The Hazare team came out in open support for Baba Ramdev on Sunday, putting their differences aside.
Speaking in Delhi, Hazare accused the government of throttling democracy, and said civil society would launch protests throughout the country to "teach government a lesson" .
"There might have been some faults with Baba Ramdev's agitation but at midnight , beating up people - women, children and elderly - is a blot on democracy,'' Hazare said. He announced that he would sit on a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on June 8.
Earlier, the Hazare and Ramdev camps appeared to have drifted away for a number of reasons stretching from genuine differences of opinion on issues to the presence of RSS-leaning figures in the Ramdev camp to the desire to take control of the antigraft campaign.
In fact, government's moves to indulge Ramdev capped by the red carpet rolled out for him on Thursday when four Cabinet ministers turned up at the airport to receive him had led to apprehension that the yoga guru was being promoted as a counterweight to Hazare campaign.
The newly-forged unity among civil society means that the government will now have to contend with a stronger opposition on its contentious proposal to keep the PM and higher judiciary outside the jurisdiction of the proposed Lokpal bill. There is a possibility that Baba, so far ambivalent on whether PM should be within the purview of Lokpal, may now support the Hazare group. Ironically, the police operation has salvaged Ramdev's credibility which was under scrutiny after government claimed that he had already cut a deal before launching on a fast.
Keeping civil society engaged is helpful for the government to argue that it has been sensitive to the anti-corruption sentiments.
Its hopes of roping in other components of the political class to form a bloc against civil society are also unlikely to materialize with major political parties - BJP , Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP and JD(U) - all condemning the police action as reminiscent of repression during the Emergency of 1975. The sole exception was Lalu Prasad: hardly the poster boy for integrity in public life.
The police operation was cleared by government leaders at5 pm on Saturday following the recognition that Baba was not going to call off his protest soon. It was executed efficiently, with Delhi Police managing to clear the camp site of protesters with maximum restraint. There was no lathi charge, while a few protesters suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to hospital.
Ramdev was flown to Dehradun in a BSF plane which had been kept on standby.
But the footage of firing of teargas shells and panicstricken women and elderly running for cover relentlessly playing out on TV screens pointed to the risk of government having to pay a political cost. Being the incumbent and handicapped by scams on its watch, it was already the principal target of the antigraft campaign. Any resentment over the midnight raid on Baba's camp will add to the disadvantage. The risk is real considering that details of the 2G and CWG scam are still pouring out.
Speaking in Delhi, Hazare accused the government of throttling democracy, and said civil society would launch protests throughout the country to "teach government a lesson" .
"There might have been some faults with Baba Ramdev's agitation but at midnight , beating up people - women, children and elderly - is a blot on democracy,'' Hazare said. He announced that he would sit on a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on June 8.
Earlier, the Hazare and Ramdev camps appeared to have drifted away for a number of reasons stretching from genuine differences of opinion on issues to the presence of RSS-leaning figures in the Ramdev camp to the desire to take control of the antigraft campaign.
In fact, government's moves to indulge Ramdev capped by the red carpet rolled out for him on Thursday when four Cabinet ministers turned up at the airport to receive him had led to apprehension that the yoga guru was being promoted as a counterweight to Hazare campaign.
The newly-forged unity among civil society means that the government will now have to contend with a stronger opposition on its contentious proposal to keep the PM and higher judiciary outside the jurisdiction of the proposed Lokpal bill. There is a possibility that Baba, so far ambivalent on whether PM should be within the purview of Lokpal, may now support the Hazare group. Ironically, the police operation has salvaged Ramdev's credibility which was under scrutiny after government claimed that he had already cut a deal before launching on a fast.
Keeping civil society engaged is helpful for the government to argue that it has been sensitive to the anti-corruption sentiments.
Its hopes of roping in other components of the political class to form a bloc against civil society are also unlikely to materialize with major political parties - BJP , Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP and JD(U) - all condemning the police action as reminiscent of repression during the Emergency of 1975. The sole exception was Lalu Prasad: hardly the poster boy for integrity in public life.
The police operation was cleared by government leaders at5 pm on Saturday following the recognition that Baba was not going to call off his protest soon. It was executed efficiently, with Delhi Police managing to clear the camp site of protesters with maximum restraint. There was no lathi charge, while a few protesters suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to hospital.
Ramdev was flown to Dehradun in a BSF plane which had been kept on standby.
But the footage of firing of teargas shells and panicstricken women and elderly running for cover relentlessly playing out on TV screens pointed to the risk of government having to pay a political cost. Being the incumbent and handicapped by scams on its watch, it was already the principal target of the antigraft campaign. Any resentment over the midnight raid on Baba's camp will add to the disadvantage. The risk is real considering that details of the 2G and CWG scam are still pouring out.
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