Washington DC – A gathering of students, activists and other Indian Americans in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington, DC reflected the mood of protests in India against the widespread corruption prevailing in the country.
Indian Americans in the American capital heeded the call of yoga expert Baba Ram Dev to carry out nationwide rallies from June 3, as he launched his agitation from Rajghat and moved towards Jantar Mantar, where anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare was going to join him.
After starting the protest at 8:30 am ET to coincide with the 6 pm IST program announced from India, the protestors submitted a petition to the Indian Embassy.
Ram Dev said he would start the rally from New Delhi and take it across the nation. In a press conference in New Delhi, Ram Dev vowed to continue his protest until the government brings back the black money stashed in Swiss Banks.
At a recent appearance at an event in the Washington, DC Metro area, Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader Yashwant Sinha promised to make public the names of 800 Indian account holders in Swiss banks, if it comes into power in the 2014 general elections.
Answering a question from an Indian American at an event sponsored by a local think tank, Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS), the former finance minister Sinha said. “Of course, we will do. Of course, we will do.”
“You are aware of that famous case when HSBC disclosed the names of 800 Indian account holders in Swiss bank and these names have been with the government of India for the last two years. They say that the double taxation avoidance agreement prevents them from disclosing this,” Sinha said.
Denying that the issue was related only to taxation, Sinha called for punishing those responsible for breaking India’s rules and laws.
“The question is, why you haven’t been able to prosecute them in two years? Disclose 10 names, 20 names, but how does all these 800 names remain a secret for two years. That is where there is some mystery. We do not know what that is. We have to come into power (to know about it),” Sinha told a select audience of journalists and Indian Americans. (IATNS)