Medha Patkar’s fast in New Delhi recalled a form of protest that had almost disappeared. A powerful tool in the hands of the Mahatma and his followers, its decline mirrored the fading away of Gandhian politics. Here are some famous fasts, post-1947

• Vinobha Bhave fasted extensively during the mid 1950s, at the peak of the Bhoodan Movement, as he tried to persuade landlords to donate land. His efforts, for which he travelled across the country, saw landowners donate four million acres of land

• Faced with stiff opposition from the Centre in the demand for a Punjabi Suba, MASTER TARA SINGH, then 76, fasted for 48 days in Amritsar in 1961. His efforts didn’t have an immediate fallout but it set off many other similar fasts, including one by Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman in 1969 — he died on the 74th day of his fast

• In 1967, the SHANKARACHARYA OF PURI went on fast in Puri as part of the mass movement for Gauraksha (cow protection). This agitation also saw a gherao of Parliament by sadhus

• In 1968, Delhi saw fasting by schoolteachers of government-aided schools as part of a movement to demand better service conditions. The movement saw the rise of MADAN LAL KHURANA and Deep Chand Bandhu, and uniquely brought the Congress, Jan Sangh and the Communists on a common platform

• 1968 also saw the culmination of an agitation to declare Birla House, the site of Gandhi’s assassination, a national monument. Inspired by Gandhian Pandit Sunderlal, about 100 young MPs including Chandra Shekhar, Mohan Dharia and SM Joshi carried out a signature campaign while SHASHI BHUSHAN went on hunger strike for 11 days. The house was handed over to the government in the early 1970s.

... contd.