The high-profile anti-corruption activist whose detention sparked massive protests across India has won the right to fast publicly for two weeks in the centre of Delhi after reaching a deal with authorities.
As tens of thousands marched on the streets of towns and cities or held candlelit vigils, Anna Hazare and police officials held talks in the jail where the 74-year-old was taken after refusing to abandon his plans for a public protest earlier this week.
Hazare was granted a release warrant to leave Delhi's high security Tihar prison after less than 12 hours' detention, but he refused to move – or to eat – until his demands were met.
The crisis has forced the beleaguered Congress-party-led government, weakened by a series of graft scandals involving senior party figures or allies, on to the defensive. An attempt on Wednesday by Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, to use a speech in parliament to regain the initiative failed as protests across India grew. Tens of thousands joined an impromptu march in Delhi and hundreds of other demonstrations all over the country drew large crowds.
Crowds outside Tihar jail erupted in joy at news of the deal, reached in the middle of the night, shouting "Anna, we are with you," singing, playing guitar and waving the Indian flag. Hazare was expected to go to the protest ground on Thursday.
Few expected the campaign to attract such attention, but Hazare has tapped a deep vein of resentment in India at the endemic graft, both petty and large scale, that successive administrations have either fuelled or failed to tackle.
Support for Hazare is particularly strong in urban areas and among those who have benefited most from India's fast-paced economic development. But analysts say the movement's growing momentum owes much to the government's chaotic response. Although the government has expressed sympathy with campaigners' motives, previous demonstrations have been met with teargas and baton charges. A huge anti-corruption demonstration held by a yoga guru earlier this summer was broken up by riot police.
"What you are seeing on the street is a middle-class rebellion," said Mohan Guruswamy, a former senior official in the ministry of finance and founder of the Centre for Policy Alternatives thinktank.
Around 2,500 followers of Hazare were arrested on Tuesday, provoking comparisons with draconian measures employed by British imperial rulers before India gained independence in 1947.
Among those held was Kiran Bedi, a widely respected former senior police officer.
"None of us is looking at this as a victory," Bedi told the local Times Now television station after announcing the deal on Twitter.
"We are not playing games. We are doing this to move the country forward."
Large crowds were already converging on the parade ground where Hazare is set to hold his fast.
Although few analysts expect the government to fall, in part due to weak political opposition, the crisis has increased the sense of drift surrounding 78-year-old Singh and the Congress party mid-way through its second consecutive term. Much-needed economic and legal reforms remain blocked in parliament while progress in the delivery of basic services is patchy at best.
"It's bad enough that power goes off all the time, police are misbehaving and healthcare is awful," said Ashok Kumar, 26, an engineering student in Delhi. "But to have to pay bribes for it as well, that really is too much."
As tens of thousands marched on the streets of towns and cities or held candlelit vigils, Anna Hazare and police officials held talks in the jail where the 74-year-old was taken after refusing to abandon his plans for a public protest earlier this week.
Hazare was granted a release warrant to leave Delhi's high security Tihar prison after less than 12 hours' detention, but he refused to move – or to eat – until his demands were met.
The crisis has forced the beleaguered Congress-party-led government, weakened by a series of graft scandals involving senior party figures or allies, on to the defensive. An attempt on Wednesday by Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, to use a speech in parliament to regain the initiative failed as protests across India grew. Tens of thousands joined an impromptu march in Delhi and hundreds of other demonstrations all over the country drew large crowds.
Crowds outside Tihar jail erupted in joy at news of the deal, reached in the middle of the night, shouting "Anna, we are with you," singing, playing guitar and waving the Indian flag. Hazare was expected to go to the protest ground on Thursday.
Few expected the campaign to attract such attention, but Hazare has tapped a deep vein of resentment in India at the endemic graft, both petty and large scale, that successive administrations have either fuelled or failed to tackle.
Support for Hazare is particularly strong in urban areas and among those who have benefited most from India's fast-paced economic development. But analysts say the movement's growing momentum owes much to the government's chaotic response. Although the government has expressed sympathy with campaigners' motives, previous demonstrations have been met with teargas and baton charges. A huge anti-corruption demonstration held by a yoga guru earlier this summer was broken up by riot police.
"What you are seeing on the street is a middle-class rebellion," said Mohan Guruswamy, a former senior official in the ministry of finance and founder of the Centre for Policy Alternatives thinktank.
Around 2,500 followers of Hazare were arrested on Tuesday, provoking comparisons with draconian measures employed by British imperial rulers before India gained independence in 1947.
Among those held was Kiran Bedi, a widely respected former senior police officer.
"None of us is looking at this as a victory," Bedi told the local Times Now television station after announcing the deal on Twitter.
"We are not playing games. We are doing this to move the country forward."
Large crowds were already converging on the parade ground where Hazare is set to hold his fast.
Although few analysts expect the government to fall, in part due to weak political opposition, the crisis has increased the sense of drift surrounding 78-year-old Singh and the Congress party mid-way through its second consecutive term. Much-needed economic and legal reforms remain blocked in parliament while progress in the delivery of basic services is patchy at best.
"It's bad enough that power goes off all the time, police are misbehaving and healthcare is awful," said Ashok Kumar, 26, an engineering student in Delhi. "But to have to pay bribes for it as well, that really is too much."
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