Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Aug 16 (IANS) The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab Tuesday slammed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) central government for the arrest of activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in Delhi.

Party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the Punjab deputy chief minister, said the central government’s action brought back memories of the era of Emergency.

He said in a statement issued here that Hazare and his core team were arrested Tuesday even before they could start their formal peaceful protest in the national capital to press for a strong, anti-corruption Lokpal Bill.

Badal said the mass-scale arrests throughout the country reflected the level of panic of the Congress leadership and that they wanted to scuttle any anti-corruption movement fearing their imminent arrest in the multi-lakh crore rupee scams.

Badal said: “It is a black day for the largest democracy of the world when its citizens are not allowed to carry out their peaceful protests against rampant corruption in the government and citizens are jailed without specifying any charge.”

“By curtailing the freedom of citizens just after the 65th Independence Day of the nation, the Congress party has pained the souls of all those known and unknown freedom fighters, who laid down their lives for the country,” he added.

Chiding the Congress for its action against Hazare, Badal said: “The Congress, which calls itself the votary of Gandhian ideology and his methods of peaceful and non-violent protests, was out to tarnish Gandhi’s image internationally by launching a nationwide drive against Hazare’s Gandhian movement.”

“Mahatma Gandhi must be turning in his grave after the arrest of Anna Hazare,” Badal said.

He said that the UPA government could be listed as the most corrupt by the Guinness World Records.