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5 जून को स्वामी रामदेव ने मुझसे पूछा था कि क्या ऐसा हो सकता है कि पुलिस उन्हें गिरफ्तार करने की कोशिश करे ? मैंने उनसे कहा कि कोई भी सरकार इतनी ब़ड़ी गलती नही करेगी “ आप शांति से अनशन कर रहे हैं ,आपके हज़ारो समर्थक मौजूद हैं, चालीस TV Channels की OB Vans वहां खड़ी हैं.” .. मैंने उनसे कहा था 'सोनिया गांधी और मनमोहन सिंह ऐसा कभी नहीं होने देंगे'...मेरा विश्वास था कि कांग्रेस ने Emergency के अनुभव से सबक सीखा है...पिछले 7 साल के शासन में सोनिया गांधी और मनमोहन सिंह ने ऐसा कोई काम नहीं किया जिससे ये लगा हो कि वो पुलिस और लाठी के बल पर अपनी सत्ता की ताकत दिखाने का कोशिश करेंगे
लेकिन कुछ ही घंटे बाद सरकार ने मुझे गलत साबित कर दिया..मैंने स्वामी रामदेव से कहा था कि आप निश्चिंत होकर सोइये... देर रात मुझे इंडिया टीवी के Newsroom से फोन आया : "सर, रामलीला मैदान में पुलिस ने धावा बोल दिया है"...फिर उस रात टी वी पर जो कुछ देखा ,आंखों पर विश्वास नहीं हुआ कोई ऐसा कैसे कर सकता है ...कैमरों और रिपोर्ट्स की आंखों के सामने पुलिस ने लाठियां चलाईं, आंसू गैस के गोले छोड़े, बूढ़े और बच्चों को पीटा, महिलाओं के कपड़े फाड़ दिए...मैंने स्वामी रामदेव को अपने सहयोगी के कंधे पर बैठकर बार-बार पुलिस से ये कहते सुना- "यहां लोगों को मत मारो, मैं गिरफ्तारी देने को तैयार हूं"...लेकिन जब सरकार पांच हजा़र की पुलिस फोर्स को कहीं भेजती है तो वो फोर्स ऐसी बातें सुनने के लिए तैयार नहीं होती...पुलिस वालों की Training डंडा चलाने के लिए होती है, आंसू गैस छोड़ने और गोली चलाने के लिए होती है पुलिस ये नही समझती कि जो लोग वहां सो रहे हैं वो दिनभर के भूखे हैं , अगर वहां मौजूद भीड़ उग्र हो जाती है तो पुलिस गोली भी चला देती...वो भगवान का शुक्र है कि स्वामी रामदेव के Followers में ज्यादातर बूढ़े, महिलाएं और बच्चे थे या फिर उनके चुने साधक थे जिनकी Training उग्र होने की नहीं है
जब दिन में स्वामी रामदेव ने मुझे फोन किया था तो उन्होंने कहा था - कि किसी ने उन्हें पक्की खबर दी है कि ''आधी रात को हजारों पुलिसवाले शिविर को खाली कराने की कोशिश करेंगे'' और ये भी कहा कि ''पुलिस गोली चलाकर या आग लगाकर उन्हें मार भी सकती है''...मैंने स्वामी रामदेव से कहा था कि ''ऐसा नहीं हो सकता-हजारों पुलिस शिविर में घुसे ये कभी नहीं होगा और आप को मारने की तो बात कोई सपने में सोच भी नहीं सकता''...रात एक बजे से सुबह पांच बजे तक टी वी पर पुलिस का तांडव देखते हुए मैं यही सोचता रहा कि रामदेव कितने सही थे और मैं कितना गलत...ये मुझे बाद में समझ आया कि स्वामी रामदेव ने महिला के कपड़े पहनकर भागने की कोशिश क्यों की...उन्होंने सोचा जब पुलिस घुसने की बात सही है
लाठियां चलाने की बात सही है तो Encounter की बात भी सही होगी ...मैं कांग्रेस को अनुभवी नेताओं की पार्टी मानता हूं...मेरी हमेशा मान्यता रही है कि कांग्रेस को शासन करना आता है...लेकिन 5 जून की रात की बर्बरता ने मुझे हैरान कर दिया...समझ में नहीं आ रहा कि आखिर सरकार ने ये किया क्यों ?...उससे भी बड़ा सवाल ये उठा कि कांग्रेस को या सरकार को इससे मिला क्या?
