New Delhi: Anna Hazare, and his fellow activists will be released tonight from Tihar Jail, say sources. The Delhi Police have reportedly sent their release warrants to the jail authorities. Huge crowds have gathered outside the Tihar Jail in West Delhi in support of Anna.
The anti-corruption crusader was lodged in a normal cell in jail no 4. Ironically, among the more well-known residents of jail no. 4 is Suresh Kalmadi, charged with large-scale corruption in Commonwealth Games projects. To add to the irony, Mr Hazare's fellow-activist and Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal is in a jail that houses DMK leader A Raja, also in jail on charges of corruption in the 2G scam. (Read: Who is Anna Hazare?)
The pressure showed when jail authorities sought to make clear that Anna Hazare and Suresh Kalmadi shared only a jail, not a ward. Director General, Prisons, Neeraj Kumar said Mr Hazare's ward was in fact some distance away from that of Mr Kalmadi. He also said that Mr Hazare had been given tight security, had been medically examined and was well.
The 74-year-old Hazare and two key members of his team - Mr Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia - have been sent to seven days in judicial custody because they refused to apply for bail after being arrested in the capital today. All three are fasting.
Two more key members of Team Anna - Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan - were charged under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, which does not mandate custody. They were released from detention earlier this evening.
In cities, big and small, across the country, angry people have taken to the streets in protest against Anna Hazare's arrest. Thousands have been detained, over 8,400 in Delhi alone, claims India Against Corruption (IAC), a citizen's movement to demand strong anti-corruption laws. (Forum: Do you agree with Anna Hazare's fast?)
A united Opposition has demanded that Anna be freed. Now, the Left has also suggested that all Opposition parties boycott Parliament for three days.
The government has, at various levels, spent all day justifying the police action on Anna Hazare. Delhi Police has said Mr Hazare had be detained and then placed under "preventive arrest" to maintain law and order in the capital, because the activist leader refused to comply with conditions and then with orders not to go ahead with his fast.
Home Minister P Chidamabaram said it was "a painful duty" to arrest him; in a very high-level huddle, senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Mr Chidambaram met Rahul Gandhi a little after noon on Tuesday. This after the Opposition forced an adjournment of Parliament over the issue.
A day of much action began early. At 7.30 am on Tuesday morning, minutes before Mr Hazare was to set out for his fast against corruption, about a dozen policemen in plain clothes detained him at fellow-activist Prashant Bhushan's residence at Supreme Enclave in Delhi's Mayur Vihar, where he was staying. They tried to whisk him away in a white Innova car, but hundreds of angry protestors ensured that the car could barely move for over an hour.
Mr Hazare, with several of his key aides who are now also under arrest, was taken to the Delhi Police Mess near The Oberoi Maidens in north Delhi and was produced before a special executive magistrate there. He was then taken to the office of the DCP (West) from where he was sent to Tihar Jail.
The police action foiled his plan to fast at Delhi's JP Park, but the Anna has not eaten or even had water since early morning, say members of his team. Doctors are expected to attend to him soon.
Defiance of police orders unacceptable: Chidambaram
Under attack from all quarters, the government has justified the police action on Anna. Home Minister P Chidambaram, not allowed to make a statement in Parliament by a belligerent Opposition, called Anna Hazare's detention a "painful duty," carried out because of "breach of peace." He was at pains to say that the government was not against peaceful protest, but said Team Anna was detained because it had refused to comply with six of the police's 22 conditions and made clear that it would defy orders not to hold their protest fast.
"It is unacceptable to defy police conditions...I inform you with regret that this action has been taken." Mr Chidambaram said, adding that Anna and six other people had been detained under Section 151 of the CrPC and taken to the police mess at Alipur road. He said a little over a 1000 people had been detained elsewhere in Delhi and most of them were at the Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi.
