IT is strange that the Congress chose to use brute force in the middle of the night on the sleeping, innocent, peaceful, unsuspecting men, women and children who had come to the national capital from the nook and corner of the country to participate in the satyagraha of Swami Ramdev, at the Ramlila grounds.
It is stranger still, in the wake of the abominable misdeed, the discredited Congress leadership has descended to foul mouthing and abusing its opponents to cover up their own culpability.
So far, if there was anything conspicuous about the Manmohan-Sonia government, it was its utter ineptitude and lazy inaction in the face of colossal drift on every front. All of a sudden, the regime that stands on the four legs of CWG, defence land, 2G spectrum and other mind-boggling serial scams, wakes up to assert its authority. In the dead of night, the duds and morally decrepit wimps in power, known for lack of civility and mastery over cheap tricks undertake to reclaim the initiative by outraging the entire nation. It is not clear whether it was a pre-meditated reaction to Baba Ramdev’s popular movement against corruption and black money. Whose idea was it? Was it Sonia micro-managing the raid on the satyagrahis? Was it because Swami Ramdev was critical of the remote control government? Or that she, a foreigner, as Baba says is stashing away the nation’s wealth? What was the indecent haste to rein in Baba Ramdev?
Baba has been campaigning against black money for the last two years. He has a huge credibility, a large following, massive resources and had prepared the ground for a long drawn battle against corruption. He was also coordinating with all other civil rights groups and organisations who at their levels had taken up the same cause. He had taken the issue to every corner of the country addressing thousands of well-attended public meetings. He had got lakhs of devotees registered in his fight against corruption. The volunteers, who registered with Baba’s mission, to support his agitation, physically, monetarily and morally on last count according to the organisers, numbered 29 lakh. It was not that all of a sudden Baba appeared on Ramlila grounds and started a protest. He had announced his plans at least two months in advance, sought permission well in time and the government was constantly in touch with him, so much so that four senior ministers of the UPA went to the airport to meet and discuss with him on his demands.
The government continued the discussion till late on the night of June 4, and Baba went to sleep with the promise to continue the talks next day. All of a sudden at 1.15 AM the venue of Baba’s protest was surrounded by 15,000 heavily armed policemen and Rapid Action Force personnel with orders to forcefully remove the huge gathering who were sleeping in the tent along with the Swamiji. To fast-track the eviction process the police fired teargas shells into the closed tent, lathi charged and switched off power supply. Hundreds of people were injured in the resultant commotion, mayhem and chaos. If there was no stampede and mass murder it was only because of Baba’s repeated call to his followers to keep calm, maintain discipline and ensure safety. At three places, according to eye witness accounts the pandal caught fire, which was doused by alert volunteers. Otherwise fire would have turned the site into a mass graveyard. The question is who ordered this inhuman midnight swoop on the sleeping crowd of protesters.Why did the Police not take necessary pre-cautions to avoid a tragedy. Was it necessary for the police to overdo and act like barbarians to please the political masters? There was no provocation. Baba Ramdev says the number of people who were present at the time was over a lakh. They included old men, women, children, young girls, families with their bags and baggages, who had come from all parts of the country, even some NRIs.
After the event, that uncouth, despicable character who goes around fashioning himself the greatest trickster in the cabinet, Kapil Sibal told journalists that it should serve as a lesson for all protesters. Was he trying to convey that the people have no right to protest corruption? Eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani who said he was going to file criminal charges against Prime Minister and four of his ministers alleged that it was a government of criminals and thugs. The Congress leaders justifying the mid-night action have resorted to vulgar and low-level abuse. It shows its panic, loss of mental balance.
The incident of June 4 reminds one of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square crack down on protesters in Beijing. But China is under Communist dictatorship. Some compared the cruelty with the 1919 Jalianwalabagh massacre by the British on a Baisakhi day. Then the British heaped the insanity on Indians who were demanding freedom. There is no parallel in modern democracy to what Manmohan-Sonia government did. Why is the duo so afraid whenever anybody talks about black money? It is well established that this government steeped in corruption has much to hide. Why is it not making public the list of names of black money account holders it received from Germany? Ram Jethmalani has asked this question on a number of occasions.
The government has lost all credibility. It has lost the war on the public domain. The Congress stands thoroughly exposed and isolated as it is heading the most corrupt regime in India’s history. It now hopes to silence the opposition parties and civil society by spreading canard and using monstrous state power. This is the last resort of every scoundrel when cornered. This is the beginning of the end, as the perpetrators of such tactics themselves know. The Congress is only exposing itself by resorting to bullying, deceit, lying and political cunningness.
A report the other day said Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh along with the police men punched the lone protester who waved a shoe at the AICC press briefing. Is that the kind of behaviour expected of a senior politician? Perhaps, the Congress believes, by slandering its opponents and mafia- style shenanigans it can brazen out and tide over mass unrest. One should not deny Congress, its right to live in the fool’s paradise.
