New Delhi:
Civil society members of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee are to meet today after sulking for a day, over the events surrounding Baba Ramdev's eviction from his protest fast at the Ramlila Maidan on Sunday.
Terming the incidents at the Ramlila Maidan as the reason for their boycott on Monday, the five-member team of civil society representatives led by Gandhian Anna Hazare condemned the Centre for the midnight police action on Baba Ramdev's supporters.
"We condemn this action. This is a blot on humanity... This is like throttling democracy" Mr Hazare said.
The civil society representatives also threatened a pullout if future meetings of the joint committee weren't telecast live.
"In view of the government's barbaric actions, since its intentions to remove corruption have become suspect, we will attend any future meetings of the joint committee only if they were telecast live", Mr Hazare said.
This casts a serious shadow on the future of the joint Lokpal panel which was marred by serious disagreements between the government and civil society group in its last meeting.
At their last meeting the two sides disagreed on the Prime Minister coming under the purview of the Lokpal. They further disagreed over the inclusion of judiciary under the Lokpal. The government was of the view that it should be self-regulatory, but the civil society members disagreed.
Coming in the backdrop of the Baba Ramdev fiasco and the war of words going on between the government and the civil society members, this one promises to be more combative.
On Monday, Union minister Kapil Sibal said that they had had enough of abusive behaviour being directed towards them.
Mr Sibal also suggested that the government is running out of patience with the public criticism levelled by Mr Hazare and other activists who are a part of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee. "The names we've been called," Mr Sibal listed, "... cheats, liars, conspirators. We've been charged with betrayal. But we have never made these sort of allegations. And Anna's discourse does not seem to reflect civil society because we are also in touch with other activists. We reject in the strongest possible terms these kind of allegations made by Anna. That the government is telling lies, they are conspirators, the government are cheats... this is just not acceptable... and we hope that in the future, this kind of language will not be conducted outside in the public arena."
"The mandate for the committee is to come up with a good draft (of the lokpal Bill). Linking this to other issues is not appropriate," said Mr Sibal on Monday.
The panel that's drafting the Lokpal Bill is referred to as a "joint committee" because it couples five non-government representatives with five ministers, including Mr Sibal. The committee was set up on Mr Hazare's insistence in April after a hunger strike by the Gandhian provoked huge public response.