It is an attack on democracy: BJP
June 5th, 2011 - 9:24 am ICT by IANS
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday termed as “undemocratic” the police action to break up the anti-corruption hunger strike launched by Baba Ramdev and thousands of his supporters here.
“It is an attack on democracy. It reminds me of 1975 when the government became dictatorial. This is just like the emergency. This is undemocratic,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
Javadekar was reacting to police forcibly removing Ramdev and his supporters from the sprawling Ramlila Ground a little after Saturday midnight.
As police asked the protesters to clear the area, some of Ramdev supporters armed themselves with iron rods, fire extinguishers and what appeared to be baseball bats. Some even threw stones at police.
The police used tear gas shells and canes to disperse thousands of the yoga guru’s supporters to end the indefinite hunger strike he had launched less than 24 hours ago.
Javadekar criticised the way the government “mishandled the incident” saying it was “barbaric and we condemn that”.
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- BJP goes hammer and tongs at Manmohan, Sonia (Lead) - Jun 05, 2011
- Midnight crackdown on Ramdev gives government nightmares (Roundup) - Jun 05, 2011
- Police break up Ramdev's anti-corruption fast, protest venue cleared (Third Lead) - Jun 05, 2011
- Police end Ramdev's anti-corruption protest, yoga guru removed (Second Lead) - Jun 05, 2011
- Midnight swoop on Ramdev gives government nightmares (Intro Roundup) - Jun 05, 2011
- Ramdev aide calls crackdown 'state terrorism' - Jun 05, 2011
- Ramlila ground wears deserted look after police operation - Jun 05, 2011
- Ramdev's supporters created chaos: Delhi Police - Jun 05, 2011
- Government, BJP cross swords over verdict on Ramdev rally - Feb 23, 2012
- Will restart agitation from Haridwar: Ramdev (Third Lead) - Jun 06, 2011
- Indian police break up yoga guru's anti-corruption hunger strike - Jun 05, 2011
- Hazare's protest fast gets support in Mumbai - Jun 08, 2011
Tags: baba ramdev, baseball bats, bharatiya janata party, bjp, canes, corruption, democracy, fire extinguishers, gas shells, indefinite hunger strike, iron rods, New Delhi, police action, police the police, protesters, spokesperson, tear gas, yoga guru