New Delhi, June 8 (IANS) Social activist Anna Hazare began a day-long fast here Wednesday, saying the campaign against corruption was "the second freedom struggle".
The 73-year-old is on hunger strike at Rajghat to protest the police crackdown on yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his supporters four days ago, which Hazare compared with the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
"This is the second freedom struggle and we have to fight it," he said.
"I am protesting today for the government action in Ramilila ground. Beating sleeping people with lathis past midnight is wrong. It is a blot on humanity. It was like throttling democracy," Hazare told cheering crowds.
Hazare said the government should realise that they were not "masters" of the people.
"The government and people can be one if the government decides not to act like a master. Only then can the country progress," he said.