New Delhi: The five civil society members of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee have decided to boycott the meeting of the panel on Monday in New Delhi. The decision to boycott the meeting comes just a few hours after the crackdown by Delhi Police on Baba Ramdev and his supporters, who were protesting against corruption and the issue of black money, at Delhi's Ramlila Ground on the intervening night of June 4-5.
Several civil society members and social activists have strongly condemned the crackdown on Ramdev and his supporters and their forceful eviction. Veteran Gandhian and Lokpal Bill drafting committee member Anna Hazare, whose four-day long fast in April against corruption forced the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government to form the panel, called it an undemocratic action.
"What the Government has done is a blot on democracy. There was no need for the Government to supress this movement and attack those protesting at midnight. It was not right to lathicharge the people at midnight Small children and women were brutally assaulted. The entire country should stand up as one and protest against this brutal and inhuman action," said Hazare.
Another Lokpal Bill drafting committee member and retired Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde, who is also the Lokayukta of Karnataka, called the crackdown a violation of the Fundamental Rights.
"This is a serious violation of the Fundamental Rights. We need to think about whether to go back to Government to negotiate about Lokpal Bill. Even if the Govrnment had a deal with Baba Ramdev earlier, there was no need for this midnight action. This is clearly inhuman to lathicharge and teargas when people were sleeping. I have not felt this disappointed since Emergency. If he was really a cheat, then why go to the airport to receive him with four ministers," said Hegde.
Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan said he did not understand why the Government had been negotiating with Ramdev if there were doubts about his agenda and agitation.
"It shows complete intolerance on the part of the Government for a peaceful satyagrah. It makes a mockery of democracy. At one level senior Cabinet ministers roll out the red carpet for him and on another Digvijaya Singh calls him a fraud. Why was the Government negotiating with him if they thought he was a crook? Ramdev had our support for most of his demands except for the death penalty (for the corrupt)," said Bhushan.
He added that though the civil society members were against communal elements sharing the same stage and protesting against corruption, yet there was no proof that the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) was backing his (Ramdev's) campaign.
The civil society is represented by Hazare, Hedge, the father-son lawyer duo of Shanti Bhushan, Prasant Bhushan and RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal on the Lokpal Bill drafting committee.
Kejriwal demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must explain and clarify on the crackdown.
"This is a violation of the Fundamental Rrights. We want a explanation from the Prime Minister on what was the provocation which led him to order such a barbaric action. We will discuss with Anna on the future course of the agitation," he said.
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