Definite about Indefinite fast?

Now that Anna Hazare is all geared up for another show (tamasha) certain thoughts have been crossing my mind from time to time.

It is a given that our dear and lovely country is riven with corruption. It is now too deeply ingrained in our national psyche, driven hard and deep into our hard disks. Into the DNA of our national character. This just cannot be gotten rid of all that easily. No matter how much we talk and ponder about it, or hold seminars and projects and make grand sounding statements echoing from one corner of the country to the other.

Two years ago nobody had ever heard of this nobody called Anna Hazare.

Somehow this fellow could strike a chord against this concept of corruption that was/has been tearing our country apart. He just happened to strike this chord at the right moment. I don't think there was any calculation behind it. Just one of those great fluke moments of life , when all the unforseeable factors, the uncontrollable factors happened to be in the right place. The astrologers would say that the stars were right. The entire country was galvanised by this little fellow who was championing a cause. The little guy's voice against the mighty juggernaut of a corrupt system of gargantuan proportion.

With the teeming hundreds of thousands behind him the little fellow was now not all that little. The Government sat up and took notice. Had to. The Government was left with little choice.

His first battle against the Government won, after the first fast, Anna realised he had a weapon in his hand that was invincible. Now he was somebody. He was on an almost equal footing with the mighty Government of India, setting down terms. What an achievement! Never mind whether those terms were feasible or not.

Now that he is poised for his second battle, namely his second "fast unto death" unless the Government gives in, and the Government is all aflutter how to deal with the situation without getting egg in the face like they did with Baba Ramdev. The Government did lose a lot of face the way they handled the Baba Ramdev prank. This time the Government is watching themselves carefully, very carefully. They can't afford another mistake.

But other thoughts assail me. This declaration to go on an indefinite fast unto death is nothing short of an attempt to commit suicide. And this by itself is a criminal offence as defined under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. An offence punishable with imprisonment and fine.

Also those who encourage, aid and/or abet the commission of an offence are also guilty of committing an offence. Punishable offence. (Refer to Chapter V of the IPC on Abetment of Offences). Sections 109 and 111 make the position abundantly clear by spelling out the punishment and liability for abetment of offences.

What I am wondering is what is stopping the Government of India from invoking these laws and stopping this Hazare from making a nuisance of himself and throwing a spanner in the workings of the Government.

This is one sure way the Government could put a definte embargo on the indefinite fast.