Crisis in our backyard - Strangulated Democracy

By Abhishek Joshi:

“Are you first time here, asked a close senior activist friend of mine at Dariyaganj Police Station. The question allowed him to brag on his valiant story of how he with some other 39 was in the lock up during the one of the agitations for complete 28 days without an FIR being filed and then subsequently released with no charges pressed. This despite him not waiting for me to collect my expressions to help him with an answer. All which took him to share this bravado was a simple question from me, “why are they (police vallah’s) taking our names and addresses down”..?

Having recently succumbed to the temptation of learning and updating myself on IPC and CrPC procedures, I simply wanted to test my understanding on what sections were we detained and under what procedures were we to be released. Knowing all this while fully, that draconian sections of IPC and CrPC completely was “out of scope” given the nature of protest (ah consulting!) so waiting in the wings for my turn, this was the best laboratory to test myself and quickly get it validated from the number of IPS officers with complete force who had been politely escorting us the entire evening. Clearly, spoiled by choice, we were outnumbered by a considerable margin – for some 200 of us to be brought at the 1930 Heritage Police Station, we had some 500 in tow. Other activist friends who were dispersed on various other locations, as we collected late in the night were not so lucky for similar privileges.

Humour naturally seeps in when you achieve as daunting as a protest being successful without compromising on your conviction all the while you were protesting for a cause as large as exercising Democratic right of expressions through “silent” protest.

Yes, this indeed was the 1st time for me. The last I remember had come closer staring the white’s of the Khaki eyes was during my college days when returning back from a splendid late night “action” movie show, the entire troupe of friends were caught in middle of severe ruckus created by the 2 warring sections of Medical Students. Their hostel straight across the street, next to ours did the trick. Little were we aware that while we were clapping, hooting and dancing on our 15 Rs ticket show, there was considerable action on the streets with a full battalion of riot control police force quelling the student crowds outside. This also was the nearest I ever came to qualify as a “Doctor” and “referred to one” when was chased by 3 stout tall Rajasthan Police Force cops across the entire football field next to the hostel premises for few hours, amazingly achieving three changes for life while I outpaced them – switched streams from Science to Commerce mid year, hostel to a friend’s pad and brought myself back to the field of sports, having demonstrated my ability to withhold long miles of running. That was past and a thrill and adventure of student life.

This was serious for present and future as a matured citizen of the country.

I had received a call on night of 4th June from one of my closed associates who had joined to fast alongside several others with Swami Ramdev for the corruption agitation. The caller mentioned that Police Force has entered Ramlila Maidan and their intentions speak differently. Haplessly, thereafter what we countless of us witnessed that entire night through live reports was as brutal as possibly our generation could ever come closer to see. The sheer brutality of oppressions on fasting women, children, and elderly and in some cases physically challenged people was the saddest day for our democracy and constitutional fabric of our country. A non violent “satyagrah” had a violent barbaric clampdown. True there could be multiple interpretations on the leadership and organizers of the agitation but some 50,000 people had committed no culpable crime to have sided on to their individual conviction by raising the voice of dissent by punishing themselves through fasting until the demands could be met. A detailed report is below in the blog, shared by Shri Rajat Sharma .

Hon’ble Supreme Court having taken “suo moto" cognizance of this atrocity had served notices on Delhi Government, Central Government and Delhi Police asking for reasons of this in human, uncivilized decision to unleash 5000 police vallah’s, riot action force on peaceful protesters, without any law & order provocation. The affidavit and observation report incidentally was filed on the day (18th June) the Citizens Protest was organized. National Human Right Commission (NHRC) also followed the Hon’ble Supreme Court directives and they too while acknowledging lapses sought an explanation from the Cental & State Governments. And, this is where it started to end as far as NHRC was concerned.

Having waited for couple of weeks for NHRC to intervene and publish facts, they simple outlived their utility by adding another single sheet of paper to their thick reams of “cognizance” sterner action observations and defying the very charter of human rights on which they were formed to defend the enshrined rights of every citizen for justice. The Chairman, NHRC himself is under scanner is all saved for my activist friends to cover in the socio-political activism blogs.

