No wonder that civil society has begun to assert itself aggressively to an extent that it has thrown up in the process Anna Hazares and Baba Ramdevs to torment a Government reduced to the status of a defendant answerable for its “guilts”. If only its own record was without blemish, UPA-II could have stood up for what is right and communicated a credible action programme to the nation over the heads of agitators, played up 24/7 by recklessly competing electronic media. For its part, Government should always keep the doors open for its adversaries and those with a cause to propagate and make credible responses.

In the aftermath of activist Mr Anna Hazare’s fast, which had evoked a Governmental response with mounting civil society pressure, a sense of urgency had been imparted to the proposed Lok Pal bill, and the drafting committee was at its work, despite differences over the contents of the bill. Here the Government rightly ignored the imputation of motives by Mr Hazare and his supporters and their questioning its bona fides about coming up with a law which would be effective not excluding jurisdiction over the Prime Minister and other VIPs.

But then the yoga guru, Baba Ramdev, who seemed to have initially been going along with Mr Hazare, developed his own plan of action ostensibly with a fast to confront the Government on the issue of illegal wealth stashed abroad but also with many other inchoate ideas to bargain for, in short a political agenda. Certainly, he exploited his mass appeal, assiduously fostered by the electronic media, to organize a massive demonstration of support on Delhi’s Ramlila grounds.

While the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, even before his arrival in Delhi, had offered to explain and convince him of what all Government was considering and could do further to get at the bottom of “black money” – of a magnitude beyond measurable estimates - Baba Ramdev appeared to be in no mood to discuss calmly, in the spirit of a peaceful activist. Government also announced a programme of actions taken or being considered to deal with issues of corruption and black money and the commissioning of studies on the latter.

A group of ministers deputed by the Prime Minister was positioned to meet the Baba as he arrived in Delhi a couple of days ahead of his announced fast and hold discussions with him the steps taken and what all Government could do further in combating corruption. In the midst of these negotiations with Ministers, Baba Ramdev began his fast on June 4 before the huge congregation and surrounding himself with sadhu-like figures in saffron robes with many identified with the Sangh Parivar. The BJP lost no time to extend its “moral support” to the fast against corruption.

Strangely, the fast was by no means a solemn affair as the Baba with his gesticulations and frequent observations struck to a political agenda, maintaining an air of defiance throughout the day as exchanges were taking place between him and the ministers. By late night, the negotiations seemed finally to have yielded a positive outcome on his main demand of Government issuing an ordinance to declare hidden wealth as national asset but apparently it was not acceptable to the yoga guru with his wider agenda.

But what set alarm bells ringing was the manner in which the rapid action force of police was deployed past midnight(in the early hours of June 5) to disperse the huge crowd of men, women and children, and remove the Baba out of Delhi by flying him to Dehra Dun. While Government suspected his political motives in the manner of his putting forth demands and organizing a mammoth crowd, the police action turned out to be blatant display of brute force, with lathis rained on innocent people and firing of tear gas shells, causing injuries to scores of people, some so serious as to be shifted to intense care units in hospitals.

Having allowed Baba Ramdev to collect his followers by thousands in the first instance, the authorities should have acted judiciously to bring to an end what was increasingly becoming a political drama of mass proportions. They could have thrown a cordon around the dais to take into custody yogi Ramdev and remove him from the scene and then called on the people to disperse. Police would have been justified to enforce law and order if the crowd in protest had begun to indulge in violence.

Government’s crackdown has raised a storm of protests throughout the country and the opposition political parties charged UPA with “murder of democracy” while the BJP, ever struggling to recover lost political ground, has spared no words to condemn UPA’s “naked fascism” and took a deputation to the President to call for an emergency session of Parliament session to discuss the developments.

What is even more galling for the Government is intervention by the Supreme Court which, taking suo moto cognizance of the incidents, has issued notices to the Union of India, Home Secretary, Delhi Administration and the Delhi Police Commissioner to submit their explanations within two weeks. The National Human Rights Commission is also seized of the bizarre events on Ram Lila grounds. Mr Anna Hazare, who had kept distance from Baba Ramdev’s fast, announced he would go on a one-day fast in on June 8 in protest against the treatment meted out to him and Mr Hazare and his group boycotted a scheduled joint panel meeting of the Drafting Committee of the Lok Pal Bill on June 6.

The 46-year old yoga guru, who till the other day appeared to be essentially a yoga-centred spiritualist, is now revealed to be a high-flier with some overseas assets including ownership of an island stretch off the coast of Scotland, according to newspaper reports quoting sources in the Finance Ministry. His overseas assets would become taxable when the Direct Taxes Code comes into force. Police had flown him to Dehra Dun on Sunday morning (June 5) from where he reached his Haridwar ashram to continue with his fast.

UPA-II after a series of core meetings would have concluded that it must begin to assert authority over Baba Ramdev, given its own assessment of the developing situation, but went about it in a clumsy a way which has further dented its credibility. In the process, it has challenged certain basic freedoms including the right to protest peacefully. Much of the troubles that plague this government was avoidable with timely actions from the beginning on a whole range of issues of governance which have been allowed to drift, with its sole obsession with economic growth and great power status. To salvage itself, UPA-II must come up with its action programme and must deliver results. (IPA Service)