Ramdev's eviction sets off political war of words

New Delhi/Haridwar, Jun 5 (PTI) The dramatic eviction
of Baba Ramdev in the middle of night in a swoop by Delhi
police on Sunday set off a slugfest between the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the Sangh Parivar and the yoga
guru who announced that he would continue his agitation
against black money.
The first political fallout of the police action was
the decision of civil society activists led by Anna Hazare to
boycott Monday's meeting of the Joint Drafting Committee on
Lokpal and the threat to resume the agitation in Jantar
Mantar.
The police action of firing teargas shells and
lathicharge on people in the Ramlila Maidan who were woken up
in their sleep in the dead of the night drew sharply critical
attacks from BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and chief ministers
Mayawati, Nitish Kumar, Prakash Singh Badal and Naveen Patnaik
and former CMs Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chandrababu Naidu.
But the government and the Congress came out in
strong defence of the decision to evict the 46-year-old
Ramdev and legions of his followers, accusing him of going
back on his word of withdrawing his fast after reaching an
understanding on the issue of measures to bring back black
money stashed abroad.
The political war erupted hours after Ramdev, who
jumped from a three-metre-high podium and tried to escape
disguised as a woman, was served with an externment order that
barred him entry into the capital for a fortnight.
He was bundled into a police van before dawn and
flown to Haridwar in a small plane. The police action came
after the government and Ramdev traded barbs accusing each
other of betrayal.
With the government decision drawing flak, Congress
leadership met at the Prime Minister's residence which was
attended by Sonia Gandhi and senior cabinet ministers.
The top BJP leadership met in the capital and
condemned the police action, saying it reminded the days of
Emergency.(
A heavy contingent of Delhi police personnel
including the Rapid Action Force descended on the fast site a
little after 1 AM and met with resistance from the followers
of Ramdev who had just completed a day's fast demanding
measures to repatriate black money stashed abroad.
The yoga guru, who was met by a high-power delegation
of ministers led by Pranab Mukherjee on June one at the Delhi
airport, vowed in Haridwar to continue his fast-unto-death and
threatened to re-enter the capital in the night.
Ramdev accused the police of indulging in
"brutalities" against his peaceful followers, especially women
and children, and called it a "big blot" on the government.
Hazare announced that the civil activists would hold
a fast at Jantar Mantar on June 8.
Government, which held talks with Ramdev until
yesterday evening, ordered a police swoop at the Ramlila
Maidan rocking the calm when he was asleep on the stage and
thousands of his followers on the ground.
The fast site resembled a war zone for over three
hours with police forcibly evicting thousands of his followers
who had ended a day's fast alongwith Ramdev.
62 people including 23 policemen were injured in the
action. Ramdev claimed a Gurgaon residence has been paralysed
in the police attack, a woman from Andhra Pradesh suffered
leg fractures and at least two others had head injuries.
The midnight action triggered a war of words between
the government and the Sangh Parivar which threw its full
weight behind the yoga guru. the government, which cited
intelligence inputs of terror threat to Ramdev, ruled out
further talks with him saying he was getting "unreasonable".
Ramdev's bid to return to Delhi was thwarted on Sunday
night by Uttar Pradesh (northern Indian state) police who
intercepted and sent him back to Haridwar (district in Uttar
Pradesh).
The car carrying Ramdev was stopped by the police at
Muzaffarnagar's border with Roorkee, Uttarakhand (another
northern Indian state), at around 1930 hours as prohibitory
orders were in force, Muzaffarnagar district officials said.
Returning to Haridwar, Ramdev held his third press
conference of the day where he announced that he will relaunch
his agitation from Haridwar on Monday.
He asserted that he may be stopped for 15 days or a
month from entering Delhi but it can't last for long.
"I will go to Delhi. We are living in a democracy.
Nobody owns the capital," he said.
He said certain groups with vested interests were
working against him but he will go ahead with his mission on
the issue of combating corruption.
Firing another salvo at the Centre he asked "why are
you scared of bringing back black money? Is it because you
have something to hide?
About Digvijay Singh calling him a "cheat" and a
"thug", Ramdev said he would not like to respond to
"irresponsible remarks made by an irresponsible person".
The yoga guru said he had returned to Haridwar as he
did not want to create any law and order problem.
In an effort to pre-empt any protest by supporters of
Ramdev, Delhi Police imposed prohibitory orders for a week in
New Delhi district where such agitations were apprehended.
"We have imposed section 144 of CRPC in New Delhi
district till June 11," a senior police official said.
The decision to impose prohibitory orders came in the
backdrop of some followers of Ramdev camping at Jantar Mantar
after they were ousted from the Ramlila Maidan where their
congregation was disrupted by a mid-night police action.