Taking cue from Indian social activist Anna Hazare’s campaign against corruption, 68-year-old Pakistani businessman Jehangir Akhtar has decided to go on a hunger strike in Islamabad from September 12.
Akhtar said he wanted the Pakistan parliament to pass an anti-corruption law similar to what India was now planning. “I demand that an anti-corruption bill be presented in the National Assembly (NA),” said Akhtar, a close follower of the anti-corruption war in India.
“Corruption in Pakistan is more than in India,” he said.
It is not the first time that Akhtar would be taking up cudgels for a cause. “I once sat on a hunger strike for 22 days for the sake of traders in Islamabad,” he said. Akhtar said back then it was about tenants being forcibly vacated, adding that he had gone on a hunger strike for eight days on another occasion. Stating that his family does not interfere in his decisions, Akhtar said he was “very determined” to stage the hunger strike.