INDIA: Opposition party says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is making a mockery of democracy and cannot lay conditions on release of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare
Record ID:
1375145
INDIA: Opposition party says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is making a mockery of democracy and cannot lay conditions on release of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare
- Title: INDIA: Opposition party says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is making a mockery of democracy and cannot lay conditions on release of anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare
- Date: 18th August 2011
- Summary: NEW DELHI, INDIA (AUGUST 17, 2011) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) EXTERIOR OF PARLIAMENT MANEKA GANDHI, LAWMAKER OF MAIN OPPOSITION BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP), COMING OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi and English) LAWMAKER OF INDIA'S MAIN OPPOSITION BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP), MANEKA GANDHI, SAYING: "If the Prime Minister concedes that he (Anna Hazare) has the right to protest, then conditions cannot be laid. The conditions that were laid were ridiculous. He (Hazare) asked to sit for one month, he would have sat for one month. To limit him to three days, which magic formula that works in three days? And then to arrest and then to release him on equally specious grounds, seems to make a mockery of democracy. The problem is not the bill, the problem is the way in which Anna Hazare and people who have been protesting had been treated. The elected owe their allegiance first to the electors. To treat the electors so shamefully, does not speak well for our democracy." PROTESTERS WALKING TOWARDS INDIA GATE PROTESTERS WALKING PROTESTERS HOLDING NATIONAL FLAG AND WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) STUDENT, DEEPAK, SAYING: "If you are thinking that Anna Hazare is old, if you think he will die tomorrow and if something happens to him then about 10,000 Anna Hazare will be born." PROTESTERS COMING OUT OF THE METRO STATION PROTESTERS CARRYING BANNER PROTESTERS WALKING PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS TRAFFIC
- Embargoed: 1st September 2011 22:15
- Keywords:
- Location: India, India
- Country: India
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAE3XEX395UBBBUGTNXOQP2C2TP
- Aspect Ratio: 4:3
- Story Text: Lawmaker of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday (August 17) criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the federal government for arresting anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on unjustifiable grounds.
Speaking to reporters outside the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, Maneka Gandhi said:
"If the Prime Minister concedes that he (Anna Hazare) has the right to protest, then conditions cannot be laid. The conditions that were laid were ridiculous," she said.
"To arrest and then to release him on equally specious grounds, seems to make a mockery of democracy," added Maneka Gandhi.
Protests swelled across India on Wednesday in support of the self-styled Gandhian anti-corruption campaigner on hunger strike in jail, with Prime Minister Manmohan's Singh's beleaguered government apparently unable to end the standoff.
An uncompromising Singh, 78, who is widely criticised as out of touch, dismissed the fast by Anna Hazare demanding tougher laws as "totally misconceived", sparking outrage as lawmakers cried "shame".
The squat and slight 74-year-old Hazare fasted on Wednesday as thousands of his followers gathered outside the jail, the latest development in a crisis that saw him arrested on Tuesday (August 16) and then refused to leave jail after the government ordered his release.
"The problem is not the bill, the problem is the way in which Anna Hazare and people who have been protesting had been treated. The elected owe their allegiance first to the electors to treat the electors so shamefully, does not speak well for our democracy," Maneka Gandhi went on to say.
Hazare, who has struck a nerve with millions of Indians by demanding tougher laws against rampant corruption in India, insists he wants the right to return to a city park where he had originally planned to publicly fast, before he leaves jail.
The arrest and sudden about-turn to release him appeared to confirm a widespread feeling Singh's government is cornered, clumsy and too riddled with corruption scandals to govern Asia's third-largest economy effectively.
Protests spread in support of Hazare, a long-time social activist who dresses in a trademark white kurta, white cap and spectacles in the style of independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
Students gathered near India Gate in New Delhi to voice their support for the activist.
"If you are thinking that Anna Hazare is old, if you think he will die tomorrow and if something happens to him then about 10,000 Anna Hazare will be born," said Deepak, a college student.
Demonstrations are part of daily life in the towns and cities of India, a country of 1.2 billion people made up of a myriad of castes, religions and classes. But spontaneous and widespread protests are rare, and the scale of this week's outpouring of public fury has taken the government by surprise. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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