We decided to remind them and as a result “Forum for Concerned Citizens” was formed on initiative of few with citizenry cutting across different ideologies, professions, interest groups, civic, social and political organizations further agreeing to vehemently yet silently protest against proverbial despotism by power obsessed central government. A Citizen Protest March for 5th June condemning the atrocities was announced, teams formed and they swung in action on with an “appeal to participate” on social networking sites, mobiles, personal call in visits across groups reaching out to people, requesting them to join the efforts.

What followed were permissions withdrawn at last moment on 18th June afternoon despite application resting with Police Personnel, waiting approvals since 15th June. A heavy police “bandobast” met us even prior the crowd had begun to turn around. Senior Politicians and Journalists groups including the organizing leaders paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat invoking the “non violent” principles and praying for collective strength for each given the past experiences of clampdown despite no provocation and the assembly begun, sharp at 5pm.

Black bands were distributed, placards and posters – few hands written on the spot were placed on the street and we convened to begin our protest march. Few senior members continue to address the crowd until 6.30 pm. Once we decided to move ahead to NHRC, barricades which were yet a little distance away were placed right on the assembly spot.

We were stopped not allowed to move even 100 Mts of collection point. The Police personnel, including senior IPS officers though extremely polite conveyed the sterner message of not even allowing a peaceful protest to reach its conclusion by announcing “arrests” in case we persist.

We persisted & resultantly we offered to “court arrest”. Each one of the 1000+ group without any leader calling their attention, stood self disciplined by more further hardened resolved of conviction for protecting democratic and fundamental rights of each and on behalf of all – when requested squatted on the main street, silently with black bands yet covering their lips. The police preempting the protest had made “elaborate” arrangements and we were one by one asked to board the busses and police vans.

Each went to different direction. The activist, having now “officially under arrest” impromptu taking the bands out bursted with loudest each could manage in sloganeering, the catchy one which perhaps remained the closest on the determination and on back of strength of conviction for the cause was “

“Ye prajatantra ke diwane kahan chale......Jail chale bhai ....jail chale...........!!!!!"

Section 65 of Delhi Police Act was announced to the crowd, names noted and after few hours we were released.

The crowd decided to seek a formal appointment from NHRC to present our petition on Monday, 20th June and representatives were chosen and incase denied – resolved to be back to RajGhat on 25th June. The eventful day, which part of folk lore for the new generation and extremely painful for the ones who witnessed in the past with suspended rights across Executive, Legislative, Judiciary and the 4th Pillar of Press and Media – the day Emergency was clamped on this country under Article 352 of the Constitution.

What lies ahead – watch this space. Hopefully Monday, 20th June will have updates to be posted, until then, what I leave at the 1930 site was a “nazm” fondly remembered from my college days by “Faiz-Ahmed- Faiz”

Nahiin Nigaah Men Manzil To Justajuu Hii Sahii

Nahiin Visaal Mayassar To Aarazuu Hii Sahii

Dayaar-E-Gair Men Maharam Agar Nahiin Koii

To ‘Faiz’ Zikr-E-Vatan Apane Ruu-Ba-Ruu Hii Sahii”

Congress' Midsummer Folly: Rajat Sharma

Swami Ramdev asked me on June 4 whether police would try to arrest him. He said that he had definite information. My reply then was: “No government would dare to make such a mistake. You are staging a peaceful fast in the presence of thousands of your supporters. There are at least 40 OB Vans of TV channels monitoring everything”. I also told him: “Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh will never allow this to happen”.

I was under the impression that the Congress had learnt its lesson from the Emergency days. During the last seven years of UPA rule, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Manmohan Singh had nothing to suggest that they would ever try to exert muscle power.

But I was proved wrong within a few hours. At the dead of night I got a call from India TV newsroom: “Sir, police have swooped on Ramlila Maidan”.

The visuals of police on the rampage that I saw on television that night were really disturbing. How can any one do such a thing? In the glare of TV cameras police swung their lathis, fired teargas shells, beat up old men and children and tore the clothes of women.

I heard Swami Ramdev sitting on the shoulder of one of his supporters telling the police: “Do not beat the people here, I am ready to court arrest”. But when a government sends a 5,000-strong police force to disrupt a gathering, the policemen are clearly unwilling to listen to the voice of reason. Policemen are trained to wield sticks, to fire teargas shells and bullets. For the policemen, it matters the least that these were starving people sleeping after a daylong fast. Had the crowd been violent, the police could well have resorted to firing. I can only thank God that most of Swami Ramdev’s followers were either old, women and children or were his selected ‘sadhaks’(trainers) who have been trained never to be violent.

