New Delhi: Anna Hazare is still at Tihar Jail, having spent the night there, and is adamant that he shall not leave till he is given unconditional permission to fast at Delhi's Jai Prakash Narain Park. Since Tuesday's arrest of the Gandhian activist, all the blinking has been done by the government and the Congress core group met this morning to discuss how to resolve the Anna-in-jail issue. Will it blink again?
Some indication came in important Wednesday morning developments. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave in to a united Opposition's demands and made a statement in both Houses of Parliament on Anna Hazare's arrest. A statement that was quickly torn to bits by the BJP as being "disappointing" and low on information.
Earlier in the morning, Home Secretary RK Singh said, "Anna Hazare is free to go wherever he wants to go and Delhi Police is talking to him...Delhi Police will take a decision on whether Hazare will be allowed to hold a protest at J P Park." The government cannot seem to stress enough that it does not want Anna in jail.
Outside Tihar Jail, all eyes are fixed on a gate that Anna Hazare will reportedly emerge from. His core team has gathered there and says that when Mr Hazare chooses to come out of jail, they will all head to JP Park to continue the fast. Kiran Bedi is there as is Swami Agnivesh.
Many supporters camped outside the jail overnight to show solidarity with Anna's cause; many more have been gathering there since early morning, as they have been at Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi, which was deemed "jail" by Delhi Police yesterday to hold the over 1000 anti-corruption protesters detained in the Capital. Yoga teacher and anti-corruption activist Baba Ramdev too is Tihar-bound after he met the President some time ago to submit a memorandum against Anna's arrest.
Inside the massive Tihar complex, Anna Hazare slept on the ground on a chaddar (sheet) in one of the administrative buildings. With him was his close aide Arvind Kejriwal. Anna reportedly woke up at about 5 am and held discussions with Mr Kejriwal and other aides. Mr Hazare is fasting in jail and sources say no one from the government has asked him directly to end the fast. In fact, the sources said, all government communication to Anna Hazare, requesting him to leave jail since last evening, has been through the Delhi Police.
On Tuesday evening, the Delhi Police issued warrants of release for Mr Hazare and the seven activists arrested with him and sources said he was given the option of either accepting the conditions laid down by Delhi Police and staging only a three-day protest fast, or return to his hometown in Maharashtra. Anna rejected both options. Unwilling to use force, the jail authorities had no option but to let him spend the night at Tihar.
"Anna said that he left home to go to JP Park to conduct his fast and that is exactly where he would go from here (Tihar Jail). He has refused to be released till he is given a written, unconditional permission," Manish Sisodia, Anna's close aide told reporters outside the Tihar jail just before sitting on a dharna right outside the jail. He was joined by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who reached after midnight on Wednesday. Sri Sri has been a supporter of Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption movement.
Mr Sisodia was released late on Tuesday night after being detained and subsequently arrested along with Anna Hazare in the morning.
Sources have told NDTV that the decision to release Anna Hazare was taken after Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's intervention. Rahul Gandhi reportedly met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday evening and discussed the Anna situation. Rahul Gandhi is also part of the Congress core team that will meet this morning.
Government sources have said that they never wanted Mr Hazare to be sent to Tihar Jail. The police had said in court that it did not want custody of the Gandhian activist.
Anna's arrest, incarceration
Mr Hazare was brought to Tihar Jail at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, eight hours after he was detained and five hours after he was formally arrested. The 74-year-old activist did not touch any food or water all day. His hunger strike against corruption had begun on Tuesday morning, say those who are in touch with him. (Forum: Do you agree with Anna Hazare's fast?)
The anti-corruption crusader was taken to 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 was in a jail that houses DMK leader A Raja, also in jail on charges of corruption in the 2G scam. (Top surfer comments on 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.
Whether or not India agrees with Mr Hazare's methods or the new law against corruption that he is championing, there was widespread consensus that his arrest was a violation of the fundamental right to protest peacefully; that the Government has through his arrest catapulted Mr Hazare into a new league of stardom; and that the issue of corruption - rather than Mr Hazare's plan for how to tackle it - has engulfed India with a craving for correction.
Support for Anna Hazare
When Mr Hazare was detained on Tuesday morning, hundreds of supporters gathered and the car he was being taken away in could barely inch forward. When he was taken to Tihar Jail, nearly 300 people gathered outside in a show of solidarity.
At India Gate, a few hundred people gathered for a candlelight vigil. In other cities across the country, crowds gathered, making the same point - that they support Mr Hazare's call for action against corruption. The strength of the crowds varied. Thousands in Bangalore and Mumbai, a few hundred in Kolkata and Hyderabad.
What Mr Hazare is fighting is the Government's draft of a new bill to counter corruption among politicians and bureaucrats. Mr Hazare wants the Prime Minister and senior judges to be covered by the Lokpal Bill. He also believes that the Government has too hefty a vote in the selection of the Lokpal or ombudsman committee. Mr Hazare and his supporters have their own version of the Lokpal bill - which has also been criticized for imagining an ombudsman panel with totalitarian powers.
For now, though, it is the arrest of Mr Hazare that the Opposition has leapt upon. In Parliament, parties united to slam the government. The BJP says the Prime Minister must make a statement on the Gandhian's arrest. (Read) Even old friends of the UPA government like Mulayam Singh Yadav placed their disagreement on record. More worryingly for the government, allies like the DMK chose to distance themselves.
