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August 26, 2011
India Post
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www.indiapost.com
Permission for Ramlila ground with conditions till Sept 2 NEW DELHI: Permission has been given to Anna Hazare and his associates for his fast at Ramlila Maidan till September two and it is conditional, Home Secretary R K Singh said here. He said the government was not involved in any discussion with Team Anna and it was the Delhi Police which held the talks and resolved the issue "amicably". "The Delhi Police discussed with Team Anna and, thereafter, they have come to a decision. What the Delhi Police conveyed to the Ministry of Home Affairs is that the permission was given till September two on the usual sort of conditions," he told reporters here. Singh said it was not proper
is a victory or something, this is not the right way to say. This is not a question of victory or defeat," he said.
Gujarat College students supported by the All India Democratic Students Organization (All India DSO) pose holding cut-outs of Anna Hazare during a protest outside the Gujarat College in Ahmedabad
to say the agreement was a victory for one side and defeat for the other "but the basic issue was that permission
for certain ground and certain period was given with some sort of conditions. "If someone is saying that this
Civil society hails deal between Govt and Hazare NEW DELHI: Civil society activists have hailed the agreement between government and Anna Hazare on his fast at Ramlila Maidan and demanded that the Jan Lokpal Bill at least be brought to Parliament which could take a call on it. Expressing happiness at the turn of events, close associate of Hazare and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan said the decision to allow Hazare to fast for 15 days
stopped through a strong Lokpal. Swami Agnivesh hailed the decision to allow Hazare's fast at Ramlila Maidan as a "victory" of the people in the campaign against corruption. "It is gratifying to note that government has relented and allowed the fast by Hazare without any conditions and at the chosen venue of Ramlila Maidan," he said. Activist Arvind Kejriwal, expressing happiness over the deci-
Indian supporters of social activist Anna Hazare shout slogans as they wear chains on their hands during a rally in support for Hazare in Hyderabad on August 18
showed that his demands were reasonable and that the government should bring in a new Lokpal Bill after consulting the Gandhian. "I am very happy that ultimately good sense has prevailed on the government and it has agreed to permit Anna to fast for 15 days and that shows that Anna was never unreasonable in his demands," Bhushan said. He said the whole country knows that Hazare has maintained that if not 100 per cent, 60-65 per cent of corruption would be
sion, said the battle has just begun and they are "prepared for it." Lawyer and Hazare team member Prashant Bhushan said their demand is that government should at least table the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament. "Our demand is very clear. The government should at least table the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament. Once it is tabled then, let Parliament take a call on that. "Fasting is a means of arousing conscience of the people, authorities and the government.
Even if the government's conscience is not aroused, the conscience of the common man is being aroused given the fact that millions of people are supporting the movement," he said. Janata Party president Subramanian Swami welcomed the agreement between government and Team Anna. "In a democracy, there has to be give and take when negotiations take place without sacrificing fundamentals. Then there will always be another day to take up other left out demands. This is the Gandhian way." Shanti Bhushan also said that Team Hazare has never contested Parliament's authority to pass laws. "What we are saying is that Parliament should pass a bill in accordance with the aspirations of the people." He said the Team Hazare wants a "strong" Lokpal which will be accountable to Supreme Court. "If there is any complaint against any member of Lokpal then the Supreme Court will look into it." After two nights in Tihar Jail and hard bargaining, Hazare and government reached an agreement under which Delhi Police removed all restrictions and allowed him to carry out his hunger strike for a fortnight in the spacious Ramlila Maidan. The breakthrough in the battle of attrition between the two sides came in the wee hours of the day after top aides of Hazare met Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta and reached an agreement. The deal marks a major climbdown from government and police's earlier insistence that the fast would be allowed at JP Park, a smaller venue, only for three days
He said the government was not involved in any discussion with Team Anna and it was the Delhi Police which held the talks The Home Secretary said conditions of a particular ground mandated a certain size of crowd as well as of available parking.
"An agreement has been reached on another ground and the size of that ground is much larger. So the size of the crowd does not matter," the Home Secretary said, referring to Ramlila Maidan. He said, "Conditions are there. Some conditions remain same. For example, the condition of using loud speakers remains the same as the condition imposed for the earlier ground. The condition that the doctors will examine remains the same. The organizers and the Delhi Police have agreed to these conditions." Singh said Team Anna has to make its own arrangements on "basic" issues and whenever the ground would be ready, they would go there. -PTI
US blames 'inaccurate reporting' for Hazare misunderstanding WASHINGTON: The US has blamed "inaccurate reporting" in India for creating an impression that it had issued a strong statement on the anti-graft crusade led by Anna Hazare there, contending that it supports freedom of peaceful expression and non-violent protest across the globe. "There was some extremely inaccurate reporting out of India ... that the United States had issued some sort of strong statement, which we did not issue. The only statement about India yesterday to my knowledge was the one that we made from the podium here," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland, told reporters. Nuland was responding to questions about the statement by a Congress party spokesman suggesting that the US was interfering in the internal affairs of India. "I think this goes to inaccurate reporting in India that we had issued some sort of statement on with regard to this case that we did not issue. With regard to the case, however, you know where we are. We support freedom of expression and assembly. And we encourage all countries and all parties to do the same," Nuland said. She said all democratic governments have a responsibility to allow peaceful protest and freedom of dissent, even as they work to maintain public safety, and India is a country that has a strong and long-established democratic tradition, to which people look up to. "It has a long tradition of nonviolent protest. And it's widely admired for these things and open debate. And that's the standard that we - we all have come to expect from India," Nuland said. "I hope you heard, in the state-
ment made yesterday, the statement just made, with regard to India, the same underlying principles with regard to the strong, vibrant democracy of India as we hope for in the transitional countries that we're working with, Egypt, Tunisia, etcetera. In all countries, the US supports peaceful freedom of expression, non-violent protest," Nuland said.
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland
She said all democratic governments have a responsibility to allow peaceful protest and freedom of dissent Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has not spoken to her Indian counterpart in the last couple of days. "Obviously, our embassy has been enunciating these same principles," she said. "We support the principle of freedom of assembly, right of nonviolent protest in democracies around the world and in countries around the world, the universal principle," Nuland said when asked if her comments were general in nature or specific to the movement of Anna Hazare. -PTI