Democracy throttled
Manmohan Singh government has taken a big risk by evicting Baba Ramdev from the Capital after a midnight police raid on his camp at Ramlila Maidan. This has brought together rival factions of civil society, besides exposing the Centre and Congress leadership to sharp attacks from political opponents.
Anna Hazare's camp announced that they would boycott the meeting of the joint Lokpal panel and sit on a one-day hunger strike as a mark of solidarity against the midnight strike against Baba, who has been externed from the Capital for 15 days.
The Hazare group also endorsed Ramdev's demand for an ordinance to declare Indian funds illegally stashed abroad as national asset and to provide for means to bring the money back.
This incident has given birth to contentious issues like whether PM and judiciary should be brought under the proposed Lokpal bill.
The Hazare and Ramdev camps earlier appeared to have drifted away for a number of reasons stretching from genuine differences of opinion on issues to the presence of RSS-leaning figures in the Ramdev camp. The red carpet rolled out for Baba on Thursday when four Cabinet ministers and the cabinet secretary turned up at the airport to receive him had led to apprehension that the yoga guru was being promoted as a counterweight to Hazare Campaign.
It's great to see the Hazare team coming out in open support for Baba, keeping their differences aside. Hazare accused the government of throttling democracy. There was no fault with Baba Ramdev's agitation but at midnight, beating up people -- women, children and elderly -- is a blot on democracy.
The newly-forged unity among civil society means that the government will now have to contend with a stronger opposition. There is a possibility that Baba, so far ambivalent on whether PM should be within the purview of Lokpal, may now support the Hazare group. Major political parties -- BJP, Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP and JD(U) -- all condemn the police action as reminiscent of repression during the Emergency of 1975. The sole exception was Lalu Prasad.
The footage of firing of teargas shells and panic-stricken women and elderly running for cover relentlessly playing out on TV screens pointed to the risk of government having to pay a political cost. The government is already handicapped by exposure of scams.
Congress stressed the threat from "communal forces". This justification for Ramdev's eviction can have political spinoffs. The government's motives are suspect now. The government has been trying to crush the anti-corruption movement.
The organization 'India Against Corruption' condemned the "barbaric and unprovoked" action and demanded an explanation from the PM. Hazare said that instead of "gore angrez" shooting down Indians in the Jallianwala Bagh incident, "kale angrez" had attacked people. The government's action is undoubtedly a violation of "fundamental rights of citizens".
When Ravan is born, we need RamBy its brutal police action against Ramdev's so-called yoga camp in New Delhi the central government has proved that it doesn't care for the legal rights of an individual. The Centre's strong-arm tactics against a gathering that had remained peaceful is another proof about the fact that it doesn't care for law. Before these actions were taken, the senior members of the government did try to reach a compromise with Ramdev regarding his main demand of immediately bringing back into the country the huge amounts of black money reportedly stashed abroad by tax evaders and scamsters. That shows the government is guilty.
As expected, the opposition, mainly the sangh parivar, has come out in full-throated support of Ramdev, comparing the police raid on the yoga camp with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The use of brute force was compared with the imposition of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1075. At that time, Jayaprakash Narayan's anti-government movement played a part in provoking the imposition of the Emergency.
No government has the right to deny fundamental rights to any citizen of the country. It was a brave act on the part of Anna Hazare to have initiated the movement to control the corrupt government. The more flamboyant Ramdev liked the idea of Anna and he too tried somewhat the same thing. These two people will remind you of Jayaprakash Narayan who too had set himself up as a public representative who without the mandate of ever having been elected to public office tried to change the laws on which the Indian republic is founded. Neither Jayaprakash Narayan nor Anna nor Baba took law in their hands. They did what was their right. When the corruption in the country rises much beyond the limit and takes an ugly form it becomes necessary for someone like the above three to take the initiative and end corruption which can otherwise finish the country.
It is such type of leaders who are found necessary by common people of our country when legal channels are seen to be incapable or unwilling to provide even a semblance of justice. If you read the history books you'll find that such type of noble personalities repeatedly had to step in to rectify the many failures of the Law. When the law is seen to fail, a vigilant leader like the above three emerges. When Ravan is born, we find the need of Ram who never fails to come to our rescue.
