New Delhi:
As evening fell upon Delhi, rush hour saw thousands of people gathering in different parts of the Capital in support of Anna Hazare, the activist who is still in Tihar Jail after being arrested last morning.
Anna Hazare's close associates Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan met Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta in a fresh initiative to iron out differences. Sources have told NDTV that Team Anna discussed the police's fresh offer of permission to stage a protest hunger-strike Delhi's Ramlila grounds.
(Read: Team Anna meets Delhi Police Commissioner) The meeting took place at Commissioner Gupta's residence in Chanakyapuri's Satya Marg after midnight. Team Anna went back to Tihar Jail to brief Mr Hazare about their talks. "We met the Police Commissioner to help resolve the time frame. The decision will be known tomorrow. We will go back to the Jail and discuss with Anna," Ms Bedi told PTI.
Mr Hazare has refused to exit Tihar Jail till the Delhi Police agrees to let him fast publicly without any pre-conditions.
A total of 10,000 people marched in groups between 4 and 6 pm from India Gate to Jantar Mantar , stating simply "
Anna, hum tumhaare saath hain (we are with you, Anna)."
The crowd of nearly 2000 people outside Tihar Jail at 6 pm was more boisterous, roaring each time word spread that Anna and his aides had moved onto the next point in their lengthy negotiations with the Delhi Police for the mass-protest against corruption that Mr Hazare is bent on holding in Delhi.
(Top surfer comments on Anna Hazare)Mr Hazare knows his arrest and the overwhelming public support for him has given him considerable leverage. So when the police offered him Ramlila Maidan as a new venue, he accepted; when he was asked to limit his protest's duration, he did not.
Through the early evening, there were reports that Anna would wrap up his talks with the police and emerge from jail. But shortly after 6 pm, Ms Bedi told the crowd outside Tihar, "The talks with the Delhi Police are continuing...we've agreed on the venue but not the duration (of the protest)." She also requested the crowd to move to another gate at the prison so that food and other supplies for prisoners could be delivered.
The police says it offered Team Anna the right to hold a seven-day fast with a daily review of public safety features and law and order conditions.
"We are not worried, we will find a way out of this", said the Prime Minister outside his home. However, the decision to have Mr Hazare arrested has proved to be near-catastrophic for the government. Dr Manmohan Singh's statement in Parliament on Wednesday morning explaining the background to the arrest failed to placate either the Opposition or the public. The consensus is that Mr Hazare's right to hold a peaceful protest was violated.
(Read: PM makes statement on Anna Hazare's arrest) |
(Forum: What do you think of PM's statement?) Mr Hazare was allowed by the Delhi Police to leave jail on Tuesday night, about 12 hours after he was arrested. But he turned down the offer to head out of Tihar, insisting that he wants the government to first agree that his hunger strike will not be interrupted or his protest checked as long as it remains peaceful.
Throughout Wedneday, the 74-year-old who has become the totem of a people's movement against corruption consulted with his closest aides within prison. Among his visitors were spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and civil rights activist Swami Agnivesh. Outside, among the crowd, popular yoga guru Baba Ramdev, was seen standing atop a car.
Mr Hazare's hunger strike began on Tuesday morning. Since then, he has had only water. Doctors have been examining him in prison.
The war between the government and Mr Hazare centres on the Lokpal Bill introduced in Parliament last week. The bill is meant to provide an antidote to the seemingly limitless corruption among politicians, bureaucrats and judges. Mr Hazare says the government has betrayed India by drafting a bill that has no intention of seriously and objectively investigating charges of venality. The BJP's Arun Jaitley charged, "Smugness, Mr Prime Minister, which has become a character of this Government... arrogance of power, which has become a character of this Government, is not the methodology by which corruption can be fought. Power is not immortal. The more arrogant you are, the earlier it dissappears."
(Read: BJP rips apart PM's statement on Anna Hazare)Like Tuesday, the public support for Mr Hazare played out in different cities. In Bangalore, Freedom Park saw thousands of protestors. Mumbai's Azad Maidan was also filled during the day with supporters of Anna.