Social activist Anna Hazare and his group of civil society members threw their weight behind Ramdev with Hazare announcing a June 8 fast at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in protest against the police action.
Hours after Baba Ramdev was evicted from Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi in a midnight raid by the Delhi police and the Rapid Action Force on Saturday, political parties across the board condemned the high-handed action and questioned the UPA’s ability to run the government at the Centre.
Social activist Anna Hazare and his group of civil society members threw their weight behind Ramdev with Hazare announcing a June 8 fast at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in protest against the police action. Hazare and other civil society members of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee will also boycott Monday’s meeting with government representatives as a mark of protest.
Ramdev, who was unceremoniously evicted from the Ramlila grounds late on Saturday and forcibly taken to his ashram in Haridwar, appeared shaken when he spoke to the media in the first of his three press interactions on Sunday. He accused the government of conspiring to kill him and said the police action against him and innocent men, women and children was barbaric.
He said he would continue his fast against corruption and black money from Haridwar for now. But by 9.30pm, his last press conference in the day, he appeared defiant and challenged the Centre to investigate his land deals and income.
Human resources development minister Kapil Sibal and AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh slammed Ramdev on Sunday morning, with one calling the yoga guru a ‘fraud’ and the other calling him a ‘thug’. Sibal justified the action, saying Ramdev was being used as a front by the communal Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Sibal said the government and Ramdev had reached an understanding as per which the yoga guru was supposed to call off his strike but he did not honour the commitment. “We were in touch with him over phone. We waited till 5 pm. When he did not give statement we decided to go to the press,” Sibal said, referring to making public the letter written by one of Ramdev’s close associates.
In typical fashion, the Congress distanced itself from the midnight raid. After a lengthy meeting at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s residence, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi sidestepped questions whether the party endorsed the police action. “That has already been explained by the government,” he said. “We do not discuss individuals. We do not take note of individuals. The person mentioned is nothing (of no significance) and is supported by other forces.”
The Delhi police justified the raid citing a security threat to Ramdev. “Due to the SMS campaign started by the baba, we had [intelligence] input that more than one lakh people would reach the capital on Sunday,” said Rajan Bhagat, the Delhi police spokesperson. “The ground was already overcrowded. It was a major security threat.”
Another officer said the police had received information that some people would sneak in as baba’s supporters and attack him.
“This was enough for us to get cracking.”
The police reached the ground around 1am on Saturday. As soon as they whisked away Ramdev, there was complete chaos with the police firing tear gas shells. Several people in the crowd alleged that the police had lathicharged to disperse them, but Bhagat denied the charge. A spark from one of the shells set a banner on fire adding to the confusion.
The police claimed that Ramdev had sought permission to hold a yoga camp at the ground. Since it was being used for a dharna, the police had to evict him, an officer said.
Home secretary GK Pillai made it clear on Sunday that the yoga guru had not been arrested. He was detained for a while and later escorted out of Delhi, he said.
Ramdev was flown to Dehra Dun in a special plane from Delhi’s Palam airport. On his arrival at the Jolly Grant Airport near Dehra Dun, he was received by Uttarakhand government officials and later taken to his ashram in Hardwar.
There were reports that Ramdev had attempted to return to Delhi by road. But his convoy was stopped at Muzaffarnagar and sent back to Hardwar around 7.30pm. UP chief minister Mayawati slammed the Congress for the “police brutality” at Ramlila Maidan but she seemed unwilling to extend support to Ramdev and denied him permission to hold his protest fast in Noida.
The Delhi police have banned Ramdev from entering Delhi for the next 15 days.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}