Ramdev is the buzz in Baba's village

Reverberations of Haridwar are loud and clear in Baba Ramdev’s native place. It’s sedate and quiet here but the undercurrents of the disturbance in Haridwar have seized minds.

The moment Baba Ramdev ended his fast, his elder brother Dev Dutt, who has also been on fast for the last nine days ever since Baba Ramdev was ousted from the Ramlila ground in Delhi, also ended his fast.

There were no celebrations, though, only relief. “We wanted Baba to withdraw his fast and to relaunch his movement against corruption after the Delhi incident,” said Jagdish, ex-sarpanch of the village, who also undertook fast on Saturday in solidarity with the Baba and his cause.

Besides his brother Dev Dutt, who has been on a continuous fast, two to four villagers would be on hunger strike e very day at the Paras chowk in the heart of the village. Every day an effigy of AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, her general secretary Digvijay Singh, and others would be burnt before 40-50 villagers.

“After the brutal police attack on Baba’s followers, the entire village, for that matter the entire region, is with Baba Ramdev, because it was a dictatorial and brutal action of the government against peaceful demonstrators,” said Satpal, who observed a day-long fast last week.