BeyondHeadlines

Tag: yoga guru

  • There Are Enough Laws to Tackle Black Money; Parliament Cannot Take Dictation From Self-Appoi​nted Crusaders: Union Commerce and Industry Minister

    There Are Enough Laws to Tackle Black Money; Parliament Cannot Take Dictation From Self-Appoi​nted Crusaders: Union Commerce and Industry Minister

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Making an attempt to rescue the government from the nationwide reaction on the crackdown of Baba Ramdev, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said yesterday that there were enough laws to tackle black money and that Parliament could not take a dictation from self-appointed crusaders.

    Talking to The Indian Express yesterday, Sharma said, “There are enough laws to tackle ill gotten money — be it from money laundering, crime or drug trafficking. The government’s actions so far were only to defuse the tension.”

    The minister admitted that such events did result in a negative projection of India in international forums. “But, our global partners will surely see through the political agenda,” Sharma said. “India has a rule-based governance system. Such decisions cannot be made in the streets and chowks.”

    The issue of black money is complex and the government is seriously addressing it. “We have signed agreements with a large number of countries including the Bahamas, Channel Islands, Switzerland. India is also part of the international task force set up on this issue by the G-20. The government is sincere and committed to tackling the black money issue,” he said.

    Sharma said in his meeting with industry captains in the two cities, there was general concern about these self-appointed activists being unelected and unaccountable to any institution. “There are issues that need to be taken care of through legislation. There is a clear political agenda behind orchestrating such events,” he said.

    In a press statement earlier in the evening, he claimed that developments in the recent weeks to project India as a country of scams and corruption were part of a diabolic and sinister political agenda. “The coercive attempts to hold the state to ransom and dictate to Parliament in discharge of its sovereign function have no place in democracy,” he said.

    According to him, Ramdev’s agitation was a coalition of a partisan political agenda and political forces rejected by democratic processes in recent elections. “Hiding behind the mask were communalist and fascist forces — Bajrang Dal, RSS and VHP which had at their heart an aim to destabilise Indian polity.”

  • Ramdev Row: Hazare to Launch One-Day Nationwide Hunger Strike on June 8, His Team to Boycott Joint Committee Meeting to Draft Lokpal Bill

    BeyondHeadlines Staff Reporter

    New Delhi: Veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare has made his stand on the Lokpal Bill all the more tougher following the forceful eviction of Baba Ramdev from Delhi’s Ramlila Ground. Although the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in the centre made so far made several efforts to give explanations in support of the early morning of June 5 crackdown  on the yoga guru, Hazare is no more ready to soften his stand calling the government’s intention to curb corruption “suspect.”

    His group, which comprises of RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal, former IPS Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, former Union law Minister Shanti Bhusham, among others, has decided to boycott the meetings of the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill till the government come clear on some of the key issues related to that proposed legislation. It also announced its decision to observe a one-day nationwide hunger strike on June 8 to protest against the government’s action against Ramdev and threatened to re-launch its agitation at Jantar Mantar if the government continued to dither on taking anti-corruption measures.

    Addressing the media, Hazare said: “We are writing a letter to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee raising certain issues on the Lokpal Bill. We have already made our stand clear on these issues. We would like the government to also state where it stands. After we receive the government’s response, we will decide whether any useful purpose can be served by our attending the committee meetings.”

    In addition, the group said it would attend future meetings of the joint committee only if they were telecast live.

    The next meeting of the 10-member joint committee is scheduled for today. Hazare and four of his colleagues — Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Santosh Hegde and Arvind Kejriwal — are the non-government representatives on the panel that also has five ministers as members. Pranab Mukherjee and Shanti Bhushan are the co-chairs of the committee that has given itself until June 30 to draft a strong legislation to set up the office of Lokpal. The panel, which was constituted in response to an agitation launched by Hazare, has had three meetings so far.

    “The government has been trying to crush the anti-corruption movement. We have therefore decided not to attend the joint committee meetings,” Hazare said.

    Shanti Bhushan went to the extent of demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers for the crackdown on Ramdev. He said the action was reminiscent of the Emergency years and sought an explanation from the Prime Minister on the reasons that provoked the police assault.

    Interestingly, the belligerent stand of the Hazare group came on a day when its version of the Lokpal Bill came under sharp attack from a number of prominent civil society voices, including former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court A P Shah and former BSF director general Prakash Singh.

    At a debate organised by the Foundation for Media Professionals, these independent voices tore into the stringent provisions being proposed in the Lokpal Bill by Hazare and his colleagues, saying investing the office of the Lokpal with extraordinary powers to investigate, prosecute and act as a judge would be counter-productive.

    “Let us not draw a legislation that can be challenged on the grounds that it is violative of the basic structure of the Constitution. It would be wrong to assume that the Lokpal in itself would be able to change the world. Please do not overload the Lokpal with so much work that it gets crushed under its own responsibility and public expectations,” Prakash Singh said.

    Environmental lawyer and social activist Usha Ramanathan said the kind of powers that are envisaged to be given to the Lokpal would invariably corrupt the institution, a view echoed by A P Shah as well. Shah favoured the exclusion of judiciary from the purview of the Lokpal.

  • Govt Justifies Action Against Ramdev; Says No Further Talks

    Govt Justifies Action Against Ramdev; Says No Further Talks

    Digvijay calls him a Thug, Lalu a front for RSS

    BeyondHeadlines  News Desk

    New Delhi: The government on Sunday ruled out any further talks with the Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev.

    Union Minister Subodh Kant Sahay, who was negotiating with Swami Ramdev, said, “There is nothing left to discuss…Whatever talks had to happen have already happened.”

    Kapil Sibal, made it clear that the police action had the backing of the gocernment and the ruling Congress party. He said, “No such action takes place without 100 per cent unity in the government and the party.”

    File photo of Swami Ramdev

    Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal justified government’s action and said that it became necessary to maintain law and order and was “not a crackdown.” He said, “Didn’t see reason and the government had to act.”

    Sibal added, “It was not a yoga platform but a political platform.”

    There has been furore in the political circle after the late night drama at the Ramlila Maidan, when Ramdev was detained and later packed to Haridwar. BJP, RSS, Shiv Sena and several civil rights activists, including justice Santosh hedge have called it violations of fundamental rights.

    BJP is even planning its own Satyagrah now.

    Congress leader Digvijay Singh called justified the government action and called Swami Ramdev a thug. He said, “Permission was given for the yoga shivir, but he started a hunger strike, which is against the rules. Therefore, the police took action.”

    He further added that Ramdev has been “duping people for ages and now he wanted to fool the government.”

    RJD leader Lalu Prasad too echoed him. He told reporters, “This is not how a sadhu should speak. The most dangerous thing is that the RSS is using the Baba as a front for its activities. They are trying to push him forward.”

    He also raised the issue of sharing of dais by Sadhvi Rithambhara, one of the accused in the Babarai demolition case.

    While the left parties maintained restrained and blamed the government for the mess and not taking all parties in confidence in dealing with Anna Hazare and Ramdev.

     

  • Happening at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan Was the Darkest Night of My Life: Ramdev

    Happening at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan Was the Darkest Night of My Life: Ramdev

    BeyondHeadlines  News Desk

    New Delhi: Baba Ramdev arrived at his Patanjali ashram in Hardwar this afternoon dressed in white, as reported by NDTV. He looked wan and weary as he recounted events leading up to his eviction from Delhi. He also made clear that his hunger-strike was still on.

    The yoga icon was evicted from Delhi after midnight police action and scenes of violence at the site of his hunger strike. The Baba spent last night in the protection of the Delhi Police and was flown out from the Palam airport this morning. He has been served an externment order and cannot enter Delhi, though he is free to travel anywhere else in the country.

    Baba Ramdev described last night’s happening at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan as the “darkest night of my life.” He said he had not seen such atrocities before. “The police force 5000-10,000 in number, did not even spare the smallest children. Women and children were dragged and beaten up.”

    File photo of Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan

    He broke down as he described how he wept and told “cops to stop misbehaving with women supporters”, but to no avail, he said. Baba Ramdev, who initially escaped the police dressed as a woman, said he was not dressed in a white salwar-kurta because he wanted to and described how he spent hours hidden among women.

     

    The government, he said, had betrayed him. “They said they would declare black money as national assets, find out where it was stashed and would bring it back.” Top ministers negotiating with him on behalf of the government he said, had asked him to abandon his fast first saying he would get a written assurance that his demands would be met. But when that letter came, he said, it made no mention of his primary demand.

