Anna Hazare refuses to come out and spends night in Tihar jail
After Anna Hazare's refusal to walk out, Tihar jail authorities allotted him a room to spend night in the jail, TV channels reported. Anna is continuing his fast in the jail.
The government on Tuesday was at sixes and sevens over Anna Hazare's steely determination to carry on with his indefinite fast despite his unexpected arrest and his equally sudden release in the face of mounting countrywide protests. Anna scornfully rejected his release, saying he would leave Tihar Jail only if the government unconditionally allowed his protest for a stronger Lokpal Bill. In any case, he said, he was fasting in Tihar.
The government's desperate attempt to cut its losses-releasing Anna within 12 hours of his arrest and seven-day judicial remand-failed badly as it was outwitted by the Gandhian and his growing band of supporters, who appeared to be thinking three steps ahead of government managers. Not only was it seen to be eating humble pie after Anna's arrest, it was nowhere close to easing its discomfiture.
In the city, there were spontaneous demonstrations and candlelight protests. A strike of auto-rickshaws has been called in Delhi on Wednesday as a mark of support for Hazare: a sure sign that his camp has now spread beyond the middle class. And everywhere, supporters waved the national flag, lending the movement a rare patriotic fervour.
Celebrations broke out across the city as news of Hazare's imminent release spread, with crowds raising victory slogans and candles twinkling on a cool evening after a rainy day.
Although both government and Congress kept their distance from Hazare's release, saying it was the decision of Delhi Police, the reversal of course was seen as simultaneously signalling confused thinking in the government as well as its diminishing options in the confrontation with the anti-corruption upsurge. Delhi Police, which works directly under the Union home ministry, has never before displayed the degree of autonomy government vested it with on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, senior ministers P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal were at pains to argue that the government was as keen as Anna to combat corruption but could not agree with his methods. But the legalistic argument about Hazare defying prohibitory orders fell short of a political answer to his demands.
The current situation is even more precarious for the government than in April where a four-day fast brought the government to its knees. In Parliament, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley said the government was snatching the right to protest while the Congress's political leadership was hiding behind the uniformed force. The CPM said the government had attacked the democratic right to peaceful protest.
IIPM Mumbai Campus
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
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