Earlier, when Swami Ramdev rang me up during the daytime, he had told me that somebody has given him a credible information that thousands of policemen would try to clear out the tents at midnight. The informer had also told him that the police could also kill him in a fake encounter or set the tent on fire.

I had then told Swami Ramdev, “such things can’t happen. It impossible that thousands of policemen will try to enter the tents, and nobody can ever imagine of killing you in his wildest of dreams”.

After seeing the police on rampage from 1 am till 5 am on television, I wondered how Ramdev proved me wrong. I later realized why Swami Ramdev wore a women’s attire to sneak out of the camp. He might have thought, when his information about police entry was correct, about police wielding lathis was correct, then surely the secret info about a possible encounter would also be correct.

Congress, to me, is a party having leaders experienced in the art of governance. I had always believed that the Congress leaders know how to govern, But the June 4-5 midnight crackdown has shocked me. I fail to understand even now why the government did such a thing at all. And the most important question: What did the Congress or the government gain out of it?

Supreme Court sent a notice asking the government to explain the brutal police action in the dead of night. Will the government tell the apex court that it did this in order to assert its might, that it can gag anybody’s voice. Kapil Sibal had told the media that evening “if we know how to accommodate, we also know how to rein in”.

I wonder what did the Congress get out of all this? The yoga guru who had been extending his hand towards Congress is now its sworn enemy. The same Swami Ramdev, who was maintaining a distance from RSS and shaking hands with Muslim leaders in order to project an image acceptable to all, has been shoved by the Congress into the RSS camp. The Congress, by brutally beating up Swami Ramdev’s supporters with the help of police, has brought both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh on the same plane. A leader like Brinda Karat who used to criticize Swami Ramdev in public, appeared on television to condemn the brutal police action.

Both the Congress and the government were already in a fix over Anna Hazare and were eyeing Swami Ramdev as an antidote to Hazare, but the midnight crackdown has reversed this.

Both Anna and Ramdev who were at unease with each other are now together. Anna Hazare is sitting on fast to protest over police brutality on Ramdev supporters. Now the government will have to deal with both.

While the Congress went on back foot, rival BJP got rejuvenated. BJP which was trying to revive its fortunes but was bereft of any big issue against the government. The very same party is now out in full force, thanks to the gift of a livewire issue from Congress.

The Congress has unwittingly given the BJP not only an issue, but also a leader like Ramdev with a mass base of crores of people. Now the Congress will have to face not only the BJP, but also Ramdev, Anna Hazare’s civil society, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh.

The timing of the bloody, brutal police action was also significant. The previous evening, Kapil Sibal had created confusion by showing a letter about a deal with Ramdev. Swami Ramdev was on the defensive and he was busy clarifying that the letter merely states that all his demands will be met and the fast will be over in two days. But by sending a 5,000-strong police force in the dead of night, the government has now put Ramdev on the offensive. It is now Ramdev who is attacking Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh by name. Ramdev had been scrupulously avoiding criticisms of these two leaders for the last five years.

On the other hand, Digvijay Singh described Ramdev as a ‘thug’, his associate Acharya Balkrishna a thief, and had demanded that the government must probe Ramdev’s assets. A prominent newspaper published a news item that the CBI and ED will prove the assets of the trusts and companies associated with Ramdev. Had Swami Ramdev been a thug, then how is it that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh sent him a letter appealing him not to sit on fast?

Why did the Prime Minister write a letter to a ‘thug’ to say that his movement against corruption was valid?

If the assets of Ramdev’s trusts and companies are to be probed, then why did the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and three other senior ministers went to the airport to meet Ramdev?

In any democracy, the people’s faith acts as an oxygen for the political parties, but sheer arrogance of power can work as a corroding acid for any party.

History is witness to the fact that a democracy cannot be run on the strength of sheer brute force. Only those governments last, which listen to the voice of the opposition and of those who criticize peacefully. It is now up to the Congress to choose between oxygen and an acid.

Shri Rajat Sharma is Chairman and Editor-in Chief of India TV.