Social activist Anna Hazare will leave Tihar jail, where he has been camping since Tuesday after his release, at around 10 am on Friday to head for the Ramlila Ground which will be the site of his ongoing indefinte fast for a strong Lokpal.
The Delhi police will adopt a 'wait and watch' approach to social activist Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption protest at Ramlila Ground from Friday.
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.
For many in India, the post-midnight swoop on hundreds of anti-Wall Street protestors camping at the Zuccotti park area of New York since the past two months brought back memories of the manner in which the Delhi Police evicted Baba Ramdev from Ramlila Maidan.
The Delhi police is understood to have sought two more days to take a decision on giving permission to social activist Anna Hazare to organise his indefinite fast against Lokpal Bill in New Delhi even as his team has secured a no-objection certificate from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to hold the protest at Ramlila Maidan.
Bharatiya Janta Party President Nitin Gadkari on Friday claimed that the Congress would have dealt with Anna Hazare's fast at Ramlila Maidan the same way it dealt with Baba Ramdev's fast, had the main opposition party not declared support to Hazare.
Former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan is the only prominent Team Anna member who has donated to the anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare, shelling out Rs 4 lakh, in the past six months.
Noted social activist Swami Agnivesh has said that there is no need to show any leniency to Team Anna members Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi if they are found guilty of violating the law of the land.
Union Home Ministry and Delhi government have not submitted their report to the National Human Rights Commission on the police action against Ramdev's supporters at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, prompting the rights body to issue a fresh notice to them.
"We will wait for the passing of the bill till the current session of Parliament comes to an end in May. If it does not happen we will have another one and half year before the next general elections are held."
Twenty days after he was bundled out of Delhi, yoga guru Ramdev on Sunday came back to the national capital to visit a woman follower who was seriously injured in the crackdown during his protest against corruption.
Delhi Police on Friday justified in the Supreme Court its midnight crackdown on yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his supporters protesting against corruption and black money at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, saying permission had been given only to hold a yoga camp.
Over 3,500 police personnel have deployed as the farmers began their march from the Ramlila Maidan to Parliament at 10.30 am.
It seems like the union home ministry and the Delhi police are tangled in a game of passing the buck, following the Baba Ramdev fiasco at Ramlila grounds on June 4.
Rajeev Srinivasan on the cavalier nature of the Indian State's actions against its own citizens
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday mounted an attack on the centre for police action on Baba Ramdev's peaceful protest at Ramlila ground in Delhi on Saturday night.
Anna Hazare and his supporters, on Wednesday evening, ended their day-long fast to protest the police crackdown against yoga guru Baba Ramdev and his followers at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Hazare ended the fast at 6 pm.
For everyone who is exercised enough to give vent by joining the demonstrations at Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Ground, there are a few thousands who remain quiet. This is where the strength of the corrupt is. This is what pre-empts a Jasmine Revolution and why India will not have a Tahrir Square, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
After the warm welcome, the stern send-off to Baba Ramdev shows that the writ of the State still runs and that is a good sign, says Navneet Anand.
The National Commission for Women on Monday said it has sought a report from the Delhi Police on the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev's supporters at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan.
Rediif.com's Sahim Salim reports from Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, where yoga guru Baba Ramdev will begin his indefinite fast against corruption on Saturday.
Activist Anna Hazare has decided to join Baba Ramdev in the latter's indefinite fast against corruption. Baba Ramdev is scheduled to hold an indefinite fast at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi from June 4 to demand repatriation of the black money stashed in foreign banks. His supporters will also join him in the fast in 624 districts across the country to demand stricter steps to deal with corruption.Hazare has announced his decision to join the fast from June 5.
If what is said about them is only a perception, then lawmakers ought to bother about it and correct it by deeds, writes Mahesh Vijapurkar
Bedi said her action on Friday speaking from a stage at Ramlila Maidan went against her "grain" but asserted she did not mean to hurt anybody. "It went against my grain. It is not in my training but it was worth it...I did not mean to hurt anybody," she said.
Eight-year-old Ikrah and five-year-old Simran took centrestage at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday when they gave a glass of tender coconut water to Anna Hazare for ending his fast on the Lokpal issue after 12 days.
After securing Parliament's nod on key elements of Jan Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare on Sunday ended his 12-day-old fast declaring that electoral reforms will be next on his agenda.
Gandhian Anna Hazare, who had meditated at Rajghat before launching his fast on August 16, will not visit Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi after ending his hunger strike because of health reasons.
"I am not the biggest hero, Anna (Hazare) is the real hero," said superstar Aamir Khan on Saturday as he pledged support to the activist's fight for a strong anti-corruption law.
As Anna Hazare's fast spilled over to the 12th day, doctors on Saturday raised concerns over his health saying they are more worried as the Gandhian's blood pressure has dipped while heart beat has increased.
Reacting to Parliament's appeal to end his fast, Anna Hazare on Thursday demanded that Parliament discuss from Friday three key issues on Jan Lokpal and create an agreement, failing which he will not end his fast.
Though officially the Delhi Police maintained that the move was to 'ensure the safety of Hazare and his supporters', rediff.com has learnt that the law enforcement agency fears a law and order situation that may arise if and when Hazare is shifted to the hospital
Amidst the sloganeering and singing by protestors at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, a visibly frail Anna Hazare made a brief appearance on the stage. "The team of doctors is worried about my health, especially my kidney problem. I will introspect and then take a call at 10 pm tonight," said Anna Hazare.
Doctors have advised Anna Hazare, whose fast entered eighth day on Tuesday, not to venture into the sun as it could have a negative impact on his health.
Anna Hazare on Sunday said his campaign has not closed the door of dialogue with government, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated it was open for discussion.
Arvind Kejriwal provided with Z-plus security.
Ramdev, who is on a fast against corruption at the Ramlila gounds in the capital, tried to evade arrest and jumped from the 15-feet-high stage. He was gheraoed by women devotees but police was well-prepared to take him out of the ground. He was taken to an unknown destination on the outskirts of New Delhi.
The government and Baba Ramdev have been unable to come to a negotiated settlement over the Baba's indefinite fast at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. But the real story is the widening gulf between the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress party and the Dr Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance government which has now come out almost in the open. In an interesting development, Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of senior leaders at her residence at 6.30 pm on Saturday.
Anna Hazare on Saturday said he will sit on an indefinite fast in jail if the police do not grant him permission for his proposed protest at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan for a strong Lokpal. "I will sit on a fast in jail. Who can stop me from going on a fast in jail? Nobody can stop me in jail," he told reporters.
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Taking a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party for demanding an apology for his "rape in India" remark, Gandhi said, "My name is Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar. I will never apologise for speaking truth and nor will any Congressman do so. It is Narendra Modi and his assistant Amit Shah who has to apologise to the country for destroying India's economy."
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