सरकार को मिला सुप्रीम कोर्ट का नोटिस जिसमें ये बताना पड़ेगा कि रात के अंधेरे में पुलिस की बर्बरता का औचित्य (justification) क्या था...सरकार ये कैसे कहेगी कि हमने ये इसलिए किया कि ये बताना था कि सरकार की ताकत क्या होती है...हम जब चाहें किसी की भी जुबान पर लगाम लगा सकते हैं...कपिल सिब्बल ने उस दिन शाम को कहा था ( if we know to accommodate, we also know how to rein in)''हम अगर किसी के लिए रास्ता बनाना जानते है तो लगाम लगाना भी जानते है”
कांग्रेस को क्या मिला..जो स्वामी रामदेव बीजेपी से नाता तोड़कर कांग्रेस की तरफ दोस्ती का हाथ बड़ा रहे थे, उन्हें अपना दुश्मन बना लिया...जो स्वामी रामदेव RSS के लोगों से दूरी बना रहे थे, अपने साथ मुस्लिम नेताओं को खड़ा कर रहे थे ताकि उनकी ऐसी छवि बने जो सबको स्वीकार्य हो - उन्हें कांग्रेस ने धक्का देकर RSS के पाले में फेंक दिया...कांग्रेस ने रात को पुलिस से स्वामी रामदेव के समर्थकों की पिटाई करवा कर, मायावती और मुलायम सिंह दोनों को रामदेव के साथ खड़ा कर दिया...जो वृंदा करात स्वामी रामदेव की खुलेआम आलोचना करती थीं, वो रात को TV Channels पर रामदेव के समर्थन में पुलिस के अत्याचार को सबसे सख्त शब्दों में निंदा करती नज़र आईं
कांग्रेस और सरकार दोनों अन्ना हजारे से परेशान थी...वो रामदेव को अन्ना हजारे के जवाब के रूप में देख रही थी ...लेकिन रात को पुलिस की लाठियों और आंसूगैस ने इसे उल्टा कर दिया...जो अन्ना और रामदेव एक दूसरे से उखड़े हुए थे अब साथ-साथ हैं...अन्ना हजारे रामलीला मैदान की पुलिस बर्बरता के खिलाफ अनशन करेंगे...अब सरकार इन दोनों से एक साथ निबटना होगा
कांग्रेस को क्या मिला? मिला तो बीजेपी को...जो पार्टी बार-बार उठने की कोशिश कर रही थी लेकिन उसके पास सरकार के खिलाफ कोई बड़ा मुद्दा नही था...अब पूरी ताकत के साथ मैदान में है .कांग्रेस ने उसके हाथ में एक मुद्दा दे दिया, रामदेव जैसा लीडर दे दिया और करोड़ों लोगों का जनाधार ,लोगों को लाठियां मार-मारकर बीजेपी को उपहार में दे दिया...अब कांग्रेस को बीजेपी से, रामदेव से, अन्ना हजारे की Civil Society से, मायावती से, मुलायम सिंह से, एक साथ लड़ना है...इसके बदले मिला क्या- लालू यादव का समर्थन जिनके लोकसभा में सिर्फ चार MP हैं और बिहार में सिर्फ बाईस MLA हैं
पुलिस की लाठियां चलाने और लोगों का खून बहाने की टाइमिंग भी कमाल की थी कपिल सिब्बल ने रामदेव से हुई डील की चिट्ठी दिखाकर भ्रम पैदा कर दिया था..रामदेव defensive पर थे...वो बार-बार सफाई दे रहे थे कि चिट्ठी में सिर्फ इतना लिखा है कि हमारी सारी मांगें पूरी हो जाएंगी तो दो दिन के बाद अनशन खत्म हो जाएगा...लेकिन रात में 5000 की पुलिस फोर्स भेजकर सरकार ने रामदेव को Offensive कर दिया...अब वो लगाताक उन सोनिया गांधी और मनमोहन सिंह पर हमला कर रहे हैं जिनका नाम लेकर उन्होंन पिछले पांच साल में एक शब्द नहीं कहा था.
