Anna Hazare was on Tuesday sent to seven days’ judicial custody after he refused to sign a personal bond and come out on bail following his arrest. Besides Hazare, his close associates Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Shanti Bhushan were also detained.
Anna Hazare, who was arrested in the morning on grounds of apprehension of breach of peace following his intention to defy prohibitory orders to go on indefinite hunger strike, was produced before a Special Executive Magistrate. Hazare was detained from an apartment in east Delhi’s Mayur Vihar on Tuesday morning after police failed to persuade him to call off his plans to defy prohibitory orders and stage a protest at Jai Prakash Narain Park here.
India in Turmoil : Social activist Anna Hazare in custody, begins fast
Seeking to pre-empt a mass demonstration and hunger strike against corruption, the police in New Delhi on Tuesday detained more than 1,200 protesters only hours after officers made an early morning arrest of the leader of the anti-corruption movement. Carrying flags and placards, hundreds of Hazare supporters urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to leave his post and raise voice against corruption.
Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta told a press conference that the police was not keen that he should be sent to judicial custody.
Gupta stated the police was prepared for his being released on a personal bond if the Gandhian would have given an undertaking that he will not defy Section 144 of the CrPC that prohibits gathering of five or more people and also ask his supporters not to do so.
Sources said since Hazare refused to give an undertaking, the magistrate remanded him to a seven-day judicial custody.
He will be taken to Tihar jail where he will spend time in judicial custody. Three other leading activists of the team Hazare–Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Manoj Sisodia– were also sent to judicial custody on similar grounds.
Earlier today, Anna Hazare launched a fast in police custody soon after he was detained for sticking to his plan to defy prohibitory orders and stage a protest against corruption here. The Gandhian had announced that he would launch his indefinite fast from today demanding withdrawal of the “weak” Lokpal Bill and introduce a strong legislation to fight corruption.
The Hazare Team said the Gandhian was on fast and was not even taking water after he was taken to a police facility in north Delhi.
“He is on fast. He is not even taking water,” a spokesperson for the Hazare Team said. The arrest of the leader, Anna Hazare, was practically preordained after he vowed to carry out a hunger strike at a public park in New Delhi, despite local police denying him a demonstration permit. Mr. Hazare had planned to begin fasting on Tuesday, but the police took him and his aides into custody at 7:30 a.m., before he could depart for the park.
Indian Politics shook up amidst protest
The arrests, along with the detention of protesters trying to gather at the demonstration site, immediately shook up Indian politics. Parliament adjourned for the day. Opposition political leaders assailed the national government for cracking down against peaceful protesters. Meanwhile, a top government official said Mr. Hazare’s arrest was a law-and-order issue and a justifiable response to his defiance of the police.
“They made it very clear they would defy,” said Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who estimated the number of detained protesters at between 1,200 and 1,300 by midday. Protest leaders estimated that nearly 3,000 people had been detained and called on people across the country to switch off their lights at 7 p.m. to mark “this dark day for our democracy.”
Indian Spring on the way?
Protests were also under way Tuesday in other major Indian cities, including Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with large crowds gathering and shouting slogans against corruption.
At Jayaprakash Narayan Park, site of the planned demonstration in New Delhi, the police ringed the perimeter, while protesters trying to enter the park were detained and transported in buses to different locations serving as detention sites. As monsoon rains drizzled down, protesters shouted slogans and voiced outrage that Anna Hazare had been taken away.
“Why have you arrested him?” P.K. Gupta, a local businessman, shouted at police officers. “You should arrest corrupt people! Why have you arrested a simple, honest man? The government is atrocious. God is watching! God will not save you, Delhi police!”
For weeks, a showdown has been brewing as Anna Hazare and his allies have sought to mobilize a national movement to pressure India’s national leaders into creating an independent anti-corruption agency, known as a Lokpal. He gained national prominence in April, when he undertook a hunger strike for a Lokpal and unexpectedly attracted many thousands of mostly middle-class supporters around the country.
Startled by the upsurge of popular outrage, Indian government officials persuaded Anna Hazare to abandon his protest by inviting him and his aides to join a special committee to draft legislation for a Lokpal. Talks ensued for weeks and a Lokpal bill is now pending in Parliament. But Anna Hazare and his followers denounced the legislation as too weak, and Anna Hazare vowed to stage a new hunger strike this week to renew his pressure campaign.
India unites against corruption
“The spark has been lit and this fire is going to engulf the country and burn all the corrupt people. It has started and nothing will stop it. I would directly tell the Prime Minister that if he is honest as he claims and is clean as he claims to be then leave the dirty post surrounded by all the crooked people and join Anna Hazare who is the cleanest person in this country,” said Geetika Kapoor.
“I think it is being completely illegal, Anna Hazare shouldn’t have been arrested. He was not doing anything illegal at all and I don’t think any of the Indians who are actually supporting. Anna Hazare is doing anything illegal. We are protesting in a very quite manner without creating any disruption anywhere,” said Poonam Singh.
Meanwhile in Kolkata, people sat on a day long fast and urged the Indians to unite in the fight against corruption.
“We have organised a day long hunger strike in support of Anna Hazare. Even if the government has arrested him we will continue with our protest and support Anna Hazare. We are demanding for a strong Jan Lokpal bill. The corruption is so high in this country that not even a single department is left out. We find corruption everywhere. We cannot open schools or hospitals without paying bribes. No, the limits have been crossed and we want ombudsman bill at any cost,” said Debsindhu Banerjee.
The arrests and detentions Tuesday come as the government, mired in different scandals, has spent months on the defensive about corruption. Speaking Monday in a national address to commemorate Independence Day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dedicated nearly half his speech to corruption, expressing support for a strong Lokpal, even as he warned that no “magic wand” could sweep away the problem of corruption.
Mr. Singh said the government was introducing several bills in Parliament to combat corruption and asked that critics of the current form of the Lokpal legislation participate in the political process, rather than stage public demonstrations. “They should not resort to hunger strikes and fasts unto death,” he said.
India economy maybe growing rapidly, state corruption does it too
With the Indian economy growing at roughly 8 % yearly, official corruption in India has become a widespread problem and a source of public disgust. Public confidence is low in the government’s ability to eradicate graft, which is why many people have embraced the idea of an independent Lokpal agency, beyond the controls of political parties, that is empowered to attack corruption.
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