attack on democracy."</p>