Parliament opened to chaos on Tuesday. The BJP gave a notice for suspension of Question Hour to discuss the Anna Hazare issue. The government said it was ready for a discussion after Question Hour, at noon. There was no meeting ground - when Mr Chidambaram offered to make a statement in Parliament, the Opposition said it will settle for nothing less than a statement from the Prime Minister. The two Houses were repeatedly adjourned, finally for the day.( Read: Want statement from PM on Anna, says BJP)
Countrywide crusade
Anticipating arrest, Anna recorded an appeal to people to come forward for what he called the "second freedom struggle" in peaceful protest and said a second line of leaders would continue to lead the movement. But on Tuesday morning, this second line and core members of Team Anna - Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi- were detained too and taken to the police mess. Eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan was detained at Rajghat. (Watch: Anna's video message for India)
A third line of crusading leaders went underground to gather support using mobile phones and social media and surfaced a little before noon to decry Mr Hazare's arrest and to exhort people to come out in large numbers in protest. In Mumbai almost a 100 supporters have courted arrest. (Top surfer comments on Anna Hazare)
In Bangalore, 87,000 of 100,000 IT employees have signed up to join the India Against Corruption movement. There is massive support in Kolkata too. In Chennai, Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary Kalyanam is among about 300 people on hunger strike; 30 people have courted arrest. There are protests in Lucknow and Guwahati too. (Anna Hazare arrested: In Big cities, big protests)
In the capital, the supporters that followed Anna's car as he was being taken away vowed to continue their fight against corruption at Rajghat, where Anna was to have gone before setting out for JP Park where he planned to fast. Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 at several places in the capital, including central Delhi, JP Park, Rajghat and Dilli Gate. At Rajghat, the police is not allowing people to gather in large numbers. Any large groups are being disbanded, put in buses and taken away to Chhatrasal Stadium.
At JP Park, where Anna was to sit on fast, protesters poured in ready to court arrest. Hundreds also gathered at Chattrasal stadium.
Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan announced that at 4 pm on Wednesday, a big march would be organised from India Gate to Parliament House. He appealed to all people to join the march and asked government employees to take mass leave for a day.
Team Anna has asked people to wear black bands and to use social media and SMSes to help gather more people.
BJP, Left slam government
The NDA met before Parliament convened today to decide on its strategy and the Opposition has asked for a discussion in Parliament. But in swift reaction to the police action, the BJP slammed the UPA government for detaining Anna Hazare.
BJP patriarch L K Advani said he was not surprised at the detention. "I am not surprised at this development. This is the direction in which this government is moving. Instead of dealing with the problem of corruption and owning responsibility, it is trying to find scapegoats and stopping peaceful protests," Mr Advani said. (Read: Advani slams Govt)
The Left criticized the detention as an attack on the democratic right to protest peacefully, but the CPI also appealed to Anna Hazare not to fast and to have faith in Parliament. (Anna's detention unconstitutional: Left)
A CPM statement read: "This is an attack on the democratic rights of citizens to protest peacefully. It shows how the Congress leadership is intolerant to any anti-corruption movement as their government is itself steeped in high-level corruption. The Polit Bureau reiterates that the official Lok Pal Bill presented in parliament is weak and inadequate.
The anti-corruption crusader was lodged in a normal cell in jail no 4. Ironically, among the more well-known residents of jail no. 4 is Suresh Kalmadi, charged with large-scale corruption in Commonwealth Games projects. To add to the irony, Mr Hazare's fellow-activist and Magsaysay award winner Arvind Kejriwal is in a jail that houses DMK leader A Raja, also in jail on charges of corruption in the 2G scam. (Read: Who is Anna Hazare?)
The pressure showed when jail authorities sought to make clear that Anna Hazare and Suresh Kalmadi shared only a jail, not a ward. Director General, Prisons, Neeraj Kumar said Mr Hazare's ward was in fact some distance away from that of Mr Kalmadi. He also said that Mr Hazare had been given tight security, had been medically examined and was well.
The 74-year-old Hazare and two key members of his team - Mr Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia - have been sent to seven days in judicial custody because they refused to apply for bail after being arrested in the capital today. All three are fasting.
Two more key members of Team Anna - Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan - were charged under Section 65 of the Delhi Police Act, which does not mandate custody. They were released from detention earlier this evening.
In cities, big and small, across the country, angry people have taken to the streets in protest against Anna Hazare's arrest. Thousands have been detained, over 8,400 in Delhi alone, claims India Against Corruption (IAC), a citizen's movement to demand strong anti-corruption laws. (Forum: Do you agree with Anna Hazare's fast?)
A united Opposition has demanded that Anna be freed. Now, the Left has also suggested that all Opposition parties boycott Parliament for three days.
The government has, at various levels, spent all day justifying the police action on Anna Hazare. Delhi Police has said Mr Hazare had be detained and then placed under "preventive arrest" to maintain law and order in the capital, because the activist leader refused to comply with conditions and then with orders not to go ahead with his fast.
Home Minister P Chidamabaram said it was "a painful duty" to arrest him; in a very high-level huddle, senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Mr Chidambaram met Rahul Gandhi a little after noon on Tuesday. This after the Opposition forced an adjournment of Parliament over the issue.
