Anna Hazare threatens to return Padma Bhushan

Dehradun/Roorkee: Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Tuesday thereatened to return the Padma Bhushan conferred upon him, accusing the UPA of betraying the nation on the issue of Lokpal. "This is an unpardonable betrayal of the nation...I don`t want any awards from a government which does not act against corruption," Hazare said, addressing people at the parade ground in Dehradun on the conclusion of the first phase of his Jantantrik yatra.

He said despite two years after the resolution on Lokpal was passed in Parliament the anti-corruption institution was still an elusive dream. Hazare asked the people to think of not only changing a government while voting in 2014 Lok Sabha polls but also changing the system. "People should rise above self-centred thinking and expand the ambit of their thought to include the larger interest of the nation," he said. Citing his own example, he said he had taken a pledge at the age of 26 to serve the nation and society and has lived up to that pledge to this day. Exhorting people to work for the nation and society with an unflinching sense of commitment, he asked them to be alert and fight the system to build the society of their dreams. Hazare also announced that the next phase of the Jantantrik yatra will begin on May 5 saying, "We will keep on fighting till the creation of corruption free society." Earlier, addressing a public meeting at Roorkee as his yatra entered Uttarakhand, Hazare reminded people that they held the key to change. PTI