Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda has criticised the Delhi police’s midnight swoop on Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev and his “peaceful and non-violent” protesters at the Ramlila ground here in the wee hours of Sunday.
In a statement here on Monday, Mr.Gowda said he was deeply hurt after seeing the television footage of the police action. “While one may or may not agree on Baba’s demands or the merits of the religious leaders raising political issues with overt and covert support of the vested interests, the senseless violence against his supporters, barely days after according him a hero’s welcome at the Delhi airport by senior cabinet ministers, was avoidable and undesirable.”
Corruption had become an undeniable fact in Indian life and people had a right to raise their voice against it, irrespective of whether it was in Delhi or Bangalore. Any attempt to muzzle such voices either by the Centre or the State governments would be detrimental to the interests of democracy and the constitutional rights in the country.
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Mr.Gowda appealed to the Centre to give a patient hearing to the demands of the civil society, including Mr. Anna Hazare and his colleagues, and make sincere efforts to address the people’s concerns on the ever growing malaise of corruption which was eating into the very vitals of the country.
He indirectly had a dig at the BJP vis-à-vis its Karnataka government, led by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, by asking all the political parties and the governments not to have different yardsticks on the issues of corruption and democratic rights and values.
NHRC: Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has issued notices, returnable in two weeks, to the Union Home Secretary, Delhi Chief Secretary and City Police Commissioner seeking reports on the police action at the Ramlila ground.
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The reports should contain the reasons for resorting to such an action in the midnight, number of persons injured in the incident and the proposal, if any, to compensate them, and the number of persons missing after the incident and steps taken to trace them out.
The Commission took cognisance of the incident based on the media reports and complaints received from the victims.