Sledgehammered By Nationwide Outrage, UPA Withdraws Almost All Its Earlier Curbs On Anna Protest

People March, Govt Crawls

But Gandhian Still Not Biting, Stays Put In Tihar

 

New Delhi: A blundering government was virtually brought to its knees on Wednesday as waves of Anna Hazare's supporters laid siege to the capital. They thronged key points of New Delhi, including Tihar Jail where
Anna is still lodged. At the time of going to the press, the authorities were desperately trying to get him out of jail by giving in to almost all his demands. But Anna was insistent on official permission for a month-long protest at the Ramlila Maidan, not seven days as was offered by the police.
   The government has agreed to Ramlila Maidan, a site it had earlier described as being "communally sensitive", it has put no curbs on the number of people that can assemble there or on the use of loudspeakers. It is learned to have even offered to allow Anna to hold his protest for 21 days, but he's still not biting. Negotiations were still on around midnight with key members of Anna's team, who appear to hold all the aces .
   There was also late-night drama as an ambulance arrived at Tihar. Fearing that Anna would be spirited away in it, protesters surrounded it and clambered on top of it.
   The government's reversal of its stand came in the face of a spontaneous countrywide show of solidarity with Hazare which left little doubt that denying him a protest site was a huge miscalculation. Thousands of impassioned activists gathered on the lawns of India Gate on in the evening. At Juhu beach in Mumbai, thousands took out a candle-light procession. Similar displays of support swept across India.
   In fact, the blunder of arresting him appears to have increased Anna's flock by leaps and bounds. Ordinary citizens, including doctors, teachers, professionals and retired army officers, thronged the streets. They offered food and water to the protesters; some cleaned the venues. Cars caught in jams caused by the protests did not honk; passengers even got out and joined the protesters.

How The Day Unfolded



7am ^|

Anna supporters begin to gather outside Tihar. As crowd swells, cops block traffic outside prison gate

10.30am ^|

Medha Patkar reaches Tihar. Kiran Bedi arrives an hour later

11am ^|

In Parliament, PM calls Hazare's campaign ill-conceived

12.05pm |

Police negotiate with Team Anna, offer Ramlila Maidan for 7 days, extendable on daily basis

1.40pm |

Ramdev, Agnivesh reach Tihar, followed by Ravishankar

2.55 pm |

Anna tells negotiators he wants 30 days without conditions

3.05pm |

Call for protest march at India Gate at 4pm

3.30pm |

Police agree to all conditions except indefinite fast. Anna unrelenting

6pm |

Talks end with Anna not agreeing to come out of jail, asking for 30 days at Ramlila Maidan

Anna may get Ramlila Maidan


   As they faced a serious threat of backlash from civil society, the government and Congress looked completely isolated. In Parliament, the opposition rejected the efforts of the PM to rally the political class behind the government by arguing that civil society's opposition to the government-approved Lokpal bill posed a threat to parliamentary supremacy.
   The authorities' backpedalling which began on Tuesday evening when they organized Hazare's early release, turned into a virtual surrender on Wednesday when the government said civil society activists could hold their protest at Ramlila Maidan—a location where many historic rallies have been held.
   All the reasons Delhi police had cited to set tough conditions for the use of JP Park apply to the Maidan as well. If anything, it is located in a more congested area and in the heart of the city. Congress spokesperson had on more than one occasion alleged that Hazare's movement had been infiltrated by the "communal" RSS, but this consideration seemed nowhere in play as the government rushed to placate the Gandhian.
   The PM termed the arrests of Hazare and his supporers on Tuesday as "inevitable though unfortunate". He suggested that Hazare had left the authorities with no option and criticized Hazare saying that "the path he has chosen to impose his draft of a bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy."
   He added: "All of us in this House are agreed that a Lokpal Bill must be passed as early as possible. The question is who drafts the law and who makes the law. I am not aware of any constitutional philosophy or principle that allows anyone to question the sole prerogative of Parliament to make a law. As far as I am able to gather, Anna Hazare questions these principles and claims a right to impose his Jan Lokpal Bill on Parliament."
   However leader of the opposition Arun Jaitley rebuffed what he called an attempt to create a conflict between Parliament and anti-corruption activists.

'The pressure cooker has exploded'

Aday after Anna's arrest, writer Chetan Bhagat tweeted on Wednesday, "The government tried to stop the pressure cooker's whistle. Now the pressure cooker has exploded. Deal with it." The feeling across social networking sites is that Anna's Lokpal bill is the new independence movement. Some called him 'Dabang Anna', while others attacked the government with boulders of criticism. TNN