The stand-off between Anna Hazare and government ended today with an agreement showing give-and-take on both sides as the Gandhian will launch an indefinite fast here tomorrow for 15 days subject to certain conditions. A breakthrough in the deadlock over conditions imposed on Hazare's protest fast was achieved in the early morning of the day after two nights of hard bargaining. But Hazare will spend one more night in Tihar jail as new venue was still not ready. Hazare got from Delhi police the spacious Ramlila Maidan for his fast instead of the smaller J P Park,the venue initially given with a restriction of 5,000 supporters. Significantly,Team Hazare made it clear that his fast would not be a fast-unto-death and he will be on hunger strike only till his health permits. Hazare's close associates Kiran Bedi said the moment Dr Naresh Trehan's team is of the view that he needs medical attention,he will get medical attention. Close on the heels of the deal,Team Hazare also hinted that it may not insist on inclusion of higher judiciary in the Lokpal Bill if government brings a "good" Judicial Accountability Bill. The activists also pleaded that the Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by them should at least be brought to Parliament for its consideration. Earlier,the deal was reached in discussions between his associates including Bedi and Prashant Bhushan and Delhi Police Commissioner B K Gupta. In a sort of give-and-take,Team Hazare won a number of concessions but came down on the duration of the protest restricting it to 15 days. Yesterday,the activists were insisting on a longer period of at least a month for the protest. Home Secretary R K Singh maintained that the permission given for the fast is conditional and is upto September 2. "The Delhi police discussed with Team Anna and,thereafter,they have come to a decision. What the Delhi police conveyed to the Ministry of Home Affairs is that the permission was given till September two on the usual sort of conditions," he told reporters. Singh said it was not proper to say the agreement was a victory for one side and defeat for the other "but the basic issue was that permission for certain ground and certain period was given with some sort of conditions. Apparently referring to the conditions put for fast earlier proposed in JP Park,the Home Secretary said conditions of a particular ground mandated a certain size of crowd as well as of available parking. Team Anna has given a two-page undertaking to police in which they agreed to abide by existing rules and regulations and the crowd will not exceed the capacity of the ground,which is around 25,000 people. In the undertaking signed by Hazare himself and his associates Arvind Kejriwal,Prashant Bhushan,Bedi and Shanti Bhushan,they also said that if any clause of it was violated,they would be liable to be prosecuted under law. The clauses of the undertaking include no damage to public property; gathering will not exceed the limit of the ground; the crowd will not spill over to the nearby roads; the protesters will cooperate with traffic police; loud speaker use within the ambit of a Supreme Court order (10 pm limit). Other clauses are: Arrangements of drinking water,medical aid,mobile toilets,proper lighting; no carrying of lathi or any weapon; no provocative slogans/ speeches; no inflammatory slogans within 200 meters of religious or worship places; public safety will be taken care of; no use of crackers. Medical examination of Hazare and those who will keep fast along with him will be conducted by government doctors three times a day while Team Anna promised to abide by the April 16,2009 order of the Supreme Court which stipulated rules and regulations for public protests. In the morning,Bedi first broke the news of agreement over twitter saying Hazare has accepted the Delhi Police offer of fasting for 15 days and that he will go to Ramlila Ground after 3 pm. However,Kejriwal later said the ground was not yet ready and that the Gandhian would launch the protest from there only tomorrow. As concerns were voiced over the 73-year-old activist going on fast,Bedi made it clear that it would be an indefinite protest but not a fast-unto-death. She said Hazare would be on fast till his health permits. He said Hazare would stay for one more night in Tihar jail,which has been his home for the last two nights since his arrest on Tuesday morning before he was to launch his fast demanding a Lokpal that would also cover the Prime Minister,higher judiciary and MPs conduct inside Parliament. Hazare refused to move out of the jail despite his unconditional release on Tuesday night and instead resorted to hard bargaining through his emissaries extracting concession after concession. The police decision to allow Hazare to fast in Ramlila Ground came after government faced all-round attack from the Opposition in Parliament and nation-wide protests by thousands of Hazare supporters who took to the streets.
