Social activist Anna Hazare on Sunday warned that he would return his Padma Bhushan if the Centre does not fulfil its promises “in the next few days”, PTI reported. Hazare’s indefinite hunger strike at his village Ralegan Siddhi of Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district entered its sixth day on Monday.
Hazare had won the Padma Bhushan in 1992.
“I will return my Padma Bhushan award to the President,” Hazare said, according to ANI. “I did not work for that award, you only gave me that when I was working for social cause and the country. If the country or society is in this condition, then why should I keep that?”
He said the Narendra Modi government had “breached the faith of people”.
Around 5,000 farmers are likely to stage a protest outside the district collector’s office on Monday in support, PTI reported. Earlier on Sunday, farmers and youths blocked the Ahmednagar-Pune state highway at Supa village in Parner tehsil, around 38 km from Ralegan Siddhi. The police detained 110 protestors briefly in the afternoon.
Hazare had warned on Saturday that if anything happened to him, people will hold Modi responsible. “People will remember me as a person who tackled situations and not as somebody who added fuel to the fire,” he told ANI.
Hazare has been on a hunger strike since January 30 to protest against the delay in appointment of a Lokpal at the Centre and the passage of the Lokayukta Act in Maharashtra. Dr Dhananjay Pote, who conducted a health check-up of Hazare on Sunday morning, said the activist has lost around 3.8 kg and that his blood pressure, blood sugar and creatinine level in urine have risen.
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