Amritsar: Warning that India was going to "disaster", anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare Sunday began his year-long campaign across India to the historic Jallianwala Bagh Amritsar plant.
The tour is part of Hazare's efforts to press for a strong Lokpal bill and electoral reforms, among other things.
The "Janatantra Yatra" will move through Punjab for five days during which time Hazare will address eight rallies.
"The country is heading towards disaster. Want to effect change," the 75-year-old told his supporters that he embarked on the trip.
Hazare and his supporters before praying at the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh temple and nearby Durgiana Mandir before leaving the Jallianwala Bagh.
Hundreds of Indians, including women and children, were massacred on the ground April 13, 1919 by British forces.
Colonial records put the deaths at about 400, while some claimed more than 1,000 lives were lost.
After Punjab, Haryana Hazare enter and then move to Uttarakhand.
After a short break, the second part of the tour will cover Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
The visit comes two years after Hazare began a hunger strike against corruption in New Delhi in April 2011 followed by a mass protest in August of that year, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people.
Another hunger strike was held in Mumbai in December.
During the current tour, Hazare also work for the formation of a national organization of individuals, social groups and NGOs fighting corruption at the grassroots level, his aides said.
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The tour is part of Hazare's efforts to press for a strong Lokpal bill and electoral reforms, among other things.
The "Janatantra Yatra" will move through Punjab for five days during which time Hazare will address eight rallies.
"The country is heading towards disaster. Want to effect change," the 75-year-old told his supporters that he embarked on the trip.
Hazare and his supporters before praying at the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh temple and nearby Durgiana Mandir before leaving the Jallianwala Bagh.
Hundreds of Indians, including women and children, were massacred on the ground April 13, 1919 by British forces.
Colonial records put the deaths at about 400, while some claimed more than 1,000 lives were lost.
After Punjab, Haryana Hazare enter and then move to Uttarakhand.
After a short break, the second part of the tour will cover Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
The visit comes two years after Hazare began a hunger strike against corruption in New Delhi in April 2011 followed by a mass protest in August of that year, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people.
Another hunger strike was held in Mumbai in December.
During the current tour, Hazare also work for the formation of a national organization of individuals, social groups and NGOs fighting corruption at the grassroots level, his aides said.
Receive the latest news on Anna Hazare