A day of much action began early. At 7.30 am on Tuesday morning, minutes before Mr Hazare was to set out for his fast against corruption, about a dozen policemen in plain clothes detained him at fellow-activist Prashant Bhushan's residence at Supreme Enclave in Delhi's Mayur Vihar, where he was staying. They tried to whisk him away in a white Innova car, but hundreds of angry protestors ensured that the car could barely move for over an hour.
Mr Hazare, with several of his key aides who are now also under arrest, was taken to the Delhi Police Mess near The Oberoi Maidens in north Delhi and was produced before a special executive magistrate there. He was then taken to the office of the DCP (West) from where he was sent to Tihar Jail.
The police action foiled his plan to fast at Delhi's JP Park, but the Anna has not eaten or even had water since early morning, say members of his team. Doctors are expected to attend to him soon.
Defiance of police orders unacceptable: Chidambaram
Under attack from all quarters, the government has justified the police action on Anna. Home Minister P Chidambaram, not allowed to make a statement in Parliament by a belligerent Opposition, called Anna Hazare's detention a "painful duty," carried out because of "breach of peace." He was at pains to say that the government was not against peaceful protest, but said Team Anna was detained because it had refused to comply with six of the police's 22 conditions and made clear that it would defy orders not to hold their protest fast.
"It is unacceptable to defy police conditions...I inform you with regret that this action has been taken." Mr Chidambaram said, adding that Anna and six other people had been detained under Section 151 of the CrPC and taken to the police mess at Alipur road. He said a little over a 1000 people had been detained elsewhere in Delhi and most of them were at the Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi.
Parliament opened to chaos on Tuesday. The BJP gave a notice for suspension of Question Hour to discuss the Anna Hazare issue. The government said it was ready for a discussion after Question Hour, at noon. There was no meeting ground - when Mr Chidambaram offered to make a statement in Parliament, the Opposition said it will settle for nothing less than a statement from the Prime Minister. The two Houses were repeatedly adjourned, finally for the day.( Read: Want statement from PM on Anna, says BJP)
Countrywide crusade
Anticipating arrest, Anna recorded an appeal to people to come forward for what he called the "second freedom struggle" in peaceful protest and said a second line of leaders would continue to lead the movement. But on Tuesday morning, this second line and core members of Team Anna - Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi- were detained too and taken to the police mess. Eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan was detained at Rajghat. (Watch: Anna's video message for India)
A third line of crusading leaders went underground to gather support using mobile phones and social media and surfaced a little before noon to decry Mr Hazare's arrest and to exhort people to come out in large numbers in protest. In Mumbai almost a 100 supporters have courted arrest. (Top surfer comments on Anna Hazare)
In Bangalore, 87,000 of 100,000 IT employees have signed up to join the India Against Corruption movement. There is massive support in Kolkata too. In Chennai, Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary Kalyanam is among about 300 people on hunger strike; 30 people have courted arrest. There are protests in Lucknow and Guwahati too. (Anna Hazare arrested: In Big cities, big protests)
In the capital, the supporters that followed Anna's car as he was being taken away vowed to continue their fight against corruption at Rajghat, where Anna was to have gone before setting out for JP Park where he planned to fast. Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 at several places in the capital, including central Delhi, JP Park, Rajghat and Dilli Gate. At Rajghat, the police is not allowing people to gather in large numbers. Any large groups are being disbanded, put in buses and taken away to Chhatrasal Stadium.
At JP Park, where Anna was to sit on fast, protesters poured in ready to court arrest. Hundreds also gathered at Chattrasal stadium.
Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan announced that at 4 pm on Wednesday, a big march would be organised from India Gate to Parliament House. He appealed to all people to join the march and asked government employees to take mass leave for a day.
Team Anna has asked people to wear black bands and to use social media and SMSes to help gather more people.
BJP, Left slam government
The NDA met before Parliament convened today to decide on its strategy and the Opposition has asked for a discussion in Parliament. But in swift reaction to the police action, the BJP slammed the UPA government for detaining Anna Hazare.
BJP patriarch L K Advani said he was not surprised at the detention. "I am not surprised at this development. This is the direction in which this government is moving. Instead of dealing with the problem of corruption and owning responsibility, it is trying to find scapegoats and stopping peaceful protests," Mr Advani said. (Read: Advani slams Govt)
The Left criticized the detention as an attack on the democratic right to protest peacefully, but the CPI also appealed to Anna Hazare not to fast and to have faith in Parliament. (Anna's detention unconstitutional: Left)
A CPM statement read: "This is an attack on the democratic rights of citizens to protest peacefully. It shows how the Congress leadership is intolerant to any anti-corruption movement as their government is itself steeped in high-level corruption. The Polit Bureau reiterates that the official Lok Pal Bill presented in parliament is weak and inadequate.
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