    He singled out senior minister Kapil Sibal as “the most scheming man ever.”

    Very late last night, the externment of the tremendously popular leader was preceded by the Delhi police using a lathi charge and tear gas shells on his supporters at the Ramlila Maidan, which had served all day as a sort of Capital city for the yoga icon and his mass movement against the government.

    Section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed at the Ramlila Grounds to prevent people from gathering there.

    The government has justified the late night eviction of the Baba saying he had violated permission granted for a yoga gathering. Senior minister Kapil Sibal said Baba Ramdev had given permission for a yoga camp for 5000 people but when over 50,000 people descended on the capital’s Ramlila ground, the government “couldn’t allow law and order to be disrupted.”

    Baba Ramdev’s stage, Mr Sibal said, had become one for “political asanas” and “not yoga asanas.”

    Pillai said that the government did not fear any backlash, as no action had been taken against Baba Ramdev save the externment.

    But the police action at the Ramlila Maidan has been compared to the Emergency by other civil society activists like Shanti Bushan. Others like Swami Agnivesh said that because the Baba’s supporters had been largely peaceful, the police has violated basic democratic rights. “The government should resign,” said Mr Bhushan.

    On the other side of the argument, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has used strong words calling Baba Ramdev “a thug who is misleading the nation…We can’t allow someone like Ramdev to run riot in Delhi. He had permission only to run a yoga camp. He was trying to incite people.” Singh has spoken frequently this week against the Baba and his attempts to force the government to launch a mission to recover crores of black money from foreign bank accounts.

    Late-night drama at Ramlila Grounds

    At 1 am, close to 600 policemen arrived at Ramlila Maidan to demand that the crowd of 60,000 supporters disperse. Their argument was that the gathering had been granted permission only for a yoga camp and not as a mass demonstration.

    A group of policemen trooped onto the stage, reportedly after some people threw stones at them. The Baba asked them to go away. He then leapt from his stage, his saffron robes fanning out behind him, into the crowd of supporters. Seated on a follower’s shoulders, the Baba then delivered a lengthy speech, waving his fist in the air. Finally, the police managed to get to him.

    At 2 am, teargas shells were launched upon the thousands of people who were present, allegedly in an attempt to force the crowds to leave the grounds. A small fire broke out on the stage that had been used by the Baba but fortunately, it did not spread.

    At 5.30 am, the Baba was evicted from Delhi and moved to his ashram in Haridwar.

    Government sources say that the Baba was detained for just a few minutes.

    The Baba and the government had hit the collision course at around 9 pm with both sides accusing each other of betrayal. Baba Ramdev said the government had falsely assured him that it would meet his charter of demands that include recovering black money held abroad by Indians and declaring it a national asset. The government in turn said that the Baba had in writing promised even before he began his fast that it would end early last evening. The implication was that unknown to his supporters, the government and the yoga icon had struck a secret deal. Stung, the Baba accused the government of lying and said the gloves were coming off.

    Another letter from the government was then sent to him assuring him that the government was serious about following up on his demands. The letter appealed again for the Baba to end his hunger strike.

    Baba Ramdev has been the government’s top priority this week – top ministers spent hours meeting with him to persuade him that his “satyagraha against corruption” should not be launched because the government was willing to work with him to address his concerns.

    Several rounds of talks-including those on Friday- were followed by reports that a compromise had been reached. But late on Friday evening, after meeting with senior ministers Kapil Sibal and Subodh Kant Sahay at the Claridges Hotel in Delhi, the Baba returned to Ramlila Maidan and told a crowd of thousands that his fast would begin as planned on Saturday. He said his movement would be non- violent and that he would fast “till the end.”

  • Gujarat CM Modi Says Prime Minister Singh Responsible for Crack Down on Ramdev

    Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today held Prime Minister Manmohan Singh responsible for the police action on Baba Ramdev and his followers at the Ramlila ground in New Delhi.

    Condemning the incident as the worst day in the history of India, Modi lambasted the Congress-led UPA government for being behind the lathi-charge on innocent people.

