<p>Warning that India was headed to “disaster”, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Sunday began his year-long, all-India campaign from Amritsar’s historic Jallianwala Bagh ground.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The tour is part of Hazare’s efforts to press for a strong Lokpal bill as well as electoral reforms among other things.<br /><br />The “Janatantra Yatra” will move through Punjab for five days during which time Hazare will address eight rallies.<br /><br />“The country is headed towards disaster. We want to bring about changes,” the 75-year-old told supporters as he embarked on the journey.<br /><br />Hazare and his supporters earlier prayed at the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, and the nearby Durgiana Mandir before setting out from the Jallianwala Bagh.<br /><br />Hundreds of Indians, including women and children, were massacred at the ground, on April 13, 1919, by British forces. <br /><br />Colonial-era records put the deaths at around 400 while some claimed over 1,000 people were killed. After Punjab, Hazare will enter Haryana and then move on to Uttarakhand.<br /><br />After a short break, the second leg of the tour will cover Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The tour comes two years after Hazare went on a hunger strike against corruption in New Delhi in April 2011 followed by a mass protest in August that year that drew hundreds of thousands of people. <br /><br />Another hunger strike took place in Mumbai in December.<br /><br />During the current tour, Hazare will also work for forming a nationwide organisation of individuals, social groups and NGOs fighting corruption at the grassroots , his aides said.<br /></p>
<p>Warning that India was headed to “disaster”, anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Sunday began his year-long, all-India campaign from Amritsar’s historic Jallianwala Bagh ground.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The tour is part of Hazare’s efforts to press for a strong Lokpal bill as well as electoral reforms among other things.<br /><br />The “Janatantra Yatra” will move through Punjab for five days during which time Hazare will address eight rallies.<br /><br />“The country is headed towards disaster. We want to bring about changes,” the 75-year-old told supporters as he embarked on the journey.<br /><br />Hazare and his supporters earlier prayed at the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, and the nearby Durgiana Mandir before setting out from the Jallianwala Bagh.<br /><br />Hundreds of Indians, including women and children, were massacred at the ground, on April 13, 1919, by British forces. <br /><br />Colonial-era records put the deaths at around 400 while some claimed over 1,000 people were killed. After Punjab, Hazare will enter Haryana and then move on to Uttarakhand.<br /><br />After a short break, the second leg of the tour will cover Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The tour comes two years after Hazare went on a hunger strike against corruption in New Delhi in April 2011 followed by a mass protest in August that year that drew hundreds of thousands of people. <br /><br />Another hunger strike took place in Mumbai in December.<br /><br />During the current tour, Hazare will also work for forming a nationwide organisation of individuals, social groups and NGOs fighting corruption at the grassroots , his aides said.<br /></p>