New Delhi: Activist Anna Hazare has apologised after crowds at his protest camp got aggressive with media crews covering 75-year-old Anna’s hunger strike.

“If there is any more misbehaviour, I will end my andolan (movement) right here,” Anna  said on stage this morning.

The Broadcast Editors’ Association (BEA) had demanded an apology from Team Anna for comments that instigated the crowd.  Various aides of Anna had attacked the media for reporting that Anna’s camp against corruption was not drawing the huge audiences  that it has in the past.

Shanti Bhushan, a member of Anna’s core group, had said that people should boycott channels which show the movement in a  negative light.  He had also said that sections of the media have been “sold.”

Anna said today that it was the media that had helped his non-violent campaign against graft to reach homes across the country.

Anna is on Day 3 of his fast to demand the urgent introduction of a new law to tackle corruption among politicians and bureaucrats. The Lokpal Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in December, but has not cleared the Rajya Sabha.  It creates a national ombudsman agency empowered to investigate and prosecute corrupt government servants.

Last August, Anna held a 16-day hunger strike in Delhi which ended only after all parliamentarians formally assured him that they would debate the Lokpal Bill in the next session.The bill was then passed in the Lok Sabha.

This time around, the government has said it will make no assurances or offers in exchange for Anna ending his hunger strike.  Minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office V Narayanasamy described the hunger strike to as “a drama.”

The mistrust between Anna’s group and the government has turned into a steady and persistent snarl. Last year, five ministers were asked to work on a committee with Anna and his four representatives to jointly develop the Lokpal Bill.  Both sides were unable to work together; each delivered its own version of the proposed legislation.

Recently, Anna has accused the government of trying to divide him from his group by  suggesting that it was having private negotiations with him. The government has denied  the charges. Team Ana has also blacklisted the Prime Minister and 14 ministers on charges of graft. They want an independent inquiry to determine each minister’s innocence. The government has refused.