Team Anna defies Section 144 in Delhi,to go ahead with day fast

A final word on the police go-ahead will come only after the Ministry of Home Affairs goes through the request to hold a fast.

Anna Hazare has also said his team will court arrest on June 8 if the final go-ahead does not come through.

A senior police officer said Section 144 – which does not allow the congregation of more than four people at a spot – is in force in most parts of the New Delhi district,including at the dharna hotspot Jantar Mantar.

Close aides of Hazare said preparations were in full swing for the “very peaceful” protest from 10 am to 7 pm at Jantar Mantar. An all-religion prayer meeting and a debate on the Lokpal Bill are also being organised during the fast.

Sources said the Delhi Police has already informed Hazare’s team about the refusal of permission.

However,activist Arvind Kejriwal said they will go ahead with the “very peaceful” protest and court arrest if police obstructed them. “No one can stop Anna Hazare from protesting at Jantar Mantar tomorrow,” he said.

Shanti Bhushan,who wrote to Delhi Police on behalf of the Hazare-led team seeking permission for the protest,said they were putting the police on notice that they intend to go ahead with the fast and any attempt to prevent the people from reaching Jantar Mantar would be viewed as a serious violation of fundamental democratic rights of the people.

“This is not acceptable. We appeal to the people to be calm tomorrow when they come to Jantar Mantar. We will stop wherever police tries to stop us. After that few people can get arrested,others can go home,” he said.

He said Hazare’s call was for a fast and this should not lead to a law and order situation.

Kejriwal said government ought to explain what law and order problem they apprehend due to Hazare’s protest.

“Anna is a 73-year-old man and has never provoked anyone. He does not have a violent history. Now he says he wants to assemble peacefully. What is the need of Section 144? If police tries to stop us we will not resist but just offer to be arrested,” he said.

Alleging that the government has arbitrarily imposed Section 144,Kejriwal said there have been Supreme Court orders stating the section should not be misused. Asked about seeking permission from police,he shot back,saying,“From whom should we seek permission? They are not our masters. People of this country are the masters.

Government is not our master. Unfortunately they have started behaving like they are our masters.”

He alleged the government’s attitude is as if it has the “right to indulge in corruption and if anyone protests against them,they we will either crush them or impose Section

144 and not allow them to protest”.

Justice Santosh Hegde,who is the Karnataka Lokayukta,said he will not join any fast or demonstration till he was holding a public post but noted that the move to impose

Section 144 and denying permission to Hazare “indicates a weakness” on the part of the government.

“The actions of the government against Baba Ramdev shows they are scared of him,” he alleged,adding he was not asking anybody to defy the law.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said the police’s decision clearly shows that the government is neither prepared to engage with the civil society nor is it clear

about the strategy with which it has to negotiate on issues which are confronting it.

Seetharaman said the government was not sure about handling issues which are of critical national importance.

“They seem to be directionless. Government doesn’t know how to handle public anger. The public wants to talk to the government. When they started handling it,they mismanaged it. Now they don’t want to engage with civil society. It speaks volumes about the way this government wants to engage with its people,” she said.