 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Anna Hazare and his supporters have given a two-page undertaking to the police on the activist's protest fast in Ramlila Maidan, saying they would abide by existing rules and regulations and the crowd will not exceed the capacity of the ground.
In the undertaking signed by Anna Hazare himself and his associates -- Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan -- they also said that if any clause of it was violated, they would be liable to be prosecuted under law.
The permission for the fast has been given till September 2, 2011, official sources said.
The clauses of the undertaking include: no damage to public property; the gathering will not exceed the limit of the ground; the crowd will not spill over to the nearby roads; the protesters will cooperate with the traffic police; loud speaker use will be within the ambit of a Supreme Court order (10 pm limit).
Other clauses are: Arrangements of drinking water, medical aid, mobile toilets, proper lighting; no carrying of lathi or any weapon; no provocative slogans/ speeches; no inflammatory slogans within 200 meters of religious or worship places; public safety will be taken care of; no use of crackers.
Medical examination of Hazare and those who will go on a fast with him will be conducted by government doctors three times a day. Team Anna has promised to abide by the April 16, 2009 order of the Supreme Court which stipulated rules and regulations for public protests.
The undertaking was given to the deputy commissioner of police, central district, of Delhi police.
The Delhi police on Thursday lifted prohibitory orders imposed at some central Delhi localities, including JP Park where Anna Hazare had initially planned to launch his fast, after the government conceded to the Gandhian's demands on the protest.
The lifting of the prohibitory orders, which were imposed on August 15 night after Hazare's team refused to give an undertaking that their protest would not exceed three days, came hours after Hazare and the government agreed that he will sit on a protest at Ramlila Maidan without any restrictions.
"We have lifted the restrictions," a senior police official said.
The areas where prohibitory orders were imposed included Shantivan to Rajghat, Rajghat to Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg to JLN Marg, Delhi Gate to Tilak Marg on Bahadurshah Zafar Marg.
The police had denied permission to Hazare to hold the protest at the park after organisers refused to give an undertaking restricting the number of protest days to three and protestors to 5,000.
The police had detained several people from near JP Park after they held protests in the area in the past two days.