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India Against Corruption (IAC) is a term that was used, along with Team Anna, to describe a people's movement that sought to communicate the collective expression of the people of India fighting against corruption. It was particularly prominent during the anti-corruption protests of 2011 and 2012, centering about the introduction of a Jan Lokpal bill.

Origins

India Against Corruption ("IAC") is a people's organisation affiliated to the Hindustan Republican Association which was founded on 3 October,1924 at Kanpur (United Provinces). IAC's official website declares it is an apolitical, secular, socialist, Republican, conservative, revolutionary, Hindutva movement (an ancient inclusive movement harmoniously accommodating all faiths, religions and beliefs or non-beliefs).

According to the IAC website, which dates India Against Corruption back to 1973, the name "India Against Corruption" came to be used again in 2007 for a movement to monitor accounts of the Commonwealth Games of 2010. Between 2007 and 2010 this IAC movement filed a series of coordinated Right to Information (RTI) requests to obtain information from the Government and Games Organising Committees.

According to the IAC website, in 2010 IAC financed the PCRF to conduct a wider popular campaign against the excesses of Congress, but which PCRF turned into a campaign for a JanLokPal (ombudsman) Bill, which was not supported by the IAC, to raise large funding from some industrialists and business houses like Infosys and Tatas who demanded Lokpal.

IAC's Jan Lokpal campaigm

Both Infosys and Tatas swiftly responded to the Mail Today Investigation into PCRF's finances to clarify that Arvind Kejriwal had requested them in May 2011 for permission to divert the money given for RTI promotion to the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by him. "Kejriwal sought approval from Murthy to use the money donated to PCRF for RTI for the Jan Lokpal bill. “As one who believed that the country needed a moderate but effective Lokpal Bill, I agreed to his request,” Murthy said. ".

In 2011, the PCRF's IAC campaign "to network the collective expression of people of India fighting against corruption". proposed for the creation of a Lokpal (ombudsman) who would have had powers to arrest and charge government officials accused of corruption.

Those at the head of the Jan Lokpal Bill campaign became known as Team Anna.

Split in IAC movement

In late 2012, there was a split in the IAC movement caused by differences of opinion among the central figures regarding its lack of practical success and how much this might have been due to its unwillingness to be directly engaged in the political system. An IAC survey had suggested that direct involvement in politics was preferable, leading to Arvind Kejriwal and some others splitting to form the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in order to cause change from within the system. Hazare rejected the survey findings.

Hazare had announced that he was disbanding Team Anna in August 2012, around the time that the divisions were coming to a head. In November 2012, after the split, he said that he was forming a new Team Anna, that it would retain the label of India Against Corruption and that its members were discussing other societal issues that they might address.

The new Team Anna, sometimes referred to as Team Anna 2.0, was preparing to tour the country from 30 January 2013, coinciding with the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. When that day came, Hazare announced that he had formed Jantantra Morcha, a campaigning group that included the previously-named members of Team Anna 2.0 and which he considered to be a replacement for IAC but with a broader agenda.

In September 2013, Sarbajit Roy claimed to be the national convenor of IAC, which by now comprised mostly Right to Information (RTI) activists. The membership appears to have abandoned the Lokpal demands, which they no longer considered to be practical but which the AAP was still promoting; IAC aimed to concentrate their efforts on RTI matters.

Notable people

Some notable persons with IAC prior to the breakaway of the Aam Aadmi Party were:

• Arvind Kejriwal
• Shanti Bhushan
• Prashant Bhushan
• Shazia Ilmi
• Gopal Rai
• Sanjay Singh
• Manish Sisodia
• Kumar Vishwas

See also

• Corruption in India

Notes

1. The present "India Against Corruption" is related to the HRA. According to the website the term "India Against Corruption" was dubbed in 1973 by Raj Narain as a renaming of "India Against Colonialism", an organisation founded by the HRSA in the 1920s. The present IAC was formed in 2006. Permission to use the name "IAC" was obtained from the "Hindustan Republican Army" in 2007.
2. According to the HRA-related IAC, "The usage of IAC name was only approved to protest and litigate against the Common Wealth Games 2010 scams in 2010, and was withdrawn on 9 Dec. 2010 to (sic) Team Arvind." The IAC objected against the use of the term "IAC" by this popular movement for Lokpal Bill andolan and to the association of persons like Ramdev, Agnivesh, Kiran Bedi, Aruna Roy and others under its banner. According to iamiac.com, "this movement and its logo have evolved from the movement "India against Colonization", and are affiliated to "Hindustan Republic Association" originally founded by Sachindranath Sanyal and others in 1923 and revived in 1973 and have office bearers who have exclusive right to the use if its name and logo or to restrict its use."

References

1. . {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
2. ^ Hindustan Republican Association - India Against Corruption
3. Mail Today investigation: Arvind Kejriwal's trust receives donations from big business houses "http://m.indiatoday.in//story/iac-arvind-kejriwal-public-cause-research-foundation/1/227585.html"
4. Big business ammunition fires Kejriwal's guerilla war: Narayana Murthy tops list of India Inc. donors for activist's trust "http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2227479/Big-business-ammunition-fires-Kejriwals-guerilla-war-Narayana-Murthy-tops-list-India-Inc-donors-activists-trust.html"
5. ^ India Against Corruption (Colonization), "I AM IAC (India against Corruption)"
6. Narayana Murthy denies any donations to Arvind Kejriwal "http://www.livemint.com/Politics/r4ygt6CfOAQo5S2Yr6qu8K/Narayana-Murthy-too-denies-any-donations-to-Arvind-Kejriwa.html"
8. Guha, Ramachandra (2013). . Penguin UK. pp. 119–122. ISBN 9788184757538. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
9. Nanda, Meera (2011). . NYU Press. pp. xxii–xxiii. ISBN 9781583673096. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
10. Schoen, Douglas E. (2013). . Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 185–186. ISBN 9781442220324. {{cite book}}: Check |url= value (help)
11. "Anna Hazare tells Arvind Kejriwal not to use his name, photo for votes as they part ways". New Delhi: India Today. PTI. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
12. "So what is the Aam Aadmi Party all about". New Delhi: India Today. 24 November 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2013.
13. "Hazare disbands Team Anna, says no talks with govt on Lokpal". The Times of India. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
14. "After announcing team, Anna Hazare to inaugurate new office in Delhi". IBN Live. 11 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
15. "Team Anna gets new people. But will their gameplan be a game-changer?". India Today. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
16. "Team Anna 2.0 announced, will tour country from January 30". NDTV. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
17. Gaikwad, Rashi (31 January 2013). "IAC is now Jantantra Morcha, says Anna". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
18. Khandekar, Nivedita (3 September 2013). "Anti-corruption body abandons Janlokpal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 23 November 2013.

• Use dmy dates from June 2013
• Corruption in India
• Political advocacy groups in India