Manmohan Singh government has taken a big risk by evicting Baba Ramdev from the Capital after a midnight police raid on his camp at Ramlila Maidan. This has brought together rival factions of civil society, besides exposing the Centre and Congress leadership to sharp attacks from political opponents.
Anna Hazare's camp announced that they would boycott the meeting of the joint Lokpal panel and sit on a one-day hunger strike as a mark of solidarity against the midnight strike against Baba, who has been externed from the Capital for 15 days.
The Hazare group also endorsed Ramdev's demand for an ordinance to declare Indian funds illegally stashed abroad as national asset and to provide for means to bring the money back.
This incident has given birth to contentious issues like whether PM and judiciary should be brought under the proposed Lokpal bill.
The Hazare and Ramdev camps earlier appeared to have drifted away for a number of reasons stretching from genuine differences of opinion on issues to the presence of RSS-leaning figures in the Ramdev camp. The red carpet rolled out for Baba on Thursday when four Cabinet ministers and the cabinet secretary turned up at the airport to receive him had led to apprehension that the yoga guru was being promoted as a counterweight to Hazare Campaign.
It's great to see the Hazare team coming out in open support for Baba, keeping their differences aside. Hazare accused the government of throttling democracy. There was no fault with Baba Ramdev's agitation but at midnight, beating up people -- women, children and elderly -- is a blot on democracy.
The newly-forged unity among civil society means that the government will now have to contend with a stronger opposition. There is a possibility that Baba, so far ambivalent on whether PM should be within the purview of Lokpal, may now support the Hazare group. Major political parties -- BJP, Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP and JD(U) -- all condemn the police action as reminiscent of repression during the Emergency of 1975. The sole exception was Lalu Prasad.
The footage of firing of teargas shells and panic-stricken women and elderly running for cover relentlessly playing out on TV screens pointed to the risk of government having to pay a political cost. The government is already handicapped by exposure of scams.
Congress stressed the threat from "communal forces". This justification for Ramdev's eviction can have political spinoffs. The government's motives are suspect now. The government has been trying to crush the anti-corruption movement.
The organization 'India Against Corruption' condemned the "barbaric and unprovoked" action and demanded an explanation from the PM. Hazare said that instead of "gore angrez" shooting down Indians in the Jallianwala Bagh incident, "kale angrez" had attacked people. The government's action is undoubtedly a violation of "fundamental rights of citizens".
When Ravan is born, we need RamBy its brutal police action against Ramdev's so-called yoga camp in New Delhi the central government has proved that it doesn't care for the legal rights of an individual. The Centre's strong-arm tactics against a gathering that had remained peaceful is another proof about the fact that it doesn't care for law. Before these actions were taken, the senior members of the government did try to reach a compromise with Ramdev regarding his main demand of immediately bringing back into the country the huge amounts of black money reportedly stashed abroad by tax evaders and scamsters. That shows the government is guilty.
As expected, the opposition, mainly the sangh parivar, has come out in full-throated support of Ramdev, comparing the police raid on the yoga camp with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The use of brute force was compared with the imposition of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1075. At that time, Jayaprakash Narayan's anti-government movement played a part in provoking the imposition of the Emergency.
No government has the right to deny fundamental rights to any citizen of the country. It was a brave act on the part of Anna Hazare to have initiated the movement to control the corrupt government. The more flamboyant Ramdev liked the idea of Anna and he too tried somewhat the same thing. These two people will remind you of Jayaprakash Narayan who too had set himself up as a public representative who without the mandate of ever having been elected to public office tried to change the laws on which the Indian republic is founded. Neither Jayaprakash Narayan nor Anna nor Baba took law in their hands. They did what was their right. When the corruption in the country rises much beyond the limit and takes an ugly form it becomes necessary for someone like the above three to take the initiative and end corruption which can otherwise finish the country.
It is such type of leaders who are found necessary by common people of our country when legal channels are seen to be incapable or unwilling to provide even a semblance of justice. If you read the history books you'll find that such type of noble personalities repeatedly had to step in to rectify the many failures of the Law. When the law is seen to fail, a vigilant leader like the above three emerges. When Ravan is born, we find the need of Ram who never fails to come to our rescue.
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