"Both sides could have avoided the adamance," said DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
Some indication came in important Wednesday morning developments. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave in to a united Opposition's demands and made a statement in both Houses of Parliament on Anna Hazare's arrest. A statement that was quickly torn to bits by the BJP as being "disappointing" and low on information.
Earlier in the morning, Home Secretary RK Singh said, "Anna Hazare is free to go wherever he wants to go and Delhi Police is talking to him...Delhi Police will take a decision on whether Hazare will be allowed to hold a protest at J P Park." The government cannot seem to stress enough that it does not want Anna in jail.
Outside Tihar Jail, all eyes are fixed on a gate that Anna Hazare will reportedly emerge from. His core team has gathered there and says that when Mr Hazare chooses to come out of jail, they will all head to JP Park to continue the fast. Kiran Bedi is there as is Swami Agnivesh.
Many supporters camped outside the jail overnight to show solidarity with Anna's cause; many more have been gathering there since early morning, as they have been at Chhatrasal Stadium in north Delhi, which was deemed "jail" by Delhi Police yesterday to hold the over 1000 anti-corruption protesters detained in the Capital. Yoga teacher and anti-corruption activist Baba Ramdev too is Tihar-bound after he met the President some time ago to submit a memorandum against Anna's arrest.
Inside the massive Tihar complex, Anna Hazare slept on the ground on a chaddar (sheet) in one of the administrative buildings. With him was his close aide Arvind Kejriwal. Anna reportedly woke up at about 5 am and held discussions with Mr Kejriwal and other aides. Mr Hazare is fasting in jail and sources say no one from the government has asked him directly to end the fast. In fact, the sources said, all government communication to Anna Hazare, requesting him to leave jail since last evening, has been through the Delhi Police.
On Tuesday evening, the Delhi Police issued warrants of release for Mr Hazare and the seven activists arrested with him and sources said he was given the option of either accepting the conditions laid down by Delhi Police and staging only a three-day protest fast, or return to his hometown in Maharashtra. Anna rejected both options. Unwilling to use force, the jail authorities had no option but to let him spend the night at Tihar.
"Anna said that he left home to go to JP Park to conduct his fast and that is exactly where he would go from here (Tihar Jail). He has refused to be released till he is given a written, unconditional permission," Manish Sisodia, Anna's close aide told reporters outside the Tihar jail just before sitting on a dharna right outside the jail. He was joined by spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who reached after midnight on Wednesday. Sri Sri has been a supporter of Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption movement.
Mr Sisodia was released late on Tuesday night after being detained and subsequently arrested along with Anna Hazare in the morning.
Sources have told NDTV that the decision to release Anna Hazare was taken after Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's intervention. Rahul Gandhi reportedly met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday evening and discussed the Anna situation. Rahul Gandhi is also part of the Congress core team that will meet this morning.
Government sources have said that they never wanted Mr Hazare to be sent to Tihar Jail. The police had said in court that it did not want custody of the Gandhian activist.
Anna's arrest, incarceration
Mr Hazare was brought to Tihar Jail at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, eight hours after he was detained and five hours after he was formally arrested. The 74-year-old activist did not touch any food or water all day. His hunger strike against corruption had begun on Tuesday morning, say those who are in touch with him. (Forum: Do you agree with Anna Hazare's fast?)
The anti-corruption crusader was taken to 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 was in a jail that houses DMK leader A Raja, also in jail on charges of corruption in the 2G scam. (Top surfer comments on 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.
Whether or not India agrees with Mr Hazare's methods or the new law against corruption that he is championing, there was widespread consensus that his arrest was a violation of the fundamental right to protest peacefully; that the Government has through his arrest catapulted Mr Hazare into a new league of stardom; and that the issue of corruption - rather than Mr Hazare's plan for how to tackle it - has engulfed India with a craving for correction.
Support for Anna Hazare
When Mr Hazare was detained on Tuesday morning, hundreds of supporters gathered and the car he was being taken away in could barely inch forward. When he was taken to Tihar Jail, nearly 300 people gathered outside in a show of solidarity.
At India Gate, a few hundred people gathered for a candlelight vigil. In other cities across the country, crowds gathered, making the same point - that they support Mr Hazare's call for action against corruption. The strength of the crowds varied. Thousands in Bangalore and Mumbai, a few hundred in Kolkata and Hyderabad.
What Mr Hazare is fighting is the Government's draft of a new bill to counter corruption among politicians and bureaucrats. Mr Hazare wants the Prime Minister and senior judges to be covered by the Lokpal Bill. He also believes that the Government has too hefty a vote in the selection of the Lokpal or ombudsman committee. Mr Hazare and his supporters have their own version of the Lokpal bill - which has also been criticized for imagining an ombudsman panel with totalitarian powers.
For now, though, it is the arrest of Mr Hazare that the Opposition has leapt upon. In Parliament, parties united to slam the government. The BJP says the Prime Minister must make a statement on the Gandhian's arrest. (Read) Even old friends of the UPA government like Mulayam Singh Yadav placed their disagreement on record. More worryingly for the government, allies like the DMK chose to distance themselves.
"Both sides could have avoided the adamance," said DMK chief M Karunanidhi.
No comments:
Post a Comment