Ramdev to fast unto death in New Delhi against corruption

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Mumbai, May 4 : Demanding that the black money deposited in foreign banks be brought back, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev on Wednesday vowed to fast unto death in New Delhi on June 4 as part of the 'Bhrastachar Mitao Satyagrah', a drive to remove corruption.

"From 4th June, I along with more one lakh people will sit for a hunger strike in the Bhrastachar Mitao Satyagrah till our demands are accepted. As a protestor, we will take part in this movement," Ramdev told a news conference here.

Ramdev said his main demand from the government was to bring back the 400 trillion rupees of black money that was deposited in foreign banks.

"We are demanding three things from the government in the Bhrastachar Mitao Satyagrah which is starting on 4th June. First demand is the 400 lakh crore rupees that is the black money and has been looted from the country, it belongs to India and should be brought back to the country," he added.

The Yoga Guru further said his movement seeks the early establishment of a neutral and empowered Jan Lokpal Bill, which has the authority to recover black money and send offenders to prison.

"The black money that is deposited in the foreign banks should be declared national property by the government, and no Indian citizen should be allowed to deposit money in foreign banks with illegal methods. If anybody does that, he should be declared an anti-national," he added.

Ramdev also demanded the signing of a United Nations Convention on anti-corruption, and said it should be passed in the Indian Parliament.

The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) is the legally binding international anti-corruption instrument that requires governments to implement a range of anti-corruption measures with the aim to promote the prevention and criminalisation of corruption, as well as law enforcement, international cooperation, asset recovery, technical assistance and information exchange, and mechanisms for implementation.

Ramdev also called for demonitising high-value currency denominations to stop illegal activities carried out with black money.

"All the illegal activities carried out in the country are done with the black money that is present in the internal economy of the country. From spending illegal money during elections to giving bribes, all is done with the help of black money. The biggest threat to the country's economy is fake currency," said Ramdev.

"Black money is also used in terrorism. The only way of solving this problem is to demonetize the high-value currency and they should not be printed any more. When more than 54 crore people in this country do not get even 20 rupees ($0.44 USD) to spend daily, then there is no need of 500 and 1,000-rupee currency notes to be printed in the country," he added.