    “I would like to tell Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that you cannot escape by saying that you did not know. You are directly responsible for what has happened at the Ramlila ground in Delhi,” Modi said while inaugurating a new dental college in Khokhara area here.

    “The PM had said during the elections that he would bring back black money stashed in Swiss banks within 100 days of coming into power. But today it is two years and nothing has happened,” Modi said

    “Congress will have to answer 120 crore people of India about the use of violence on innocent people,” he said.

  • Shiv Sena Terms Police Action Against Yoga Guru UPA Govt’s ‘Shaitani Raj’

    BeyondHeadlines Staff Reporter

    Mumbai: Terming the yoga guru’s forcible eviction from Ramlila grounds as shameful, Shiv Sena today condemned the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev.

    Shiv Sena spokesperson Neelam Gorhe said: “It is shocking that those who were doing peaceful agitation were beaten up and their pandal was vandalized.”

    “We express strong condemnation of the UPA government’s ‘shaitani raj,’ she said.

    With talks with the government breaking down, police swooped down on Baba Ramdev and his supporters a little after midnight and removed him from the scene after using tear gas shells and resorted to lathicharge on his supporters to end his day-old indefinite hunger-strike on black money issue.

    Ramdev was flown to Dehradun from Delhi by a special plane today.

  • 2G Scam: Shahid Balwa to Disclose Before JPC

    2G Scam: Shahid Balwa to Disclose Before JPC

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: In a new twist to the 2G spectrum allocation controversy, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa – a co-accused in the case- has expressed his desire to depose before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the matter, reports claimed Wednesday.

    Shahid Usman Balwa is said to have written a letter to the JPC seeking permission to depose before the panel and testify in connection with the high profile case.

    “In the interest of the investigation, I should be called to depose before the JPC. I request you (JPC) to consider my request to depose before the panel at the earliest and at a time of your convenience,” Balwa was quoted as saying in the letter.

    Balwa’s testimony is likely to complicate things for the Congress-led UPA government, which is already fighting to control the damage caused due to the scam, which as per the Comptroller and Auditor General of India caused a loss of Rs 1.77 lakhs crore to the exchequer.

    As per other reports, Balwa may turn approver in the spectrum scam case , which may lead to the revealing of new names in the case.

    Shahid Balwa, director of DB Realty, had floated Swan Telecom, which was a beneficiary of 2G spectrum allocation. It is alleged that Balwa, due to his proximity to then telecom minister A Raja, managed to win 13 of the 22 2G licences across India.

    On May 24, a special CBI court rejected the bail plea of Shahid Balwa.

    Special CBI Judge O P Saini, exclusively dealing with the 2G case, also dismissed the bail pleas of Balwa’s cousin, Asif Balwa and Rajeev Aggarwal, accused of facilitating Rs 200 crore bribe to Kalaignar TV in which DMK MP Kanimozhi holds 20 percent share.

    Asif Balwa and Rajeev Agarwal are directors of Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables Pvt Ltd in which Shahid Balwa also holds a stake.

    Shahid Balwa is currently lodged in Tihar Jail along with A Raja and other accused.

  • PM Calls For Upgradatio​n of Safety Measures at India’s Nuclear Facilities

    PM Calls For Upgradatio​n of Safety Measures at India’s Nuclear Facilities

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today calls for upgradation of safety measures at the India’s nuclear facilities to match the global standards as he reviewed the disaster preparedness in the wake of recent radiation scare in Japan.

    At a special meeting here, he asked the authorities concerned to look ‘beyond design basis accident’ while putting in place the safety measures at the nuclear installations.

    Singh took stock of the safety measures being undertaken by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

    He directed DAE and AERB to “upgrade the safety measures in the light of the Fukushima experience (of Japan) and look at Beyond Design Basis Accident”, the home ministry said in a statement.

    The meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was informed about the various procedures put in place in terms of prevention, detection and response to the atomic disasters.

    The meeting is understood to have discussed installation of hi-tech gadgets to detect radiation and fast-tracking of creation of additional battalions of disaster response force.

    “Our nuclear plants are safe. There are many in-built mechanisms in the nuclear sites to avoid any disaster. The Prime Minister is fully satisfied about the safety facilities. However, we have to take more steps to strengthen our preparedness to deal with any emergency,” NDMA vice chairman M Shashidhar Reddy said at a press conference later.