दिग्विजय सिंह ने स्वामी रामदेव को ठग कहा, उनके सहयोगी आचार्य बालकृष्ण को चोर कहा...सरकार से उनकी जांच कराने की मांग की...फिर हिंदुस्तान टाइम्स में खबर छपी कि CBI और ED स्वामी रामदेव के ट्रस्ट और कंपनियों की जांच करेगी...अगर स्वामी रामदेव ठग हैं तो प्रधानमंत्री मनमोहन सिंह ने उनसे अनशन वापस लेने की अपील क्यों की ?...प्रधानमंत्री ने एक ठग को चिट्ठी लिखकर ये क्यों कहा कि भ्रष्टाचार के खिलाफ आपकी मुहिम सही है...अगर स्वामी रामदेव के ट्रस्ट और कंपनियों की जांच होनी है तो देश के Finance Minister प्रणब मुखर्जी तीन और मंत्रियों के साथ उन्हें एयरपोर्ट पर लेने क्यों गए?...अगर कपिल सिब्बल ये जानते थे कि स्वामी रामदेव भरोसे के आदमी नहीं हैं तो फिर सरकार ने भ्रष्टाचार और कालेधन के सवाल पर उनकी ज्यादातर मांगें क्यों मान ली हैं कपिल सिब्बल ने प्रेस कांफ्रेस बुलाकर ये क्यों कहा कि हमने स्वामी रामदेव की सभी मांगे मान ली हैं ?...क्या ये सरकार ऐसे व्यक्ति के साथ डील कर रही थी जिसकी जांच CBI और ED को करनी है
कौन विश्वास करेगा स्वामी रामदेव पर ठगी और बेईमानी जैसे आरोपों का ? दिग्विजय सिंह की बात समझ में आती है, उनका अपना एजेंडा है...लेकिन सोनिया गांधी और मनमोहन सिंह ने तो कभी ऐसे एजेंडे को नहीं अपनाया...क्या अब CBI और ED के दम पर फिर से साबित किया जाना है कि सरकार की ताकत क्या होती है?...स्वामी रामदेव को ये बताना है कि हमसे लड़ोगे तो तुम्हारा दिमाग ठिकाने लगा देंगे
अगर सरकार ने ये करके अपना इकबाल जतला भी दिया तो क्या मिलेगा ? ...लोकतंत्र में कोई भी जनता का विश्वास राजनैतिक दलों के लिए ऑक्सीजन का काम करता है...सत्ता का अहंकार- किसी भी पार्टी के लिए तेजाब का काम करता है...इतिहास गवाह है कि लोकतंत्र में डंडे के बल पर शासन नहीं चलता...जो सरकारें विरोध के स्वर का सम्मान करती हैं, शांतिपूर्ण ढंग से आलोचना करने वालों की बात सुनती हैं, वही सरकारें ज्यादा दिन चलती हैं...ये फैसला कांग्रेस को करना है कि उसे आक्सीज़न चाहिए या तेज़ाब
Swami Ramdev asked me on June 4 whether police would try to arrest him. He said that he had definite information. My reply then was: “No government would dare to make such a mistake. You are staging a peaceful fast in the presence of thousands of your supporters. There are at least 40 OB Vans of TV channels monitoring everything”. I also told him: “Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh will never allow this to happen”.
I was under the impression that the Congress had learnt its lesson from the Emergency days. During the last seven years of UPA rule, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Manmohan Singh had nothing to suggest that they would ever try to exert muscle power.
The visuals of police on the rampage that I saw on television that night were really disturbing. How can any one do such a thing? In the glare of TV cameras police swung their lathis, fired teargas shells, beat up old men and children and tore the clothes of women.
I heard Swami Ramdev sitting on the shoulder of one of his supporters telling the police: “Do not beat the people here, I am ready to court arrest”. But when a government sends a 5,000-strong police force to disrupt a gathering, the policemen are clearly unwilling to listen to the voice of reason. Policemen are trained to wield sticks, to fire teargas shells and bullets. For the policemen, it matters the least that these were starving people sleeping after a daylong fast. Had the crowd been violent, the police could well have resorted to firing. I can only thank God that most of Swami Ramdev’s followers were either old, women and children or were his selected ‘sadhaks’(trainers) who have been trained never to be violent.
Earlier, when Swami Ramdev rang me up during the daytime, he had told me that somebody has given him a credible information that thousands of policemen would try to clear out the tents at midnight. The informer had also told him that the police could also kill him in a fake encounter or set the tent on fire.
I had then told Swami Ramdev, “such things can’t happen. It is impossible that thousands of policemen will try to enter the tents, and nobody can ever imagine of killing you in his wildest of dreams”.
