Man at centre of unrest refuses to leave police custody, demands right to fast
Protests in India continued for a second day on Wednesday with political parties holding rallies across the country to press for stronger anti-corruption legislation. Many people took to the streets to demonstrate against the arrest of Anna Hazare, the 73-year-old who was taken into custody by Delhi police after he tried to start a hunger strike against perceived government corruption. The Indian government agreed to release Hazare Tuesday evening, but he refuses to leave jail until he’s given the unconditional right to publicly fast. Hundreds reportedly demonstrated outside the Tihar Jail that houses Hazare, while others marched in areas of New Delhi, Mumbai and in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. India’s central government has been dogged by a series of recent corruption cases, leading to increasing demands to create an independent body that would observe and investigate the activities of politicians.