![]() |
Kisan Anna Hazare |
Mr Hazare's "preventive arrest" came after three hours of his being under "preventive detention." The Opposition has slammed the government, saying it is Emergency again. The government says there is nothing illegal about it, but in a very high-level huddle, senior ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram met Rahul Gandhi a little after noon on Tuesday.
At 7.30 am on Tuesday morning, minutes before Mr Hazare was to set out for his fast against corruption, about a dozen policemen in plain clothes detained him at 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.
Mr Hazare, with several of his key aides who are now also under arrest, was taken to the Delhi Police Mess near Oberoi Maiden in north Delhi and was produced before a special executive magistrate there.
Under attack from all quarters, the government has justified the police action on Anna. Union Home Secretary RK Singh said he was detained because he said he would defy prohibitory orders. Senior Minister Ambika Soni said the arrest was not unconstitutional and that Mr Hazare could have waited till Parliament was not in session to protest.
Parliament opened to chaos on Tuesday. The BJP gave a notice for suspension of Question Hour to discuss the Anna Hazare issue. The government said it was ready for a discussion after Question Hour, at noon. There is no meeting ground - the Rajya Sabha was adjourned till noon, the Lok Sabha at first till 11.30 am and then till noon. Home Minister P Chidambaram has offered to make a statement in Parliament. The Opposition says it will settle for nothing less than a statement from the Prime Minister.
Anticipating arrest, Anna had recorded an appeal to people to come forward for what he called the "second freedom struggle" 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.
A third line of crusading leaders went underground to gather support using mobile phones and social media and surfaced a little before noon to decry Mr Hazare's arrest and to exhort people to come out in large numbers in protest. In Mumbai supporters in big numbers are courting arrest, in Bangalore, they are lining up to join the India Against Corruption movement. There is massive support in Kolkata too. In Chennai, Mahatama Gandhi's personal secretary Kalyanam is among about 300 people on hunger strike; 30 people have courted arrest. There are protests in Lucknow too.
In the capital, 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, protesters are pouring in ready to court arrest. Activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan said youth from Delhi University would court arrest at 12.30 outside the Chhatrasal stadium. And that at 4pm today, protesters would march from the Pragati Maidan metro station to JP Park. He also announced that at 4 pm on Wednesday, a big march would be organised from India Gate to Parliament House. He appealed to all people to join the march and asked government employees to take mass leave for a day.
Team Anna has asked people to wear black bands and to use social media and SMSes to help gather more people.
Who is Anna Hazare ?
Kisan Baburao Hazare pronunciation (help·info)(Marathi: किसन बाबुराव हजारे) (born 15 June 1937), popularly known as Anna Hazare pronunciation (help·info)(Marathi: अण्णा हजारे), is an Indian social activist and anarcho-pacifist who is especially recognised for his contribution to the development and structuring of Ralegan Siddhi, a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India and his efforts for establishing it as a model village, for which he was awarded the Padma Bhushan—the third-highest civilian award—by the government of India in 1992.
After leading a number of nonviolent protests in Maharashtra state against corruption, Hazare started a fast unto death on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the government of India to enact a strong anti-corruption act as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, a law to establish a Lokpal (ombudsman) with the power to deal with corruption in public offices. The fast led to nationwide protests in support of Hazare. The fast ended on 9 April 2011, the day after all of Hazare's demands were agreed by the government of India. The government issued a gazette notification on the formation of a joint committee (of government and civil society representatives) to draft an effective Lokpal Bill.
According to the July 2011 findings of a CNN-IBN- Hindustan Times Opinion poll, the Indian public prefers Anna Hazare to the Government of India to tackle corruption, and also see him as more trustworthy than the government. According to an Indian daily English newspaper Daily News and Analysis’s annual list of top 50 most influential people for 2011, Anna Hazare is the most influential person in Mumbai.