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New Delhi:
The Congress-led government battled a major opposition onslaught
Sunday after ordering a midnight police crackdown on Baba Ramdev
and an army of his supporters, forcing the yoga guru out of Delhi
and leaving many people seriously injured. In a rare show of
unanimity, political leaders ranging from the Left to Right
denounced the police action at the Ramlila ground, specifically
condemning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president
Sonia Gandhi, after the government first warmed up to Ramdev and
then branded him a "thug" when he went ahead with his hunger
strike.
On the backfoot, cabinet ministers and Delhi Police tried to
justify the decision to physically remove Ramdev - eventually
sending him to Dehradun, from where he moved to Hardwar - and use
tear gas and batons to disperse large crowds that left more than
100 men and women in hospitals.
"This is a black day in Indian history. The nation will not
forgive this," thundered Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi,
echoing the sentiments of other leaders of his Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP).
"This is state terrorism," said an indignant Ramdev aide,
Vedprakash Vaidik.
The government hit back. Human Resource Development Miniter Kapil
Sibal, who until Saturday evening had been talking to Ramdev, said
Sunday that he was a "face" of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
"Today it has become clear that he is another face of the RSS,"
said a combative Sibal. "What we have done is right." Police said
Ramdev would not be allowed to enter Delhi for a fortnight.
Back at his ashram in Hardwar, Ramdev hardened his stand. He
accused the government of going back on its promises made during
talks with ministers.
"They wanted to kidnap, kill me, or send me somewhere," he said.
"No other nation would have shown this kind of roughness against
its citizens."
A fuming Ramdev vowed to continue his fast, quickly drawing
support from the BJP government in Uttarakhand.
It all began after midnight Saturday when hundreds of Delhi Police
and Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel descended on the sprawling
Ramlila ground and tried to seize the 46-year-old Ramdev, a
virtual cult figure for his mastery of yoga.
Ramdev had launched what he said was an indefinite hunger strike
at the venue Saturday morning seeking government measures to check
corruption and bring back money stashed abroad by Indians.
The protest followed days of intense negotiations between him and
the government which did not want Ramdev to go on fast. But he did
just that, drawing thousands of fans from all over India.
In a bid to evade police, Ramdev jumped from the stage and ran
into the crowds. And although he repeatedly appealed to his
supporters not to take to violence, clashes soon broke out.
As police used bamboo sticks to push off people from the stage,
some Ramdev supporters armed themselves with iron rods and fire
extinguishers.
Some protesters hurled stones at the police, creating more mayhem.
Policemen threw back the stones. The carefully set up sound system
collapsed. In no time, three or four minor fires gripped the
stage.
Hundreds who had been sleeping until then and were taken aback by
the onslaught fled in panic, leaving behind books, bags, slippers
and clothes. Within two hours, the Ramlila ground resembled a war
zone.
In the melee, policemen grabbed Ramdev and dragged him away. By 4
a.m., the venue was virtually cleared of the crowds, barring some
women who defiantly refused to quit.
"What happened here was barbaric," said a former Indian Navy
officer from Chandigarh. A young man said India had fared worse
than Egypt, where a mass revolt continued for weeks until Hosni
Mubarak was ousted.
BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said 35 people injured by police were
warded in hospitals, four in serious condition.
They included a woman who was paralyzed after suffering injuries
on her spinal cord and two young men whose skull bones had
cracked. A doctor in a hospital told IANS that 100 people were
being treated for injuries.
Apart from political parties -- the BJP, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan
Samaj Party and the Communists -- the government took flak from
Gandhian activist Anna Hazare, whose five-day fast in April forced
New Delhi to set up a panel to draft a tough Lokpal bill to check
corruption in high places.
"To protest is not a crime," Hazare said after arriving here. "It
only strengthens democracy. What was the need to send police at
night and beat up people? This is a blot on democracy."
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