  • BJP to Hold National Executive Meeting in Lucknow

    BJP to Hold National Executive Meeting in Lucknow

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    Lucknow: The Bhartiya Janta Party would be holding its national executive meet in the politically most crucial state of Uttar Pradesh after a five year gap. It comes just ahead of the assembly elections due in April 2012, with the party grappling with the erosion of its votebank and looking for relevance in the state polity.

    Despite numerous experiments and attempts at caste groupings, the leadership has failed to revive either the votebank or the cadres and emerge as a contendor for power in the vast state. Figuring at the top of the leaderships mind would be send a distinct message that it would no longer seek any sort of alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party of Mayawati.

    The national executive of the party would be held from 3 to 5 May which would be attended by a galaxy of its top leaders including LK Advani, President Nitin Gadkrai, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and all its Chief Ministers.
    The timing is especially important as the party would look to set the agenda and its strategy for the UP elections which are only a few months away.

    The state unit of the BJP under the newly appointed chief Surya Pratap Sahi has been trying to activate the cadre by extensively touring the state and attacking the Mayawati government on major issues. But with the past experience of BJP-BSP alliances the party is trying hard to dispel the image of it having enough of Mayawati.

    One of the foremost agenda of the national executive meet would be to convey once and for all that the BJP would no longer seek to have an alliance with the BSP whether pre-poll or post poll.

    The frequent alliances with the BSP had hurt the BJP cadres and a disillusioned upper caste votebank drifted away from the saffron party. With Mayawati engineering social grouping of Dalit and Brahmins in support of her party in the 2007 assembly elections, the BJP was left counting its losses.

    Ever since though the party leaders have been saying that they would never enter into an alliance with BSP ever again, it has failed to convince its cadres and votebase. The three day national executive meet would seek to bury this issue so that the party can woo back its vote base and also reach out at those leaders who are disillusioned or have left the party.

    Firebrand Uma Bharti whose return to the BJP has been talked about is also likely to figure during internal confabulations. With the Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley differences cropping up again recently eyes would be on them too.

    Also the ticket distribution strategy for UP would be chalked out so that the party candidates can gear up for the polls in advance.

  • Govt Failed to Pursue Ramdev Not to Sit on Hunger Strike

    Govt Failed to Pursue Ramdev Not to Sit on Hunger Strike

    BeyondHeadlines News Desk

    New Delhi: Despite using all its persuasive might, the government on Wednesday failed to convince Baba Ramdev to call-off his planned fast on the issue of corruption.

    In an unprecedented step, senior ministers led by Pranab Mukherjee, met Ramdev at the Delhi airport, upon his arrival in the city, and discussed his demands for more than two hours but they failed to cut much ice with the yoga guru.

    Besides Pranab, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay were present during the meeting.

    Briefing reporters after the talks, a tight-lipped Kapil Sibal said, “We met Ramdevji today. The conversations carried on for 2 ½ hours. He raised a lot of important issues which impact future of the country. We listened to him and prima facie responded to him.”

    “We have agreed that we would be meeting each other and carry on with the dialogue in the next couple of days. “

    When specifically asked whether the government has been able to convince Ramdev against his fast-unto-death, Sibal had only this to say: “This is all I wish to say at this moment.”

    However, Ramdev was much more forthcoming about what transpired at the meeting. Most importantly he announced that the plan to sit on fast from June 4 stands unchanged and that people would participate in it from all districts of the country.

    Stressing that his fight is not against any individual or party, Ramdev said that there has been agreement with the government on certain issues but it can be of any consequence only if the government takes constructive steps.

    The yoga guru turned anti-corruption crusader has been demanding that Rs 400 lakh crore of black money stashed abroad be brought back and declared as a national asset. Ramdev who is also a strong votary of an effective Lokpal Bill argues life term and death sentence for the corrupt. In addition, he demands change in the electoral system. The yoga guru wants the PM be elected directly by the people.

    Ramdev also demanded that a new Public services guarantee Act be enacted to curb corruption. He also wants the setting up of special fast-track courts at the Centre as well as the states to ensure speedy trial in corruption cases.

    Yesterday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had written a letter to Ramdev, appealing to not go on fast but the yoga guru rejected the request.