India has denied it is stifling democratic protest after police arrested 1,300 people to halt a hunger strike by an anti-corruption activist.
Prominent campaigner Anna Hazare was arrested hours before his fast against a proposed new anti-corruption law.
India's Home Minister P Chidambaram said the detentions were because protesters had not obeyed police conditions for the demonstration.
Mr Hazare has been jailed for a week in Delhi's notorious Tihar prison.
He says India's proposed anti-corruption ombudsman should be able to investigate any official - including the prime minister and judges.
Correspondents say he has presented an increasing challenge for the Indian government on dealing with corruption in Asia's third largest economy, where a series of recent high-profile scandals have tarnished the government's image.
No comments:
Post a Comment