M A I N   N E W S

The Fallout
Angry Anna camp pulls out of Lokpal panel
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 5
The government-ordered police eviction of Baba Ramdev and his supporters from Ramlila Grounds past midnight yesterday united the hitherto divided civil society groups, who condemned the police brutality today, with veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare calling for a massive nationwide anti-corruption protest and terming it as the “Second War of Independence”.

Delhi no one’s property: Hazare When asked whether Ramdev could join him in protest at the Jantar Mantar, considering the Delhi Police had barred his entry to the capital for a fortnight, an enraged Anna asked if Delhi was the Centre’s property. “Let the government ministers recall that India is a Republic where people are the masters and officials are the servants,” he said.

On June 8, Anna will fast at Jantar Mantar in solidarity with Ramdev; he called for similar protests across India and sought the Prime Minister’s explanation for the “deplorable act” adding that “this government needed to be taught a lesson”.

Anna’s tenor led his camp to bury the hatchet with Ramdev who was, until yesterday, being accused by Swami Agnivesh of sharing the dais with communal forces (read Sadhvi Rithambara). Overnight, the tone of the camp changed with even Agnivesh seeking a judicial inquiry into the incident at Ramlila Maidan.

So much so, the Anna camp, while slamming the UPA’s action as a “murder of democracy”, announced a blanket pullout from the Lokpal Panel Drafting Committee unless all its meetings were telecast live and the government became serious about bringing a purposeful Jan Lokpal Bill.

“The government’s action reminds me of the Emergency of 1975. There is no difference between British autocracy and this situation. Lathicharging sleeping protesters, among them women, children and elders, was another Jallianwala incident except that no bullets were fired,” a perturbed Anna said today, adding that the Government was trying to dilute provisions of proposed law.

“We want the entire official machinery covered by the Bill but the UPA insists that officers above Deputy Secretary’s rank alone be covered. Is the lower machinery not corrupt?” Anna asked, justifying his panel’s decision to boycott the Lokpal committee’s meetings (one is slated tomorrow). Equating the response of the UPA to both the civil society members of the Lokpal panel and Ramdev, Anna said his camp would now engage with the Government only when there’s surety of the latter’s commitment to the cause.

The civil camp of the panel will write a 10-point letter to the Government tomorrow, and will hold another major agitation (as the one earlier held at Jantar Mantar) if the Government didn’t respond positively.

Meanwhile, Anna, when asked why he was supporting Ramdev now when he had earlier refused to join his protest, said, “We had some differences which have been sorted out. If all the differences get resolved, we can together launch a strong national movement against corruption.” Anna was referring to Ramdev allowing Sangh Parivar people in his movement.

Another strong voice in Ramdev’s support today came from Justice Santosh Hegde (also on the Lokpal panel), who called the police action a violation of fundamental rights. He even questioned the Government’s engagement with Ramdev whom Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh dismissed as a “thug”.

Government’s action evoked an equally strong condemnation from the National Advisory Commission member Aruna Roy who slammed the muzzling of a democratic protest and said, “I don’t support Ramdev’s campaign but he had every right to protest, so did anyone regardless of ideology. In a democracy, you can’t partially allow certain kinds of protests and not the others.”