Govt says went by the book, ready always to talk to Hazare

New Delhi The government on Tuesday took tough measures against Anna Hazare while simultaneously underscoring that it was never undemocratic in its actions and had tried to be as accommodative as possible.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said the pre-emptive police action against Team Anna was resorted to after they refused to comply with restrictions imposed by the Delhi Police.

Along with his two colleagues who are part of the Group of Ministers on media, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni and HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Chidambaram sought to rebuff any impression that the UPA government was trying to muzzle the voice of civil society. His argument was that they had been reasonable in giving Hazare a chance to not only proceed with his programme but also to accommodate his standpoint on the Lokpal Bill.

There was a distinctive change in the government’s approach towards Hazare, which made no personal attacks against the activist, compared to the discordant note struck by the party a couple of days ago. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari had then pointed to corruption charges against Hazare.

Senior ministers had informally disapproved of such criticism, with Rahul Gandhi agreeing with the perception that “Anna cannot be equated with Ramdev”. For the second day today, Rahul held discussions with senior UPA ministers, Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram and Kamal Nath, on the Hazare crisis.

“We are with Anna Hazare on the issue of corruption,” Chidambaram said at a press conference. “But nowhere in the world is protest allowed without any conditions. If anyone is not satisfied, they can take legal recourse.”

The government maintained it had tried to reach out to Hazare on Monday but could not do so, and that the three of them had no hesitation engaging with him even now. “The chairperson of the standing committee looking into the Lokpal Bill has invited Team Anna for another round of discussions,” said Chidambaram.

“There is no way we can allow Parliament’s right to frame laws to be taken away,” Chidambaram said. “If laws are not to be made by Parliament but by some social activists in a maidan — however well-meaning they may be — they are beyond my comprehension.”

While “right to protest is a Constitutional right”, there were also a constitutional responsibility that the government had to fulfil, Sibal said.

The three ministers suggested that the Team Anna initiative was not entirely a spontaneous one and that they might have political backing from the BJP. “The movement is well thought out,” Soni said. Sibal pointed to media reports that Kiran Bedi was accompanied by two BJP councillors.