Anna Hazare to sit on fast at Jantar Mantar tomorrow-07/06/2011

07/06/2011

Anna Hazare to sit on fast at Rajghat tomorrow/I CAN SUPPORT THIS CAUSE AS I CAN SAY PROUDLY THAT I HAVE NEVER TAKEN OR GIVEN BRIBE OR IS INVOLVED IN CORRUPTION DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY...SO WITH CLEAN CONSCIENCE AND WITHOUT ANY REGRET I CAN SUPPORT THIS CAUSE OF "FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION" WHOLE HEARTEDLY....AS ITS MEANS ARE PEACEFUL!!! BUT I HOPE A STRONG LOKPAL NEED TO BE MADE LIKE FOR EXAMPLE HONGKONG HAD MADE AN AUTONOMOUS BODY AGAINST CORRUPTION,ITS CALLED ICAC--INDEPENDENT COMMISSION AGAINST CORRUPTION.ITS BETTER IF IT GET DISSCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT,WHICH INCLUDES THOSE REJECTED 6POINTS ALSO...AND THEN AWARENESS NEED TO BE CREATED IN EVERY PERSON THAT WHAT ARE THESE LAWS,HOW TO KNOW AND USE IT.AND DEFINTLY JUST DON'T GIVE OR TAKE BRIBE OR GET INVOLVED IN ANY KIND OF CORRUPTION OR SCAMS!!IF YOU SEE,BE A WHISTLEBLOWER!!...VT)

Can India do a Hong Kong against corruption?Set up d Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) which successfully rooted out corruption-8/8/11
Can India do a Hong Kong against corruption? (Mon, 8 Aug Pre-Open)
...VT)

New Delhi: With the Delhi Police refusing permission for a day-long hunger strike at Jantar Mantar tomorrow, civil rights activist Anna Hazare today decided to shift the venue to Rajghat to avoid confrontation.



"We are shifting to Rajghat. We have spoken to the commissioner of police and will fast in the vicinity of Rajghat tomorrow from 10 a.m. till about 6 p.m. We will fast and pray the whole day," activist Arvind Kejriwal told reporters.

"There will also be a debate on the Lokpal bill at 5 p.m.," he added. Both Kejriwal and Hazare are part of the anti-graft Lokpal bill panel.

Hazare's associates Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi contended that the denial of permission to hold peaceful protest was against the basic Constitutional rights of citizens.

Hazare and others will launch the day-long hunger strike to protest the crackdown against Ramdev's congregation against corruption at Ramlila Maidan on Saturday night.

The Hazare-led protest will be held in the vicinity of Rajghat from 10 am tomorrow and will be accompanied by fast, an all-religion prayer meeting and a debate on Lokpal Bill.

"The Delhi Police Commissioner (B K Gupta) has told us there is no permission to sit on fast at Jantar Mantar," Bhushan said about the venue which falls in New Delhi district where Section 144 has been imposed to prohibit the gathering of more than four people at one place.

"We are not fighting with them (police)," he told reporters adding they had accordingly decided to shift the venue to Rajghat where Section 144 is not in force. Kejriwal said, "We have no intention for confrontation. Our intention is only for peaceful protest."

At the same time, he said the denial of permission was in violation of Article 19(1) and 19(2) which gives freedom of speech to everyone. Echoing Kejriwal's views, Bhushan said should the Delhi Police not do this, people will resort to other means to express themselves.

A senior police official today said they have refused permission for the fast at the dharna hotspot while citing prohibitory orders at the site after the police action against Baba Ramdev in Ramlila Maidan on Sunday. Sources said Delhi Police has already informed Hazare's team about the refusal of permission.

Police had on Sunday imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in Jantar Mantar and other areas in New Delhi district following the midnight police action in Ramlila Maidan where Ramdev and his supporters were on an indefinite protest on black money and corruption issues.


Anna Hazare to sit on fast at Jantar Mantar tomorrow

However, activist Arvind Kejriwal said they will go ahead with the "very peaceful" protest and court arrest if police obstructed them.

Kejriwal said government ought to explain what law and order problem they apprehend due to the protest by Hazare. "Anna is a 73-year-old man and has never provoked anyone. He never had a violent history. Now he says, he wants to assemble peacefully, what is the need of Section 144. If police tries to stop us we will not resist but just offer ourselves for being arrested," he said.

Alleging that government has arbitrarily imposed Section 144, Kejriwal said there have been Supreme Court orders stating that the section should not be misused.

Asked about seeking permission from police, he shot back, saying, "From whom should we seek permission. They are not our masters. People of this country are the masters. Government is not our master, unfortunately they have started behaving like they are our masters."

He alleged that government's attitude is that it has the "right to indulge in corruption and if anyone protests against them, they we will either crush them or impose Section 144 and not allow them to protest".

Justice Santosh Hegde, who is the Karnataka Lokayukta, said he will not join any fast or demonstration till he was holding a public post but noted that the move to impose Section 144 and denying permission to Hazare "indicates a weakness" on the part of the government.

"The actions of the government against Baba Ramdev shows they are scared of him," he alleged, adding he was not asking anybody to defy the law.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said the police decision clearly shows that the government is neither prepared to engage with the civil society nor it is clear about the strategy with which it has to negotiate on issues which are confronting it.

Seetharaman said the government was not sure about handling issues which are of critical national importance.

"They seem to be directionless and when the public anger is coming out and they are wanting to talk to the government they don't know how to handle it. "When they started handling it, they mismanaged it. Now they seem to have denied to engage with civil society. So it speaks volumes about the way it wants to engage with its people," she said.

Anna Hazare to sit on fast at Rajghat tomorrow

Police 'no' to fast, says Team Hazare, to protest

New Delhi: An associate of Anna Hazare Tuesday announced they would hold a protest here Wednesday after claiming police had denied permission to the Gandhian to fast against corruption.

Calling the police action "arbitrary", Arvind Kejriwal told reporters that Hazare and his supporters would hold a peaceful protest in the heart of the capital nevertheless.

"Anna Hazare has given a call for prayers and fasting. How can prayers and fasting pose law and order problems?" he asked, adding that police had cited law and order as the reason for denying permission for the Wednesday hunger strike.

Kejriwal said that Team Hazare, who he described as civil society representatives, would assemble Wednesday against the police decision and court arrest if necessary.

"Anna Hazare is 73 years old. He is a man of peace," he said, calling upon people to lend their support to Wedneday's protest. "The government ought to explain what threat does Anna Hazare pose."

Kejriwal said the government was behaving "as if they have the right to be corrupt and if anyone protests, they would either be crushed" or made to face legal orders banning the assembly of five or more people.

Delhi Police imposed the orders Sunday in the New Delhi district -- the heart of the capital -- as they cleared the Ramlila ground of yoga guru Ramdev, who too was fasting against corruption, and his supporters.

Source: PTI, IANS