Introduction

On 19 August 2011, Khisan Baburao ‘Anna’ Hazare, a 71-year-old (self-professed) ‘Gandhian’ activist led a march from Tihar Jail in South Delhi to Ramlila Maidan, a public space in the north of the city which had been the site of previous political agitations. Once there, Hazare had planned to ‘fast until death’ unless the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), the Congress Party-led ruling coalition government of India at that time, passed the Jan Lokpal Bill, which would create an independent, anti-corruption ombudsman. The UPA government had been the subject of numerous corruption related scandals, and was largely seen to be symptomatic of widespread corruption across Indian society. Hazare arrived in Ramlila Maidan and continued fasting, taking his place on a permanent public pavilion which is located in the grounds. Other activists in the wider Jan Lokpal movement had prepared the Maidan for his arrival with assistance from state workers. Over the next days, thousands of people mobilised around the Maidan, and the protests attracted widespread mainstream and social media commentary. Hazare's fast lasted until 28 August, after the UPA pushed through the Jan Lokpal Bill as a direct result of events in the Maidan.

Hazare's fast became the most visible political activity in India during 2011, and in some cases, the fast and its associated protests were linked to the perceived global upsurge in protest activity in that year (Chatterji, 2013). Aditya Nigam (2012) specifically linked the Jan Lokpal protests to the wider events of 2011 such as the encampments of Tahrir Square and the Spanish Indignados as examples of a new wave of ‘viral’ protests. However, in this case, the process of ‘encampment’ was markedly different to the other protests of 2011 – in particular the tactic of an individual fasting was distinctive to other, often more collective forms of camp, which are discussed elsewhere in this volume (and also in Feigenbaum et al, 2013). However, the focus on the individual did create a sense of collective mobilisation, and the occupation and maintenance of the Ramlila Maidan as a space of protest is usefully illuminated through thinking about the space as a protest camp. Additionally, the August 2011 protests brought into sharp relief some of the tensions that exist across Indian society, together with concerns about the emergence of India's ‘new’ middle classes and their role in politics.