The Delhi Police have given a conditional permission to Team Anna to hold the proposed fast at the Jayaprakash Narayan National Park in Central Delhi for a maximum of three days beginning August 16, subject to its submitting an undertaking to meet all the 22 listed restrictions.
Noting that the conditions imposed on Team Anna were of a general nature — which every protesting group had to adhere to — the Delhi Police said Anna Hazare and his team had been offered Burari in North Delhi as a venue but they turned it down on the grounds that it was too far off and lacked proper connectivity.
The police have sought an assurance from the Team that the fast would be started at 8 a.m. on August 16 and the park would be vacated by 6 p.m. on August 18. The other condition is that the gathering not exceed 5,000 people and the participants are seated in an organised manner and do not spill out on to the roads.
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Team Anna has also been asked to ensure that only a maximum of 50 cars and 50 two-wheelers are parked in the available space around the venue and the remaining buses, trucks and cars are parked along Mata Sundari Road and other places earmarked for the undertaking.
The Delhi Police, which had themselves recommended Jayaprakash Narayan National Park, as the venue for the protest are now claiming that they did not know initially that there were court orders that parks should not be used for “such purposes”. They are also insisting that Maulana Azad Medical College authorities and area residents have raised objections on giving permission for an indefinite fast in the park.
The police letter to Team Anna states: “We have now been advised that the proposed venue cannot be allotted beyond one or two days due to legal and administrative constraints. We shall try to persuade the land-owning agency to extend this period by another day.”
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Another condition is that government medical officers “examine the persons participating in the fast at least three times a day and their recommendations regarding an individual's removal to hospital for medical care shall be final”.
The police said the participants would not carry lathis, firearms, spears, swords and other articles likely to be used as a weapon of offence.
The undertaking states that “no participant shall make provocative speeches or use language calculated or likely to inflame passions of the crowd or incite them or promote enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc. or act in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between such groups that disturbed public tranquillity.”
The police have instructed the organisers to ensure that vehicular flow is not obstructed anywhere. Team Anna has also been told to ensure that there is no damage to public property, assault on government servants and that no inflammatory slogans are raised within 200 metres of any place of religious worship.
The organisers have also been directed to make arrangements for drinking water, first-aid, mobile toilets, adequate lighting and deployment of a sufficient number of volunteers for crowd regulation and security.