After seeing the police on rampage from 1 am till 5 am on television, I wondered how Ramdev proved me wrong. I later realized why Swami Ramdev wore a women’s attire to sneak out of the camp. He might have thought, when his information about police entry was correct, about police wielding lathis was correct, then surely the secret info about a possible encounter would also be correct.
Congress, to me, is a party having leaders experienced in the art of governance. I had always believed that the Congress leaders know how to govern, but the June 4-5 midnight crackdown has shocked me. I fail to understand even now why the government did such a thing at all. And the most important question: What did the Congress or the government gain out of it?
Supreme Court sent a notice asking the government to explain the brutal police action in the dead of night. Will the government tell the apex court that it did this in order to assert its might, that it can gag anybody’s voice. Kapil Sibal had told the media that evening “if we know how to accommodate, we also know how to rein in”.
I wonder what did the Congress get out of all this? The yoga guru who had been extending his hand towards Congress is now its sworn enemy. The same Swami Ramdev, who was maintaining a distance from RSS and shaking hands with Muslim leaders in order to project an image acceptable to all, has been shoved by the Congress into the RSS camp. The Congress, by brutally beating up Swami Ramdev’s supporters with the help of police, has brought both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh on the same plane. A leader like Brinda Karat who used to criticize Swami Ramdev in public, appeared on television to condemn the brutal police action.
Both the Congress and the government were already in a fix over Anna Hazare and were eyeing Swami Ramdev as an antidote to Hazare, but the midnight crackdown has reversed this.
Both Anna and Ramdev who were at unease with each other are now together. Anna Hazare is sitting on fast to protest over police brutality on Ramdev supporters. Now the government will have to deal with both.
While the Congress went on back foot, rival BJP got rejuvenated. BJP which was trying to revive its fortunes but was bereft of any big issue against the government. The very same party is now out in full force, thanks to the gift of a livewire issue from Congress.
The Congress has unwittingly given the BJP not only an issue, but also a leader like Ramdev with a mass base of crores of people. Now the Congress will have to face not only the BJP, but also Ramdev, Anna Hazare’s civil society, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh.
The timing of the bloody, brutal police action was also significant. The previous evening, Kapil Sibal had created confusion by showing a letter about a deal with Ramdev. Swami Ramdev was on the defensive and he was busy clarifying that the letter merely states that all his demands will be met and the fast will be over in two days. But by sending a 5,000-strong police force in the dead of night, the government has now put Ramdev on the offensive. It is now Ramdev who is attacking Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh by name. Ramdev had been scrupulously avoiding criticism of these two leaders for the last five years.
On the other hand, Digvijay Singh described Ramdev as a ‘thug’, his associate Acharya Balkrishna a thief, and had demanded that the government must probe Ramdev’s assets. A prominent newspaper published a news item that the CBI and ED will probe the assets of the trusts and companies associated with Ramdev. Had Swami Ramdev been a thug, then how is it that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh sent him a letter appealing him not to sit on fast?
Why did the Prime Minister write a letter to a ‘thug’ to say that his movement against corruption was valid?
If the assets of Ramdev’s trusts and companies are to be probed, then why did the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and three other senior ministers went to the airport to meet Ramdev?
In any democracy, the people’s faith acts as oxygen for the political parties, but sheer arrogance of power can work as a corroding acid for any party.
History is witness to the fact that a democracy cannot be run on the strength of sheer brute force. Only those governments last, which listen to the voice of the opposition and of those who criticize peacefully. It is now up to the Congress to choose between oxygen and an acid.
I was under the impression that the Congress had learnt its lesson from the Emergency days. During the last seven years of UPA rule, neither Sonia Gandhi nor Manmohan Singh had nothing to suggest that they would ever try to exert muscle power.
The visuals of police on the rampage that I saw on television that night were really disturbing. How can any one do such a thing? In the glare of TV cameras police swung their lathis, fired teargas shells, beat up old men and children and tore the clothes of women.
I heard Swami Ramdev sitting on the shoulder of one of his supporters telling the police: “Do not beat the people here, I am ready to court arrest”. But when a government sends a 5,000-strong police force to disrupt a gathering, the policemen are clearly unwilling to listen to the voice of reason. Policemen are trained to wield sticks, to fire teargas shells and bullets. For the policemen, it matters the least that these were starving people sleeping after a daylong fast. Had the crowd been violent, the police could well have resorted to firing. I can only thank God that most of Swami Ramdev’s followers were either old, women and children or were his selected ