Past midnight, around 1.00 am, Sunday June 5, witnessed the blackest chapter of the UPA-2 when the Delhi Police, controlled by the Central government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, staged an assault on the camp of Baba Ramdev at the Ramlila Ground in Delhi to evict him and thousands of his followers who were sleeping in their tents. Images of the brutal happening on Indian TV news channels that must have been seen all over the world have clearly done enormous damage to India's "vibrant" democracy, thanks to the moral and mental bankruptcy of its ruling leadership. The barbaric attack on children, women and elderly men who had assembled in the Capital a couple of days ago, to show solidarity with the yoga guru Ramdev in his anti-corruption campaign through Gandhian fast, is reminiscent of the dreadful Emergency era of Mrs Sonia Gandhi's mother-in-law, Mrs Indira Gandhi in June 1975. It was a peaceful show of support and the Swamiji had himself repeatedly assured that it would remain so. Hence, for this ruthless breach of people's fundamental right for peaceful protest in a democracy, Baba Ramdev has publicly accused foreign-born super Prime Minister, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the UPA, as the main culprit.
Describing the police action as an "abominable misdeed", India's nationalist daily, the Pioneer has indicted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "morally decrepit wimp" and "dishonest" head of government who has presided over "the most corrupt regime India has ever witnessed". The dupilicity of the UPA govt. was evident in the manner in which it handled-rather mishandled-the Anna Hazare and the Ramdev fasts. Since the Yoga guru posed a much bigger challenge in terms of sheer numbers of his followers, the regime clearly panicked, going from one extreme to another. First, the Baba was provided a red carpet treatment at the Delhi airport when four senior Ministers led by Pranab Mukherjee travelled there to receive, placate and negotiate with him. While publicly announcing a full understanding with the Swamiji on his major demands, Kapil Sibal, acting as the spokesman, with his tendency to being clever by half, mixed suavity with firmness, implying an obvious threat. Baba Ramedev was only insisting on a written commitment by the govt which Sibal could have promptly given on the Saturday evening itself. Instead of despatching the crucial piece of paper to the Ramlila maidan, suddenly choosing the hour of thieves and evil men, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh despatched gendarmes with lathis and tear gas bullets to pounce on unarmed, peaceful people in thousands to oust them at that unearthly hour from their tents. If the government's motives and intentions were honest and civilised, why did they not choose a daylight hour for the eviction? On the top of this cruelty, the Congress general secretary, the dynasty's loyalist foot soldier, Digvijay Singh who had earned notoriety by championing the cause of the Batla House terrorists, has called its victim, Ramdev, "a thug"!
Unfortunately, some of the TV news anchors-particularly English ones-are being less than honest and impartial:Their main concern is not the Baba's anti-corruption movement but an obsessive fear that it is being "hijacked" by the BJP, the RSS, the VHP and Sadhvi Rithambara;they have deliberately overlooked the repeated assertion of social activists like Mrs Kiran Bedi and a few others that all Indians despite their affiliations are welcome and have the democratic right to support the anti-corruption campaign. Are these people antinationals and terrorists? Do these TV news overlords similarly object to the participation of persons like Swami Agnivesh and Prashant Bhushan who are known supporters of Maoist terrorists? If my memory serves me right, Bhushan is also a staunch advocate of terrorists who attacked the Parliament. Why these double standards?
Describing the police action as an "abominable misdeed", India's nationalist daily, the Pioneer has indicted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a "morally decrepit wimp" and "dishonest" head of government who has presided over "the most corrupt regime India has ever witnessed". The dupilicity of the UPA govt. was evident in the manner in which it handled-rather mishandled-the Anna Hazare and the Ramdev fasts. Since the Yoga guru posed a much bigger challenge in terms of sheer numbers of his followers, the regime clearly panicked, going from one extreme to another. First, the Baba was provided a red carpet treatment at the Delhi airport when four senior Ministers led by Pranab Mukherjee travelled there to receive, placate and negotiate with him. While publicly announcing a full understanding with the Swamiji on his major demands, Kapil Sibal, acting as the spokesman, with his tendency to being clever by half, mixed suavity with firmness, implying an obvious threat. Baba Ramedev was only insisting on a written commitment by the govt which Sibal could have promptly given on the Saturday evening itself. Instead of despatching the crucial piece of paper to the Ramlila maidan, suddenly choosing the hour of thieves and evil men, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh despatched gendarmes with lathis and tear gas bullets to pounce on unarmed, peaceful people in thousands to oust them at that unearthly hour from their tents. If the government's motives and intentions were honest and civilised, why did they not choose a daylight hour for the eviction? On the top of this cruelty, the Congress general secretary, the dynasty's loyalist foot soldier, Digvijay Singh who had earned notoriety by championing the cause of the Batla House terrorists, has called its victim, Ramdev, "a thug"!
Unfortunately, some of the TV news anchors-particularly English ones-are being less than honest and impartial:Their main concern is not the Baba's anti-corruption movement but an obsessive fear that it is being "hijacked" by the BJP, the RSS, the VHP and Sadhvi Rithambara;they have deliberately overlooked the repeated assertion of social activists like Mrs Kiran Bedi and a few others that all Indians despite their affiliations are welcome and have the democratic right to support the anti-corruption campaign. Are these people antinationals and terrorists? Do these TV news overlords similarly object to the participation of persons like Swami Agnivesh and Prashant Bhushan who are known supporters of Maoist terrorists? If my memory serves me right, Bhushan is also a staunch advocate of terrorists who attacked the Parliament. Why these double standards?
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