Anna arrested, hasn’t eaten since morning

Mangalore Today News Network

 New Delhi :  At 7.30 am on Tuesday morning, minutes before Anna Hazare was to set out for his fast against corruption, about a dozen policemen in plain clothes detained him at the Supreme Enclave in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, where he was staying.  They tried to whisk him away in a white Innova car, but hundreds of angry protesters ensured that the car could barely move for over an hour.

 

The 74-year-old activist was taken to the Delhi Police Mess near Oberoi Maidan in north Delhi and will be produced before a magistrate there. If he refuses bail, Anna Hazare may go to jail.  Anticipating arrest, Anna recorded an appeal to people to come forward in peaceful protest and said a second line of leaders would continue to lead the movement. But on Tuesday morning, this second line and core members of Team Anna - Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kiran Bedi- were detained too and taken to the police mess. Eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan was detained at Rajghat.

Now, says sources, a third line of crusading leaders has gone underground and are gathering support using mobile phones and the internet.


The supporters that followed Anna’s car as he was being taken away vowed they would move to Rajghat, where Anna was to have gone before setting out for JP Park where he planned to fast. Sources say about 3,000 Delhi University students are expected to assemble at Rajghat too. As they heard of the detention, many office-goers said they were not attending work and would join the protest.

Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 at several places in the Capital, including central Delhi, JP Park, Rajghat and Dilli Gate. At Rajghat, the police is not allowing people to gather in large numbers. Any large groups are being disbanded, put in buses and taken away to Chhatrasal Stadium in Model Town, north Delhi.

At JP Park, where Anna was to sit on fast, protestors are pouring in ready to court arrest.

Anna Hazare asked on what charges he was being arrested, but Delhi Police insist that he has been detained - not arrested. For now police sources say there are no charges against anyone and Anna’s "preventive detention" is for a maximum time period of 24 hours. And that only to keep law and order in check. He may be released earlier though.

Amid widespread protest, the police say if Anna had agreed to the 22 conditions that it had set, he would have been allowed to fast.  But the Gandhian had declared on Monday that these were unconstitutional demands and that he had no fear of police restrictions. "I am starting my fast tomorrow. It is just the start of a struggle for change. We have to fight a long battle. It’s going to be a fight to bring about change in India."

Anna’s video appeal

In a video that was released after his detention, Anna, anticipating arrest, said this was the beginning of a "second freedom struggle" and asked people to participate in a "jail bharo" agitation. "My dear countrymen, second freedom struggle has begun and now I have also been arrested. But will this movement be stopped by my arrest. No not at all. Don’t let it happen," he said.

 
He asked for peace but said the, "Time has come my countrymen when there should be no place left in jails in India to accommodate any more persons...I once again request my fellow countrymen that peace should be maintained and there must be no violence...Crores of people have joined this movement and second line of leaders are standing to lead this movement," he said.

The Lokpal battle

At the core of Anna Hazare’s protest against corruption is the draft Lokpal Bill that the government has brought in Parliament in this session. Key among its features is that it seeks to exclude the Prime Minister from the purview of the Lokpal. Anna’s team of civil activists calls this the "Jokepal Bill" and have burnt copies of it in protest.
 
On Monday, the septuagenarian Gandhian had a few words to say on the issue. ’’Why don’t they place the right Bill in front of Parliament? We are not against Parliament. The government had assured us they would look into our draft, but suddenly they changed their stand.’’

He added, "If the right Lokpal Bill comes, at least 60 to 65 per cent corruption in the country will be removed. If I am proved wrong, then I will work as a domestic help in Kapil Sibal’s house."
 
The Bill that Anna Hazare wants to see brought to Parliament is the one that members of the civil society on the joint Lokpal Bill drafting committee had prepared. What was to have been a joint exercise between an equal number of members from the government and the civil society, resulted in no consensus and two draft Bills. Mr Hazare - whose fast in April this year had seen a groundswell of support and forced the government to agree to allowing Team Anna a role in drafting a law against corruption -- hopes to gather more support with his second fast.   
 
At his Independence Day address, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised a strong Lokpal to end corruption among politicians and bureaucrats and asserted that hunger strikes would not help address the problem.

 

In response, Mr Hazare said he ’’was disappointed today. I used to think the Prime Minister is an honest man. But he is speaking in the same language as Kapil Sibal. Manmohan Singh is not serious about removing corruption from the country.’’

But Anna Hazare was clear he was not here to topple a government. "It is not important to remove the government, but if the peoples’ voices are not heard then the government may fall,’’ he warned. He ended the press conference with a request to people to switch off lights at their homes for one hour on Monday in a symbolic support of his crusade.

Delhi Police explains

The Delhi Police refusal for permission came after the 74-year-old refused to give a "full and proper" undertaking on 22 conditions laid down by them for his fast. Mr Hazare’s team said that it was willing to accept 16 conditions, but that the other six were "unconstitutional". In particular, two conditions - that he would only fast for three days and not extend it and a restriction on the number of protesters gathered around him to less than 5,000.

"They (Team Anna) were told that there are some directions from the court according to which they will have to give some undertaking. Only then can they hold a procession. We could not permit them for an indefinite fast. We suggested that they keep the whole thing limited to two-three days but they rejected the idea. That is why permission has not been given," Sudhir Yadav, Joint Commissioner, Delhi Police explained