The Hazare team met city Police Commissioner to discuss the pros and cons of the five venues suggested by the Gandhian.
Delhi Police reportedly sought two more days to take a decision on giving permission to Anna Hazare to organise his indefinite fast against Lokpal Bill in Delhi even as his team has secured a no-objection certificate from MCD to hold the protest at Ramlila Maidan.
The Hazare team -- Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia -- met Delhi Police Commissioner NK Gupta to discuss the pros and cons of the five venues suggested by the Gandhian to hold his fast from August 16.
Delhi Police made it clear Jantar Mantar is out of bounds for Hazare's fast for a "strong" Lokpal Bill later this month, saying the venue has "little capacity" and no single organisation can be allowed to "usurp or lay exclusive claim" to it.
"We met the Delhi Police Commissioner. He has asked for two more days to decide on the issue of permission for indefinite fast from August 16," Bedi said. The meeting was also attended by Special Commissioner (Law and Order) Dharmendra Kumar and other senior officials.
She said they suggested four venues Boat Club, Rajghat, Ramlila Maidan and Shaheed Park near ITO other than Jantar Mantar and discussed the pros and cons of holding the fast there.
"If it is a professional decision by police then it is okay. But if it is going to be a political decision then there will be a problem," she said.
The Hazare team got its NOC from MCD, the land owning agency of Ramlila Maidan. However, to hold a protest there, one needs the permission of police.
"The Commissioner has also assured that if any other alternative venue is proposed by the Police, the space would be well connected and within 3 km radius of Jantar Mantar," a statement from the Hazare team said.
Ramlila Maidan, which was host to a number of protests, is now in the news for the midnight police swoop on yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters who were protesting against black money and corruption.
Denying permission to hold protest at Jantar Mantar, police said, "It is imperative for the duration of the dharna to be specified as no single organization can be allowed to usurp and lay exclusive claim to the place meant for holding demonstration or protest for an indefinate period of time."
"This space has to be shared equitably with others intending to hold peaceful protests and there are many claimants from all over India seeking to hold demonstration at Jantar Mantar site...This venue has little capacity and it would be difficult to accommodate the huge crowds expected by you and otherwise anticipated by the media," the letter said.
Countering this, the Hazare team wrote to Police Commissioner asking why they were being denied permission when a three-day protest organised by another activist Medha Patkar at the same venue was given a nod.
They claimed they had already intimated police the proposed fast is going to be one-month long and it was "wrong to say" they did not define the time-limit.
Police had earlier suggested if Hazare wants to continue with his fast, he could choose an alternative site like Burari, on the outskirts of Delhi.
Hazare made it clear he was not insisting on sitting on an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar as for him, Jantar Mantar was not the issue but Lokpal is. "I don't want people to say that Anna is stubborn on this. Our issue is not Jantar Mantar, our issue is Lokpal," he said.
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