Police use Gandhian methods to tackle Hazare supporters

New Delhi: It was not just Gandhian Anna Hazare urging his supporters to use non-violent methods of protest, Delhi Police were also resorting to 'Gandhian' ways to manage the thousands of Hazare supporters gathered outside Tihar Jail and Chhatrasal Stadium here Wednesday.

"The anti-riot force and police deputed are unarmed. We have also asked them to handle protesters politely," Deputy Commissioner of Police BS Jaiswal told IANS.

The police personnel, numbering in thousands, have been deployed unarmed and told to exercise maximum restraint in handling supporters of Hazare who is in Tihar Jail.

The cops have also taken several measures to keep at bay a 'Ramlila Maidan-like situation'.

The reference is to a June 5 swoop by Delhi Police on the supporters of Baba Ramdev a little past midnight when the cops fired tear gas shells and resorted to lathicharge on the people to end the yoga guru's day-old hunger strike on the black money issue.

The supporters of Hazare, who were detained from Jai Prakash Naryan Park, Raj Ghat and Pragati Maidan, were requested politely to make a queue and board the police vans. Then they were dropped off at Chhatrasal Stadium and Burari in north Delhi.

Anna Hazare still in Tihar Jail, driving a hard bargain with police

New Delhi: As evening fell upon Delhi, rush hour saw hundreds of people gathering in different parts of the Capital in support of Anna Hazare, the activist who is still in Tihar Jail after being arrested last morning.

At India Gate, nearly 5,000 marched in the second candelight vigil at this location in 24 hours, stating simply "Anna, hum tumhaara saath hain (we are with you, Anna)." The crowd of hundreds of people outside Tihar Jail was more boisterous, roaring each time word spread that the government was negotiating new terms for the mass-protest against corruption that Mr Hazare wants to hold in Delhi. As the hours passed, the police conceded more ground. Mr Hazare knows his arrest and the overwhelming public support for him has given him considerable leverage. So when the police offered him Ramlila Maidan as a new venue, he accepted; when he was asked to limit his protest's duration to 15 days, he did not. Sources say Team Anna wants the right to protest for a month.

"We are not worried, we will find a way out of this", said the Prime Minister outside his home this afternoon. However, the decision to have Mr Hazare arrested has proved to be near-catastrophic for the government. Dr Manmohan Singh's statement in Parliament this morning explaining the background to the arrest failed to placate either the Opposition or the public. The consensus is that Mr Hazare's right to hold a peaceful protest was violated.

Mr Hazare was allowed by the Delhi Police to leave jail last night, about 12 hours after he was arrested. But he turned down the offer to head out of Tihar, insisting that he wants the government to first agree that his hunger strike will not be interrupted or his protest checked as long as it remains peaceful.

Through the day, the 74-year-old who has become the totem of a people's movement against corruption consulted with his closest aides within prison. Among his visitors were spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and civil rights activist Swami Agnivesh. Outside, among the crowd, popular yoga guru Baba Ramdev, was seen standing atop a car.

Mr Hazare's hunger strike began last morning. Since then, he has had only water. Doctors have been examining him in prison.

The war between the government and Mr Hazare centres on the Lokpal Bill introduced in Parliament last week. The bill is meant to provide an antidote to the seemingly limitless corruption among politicians, bureaucrats and judges. Mr Hazare says the government has betrayed India by drafting a bill that has no intention of seriously and objectively investigating charges of venality. The BJP's Arun Jaitley stressed in Parliament that while his party has vast differences with Mr Hazare's suggestions for the bill, it does not agree with the "government-appointed Lokpal" that the current bill provides for.

Like yesterday, the public support for Mr Hazare played out in different cities. In Bangalore, Freedom Park saw thousands of protestors. Mumbai's Azad Maidan was also filled during the day with supporters of Anna.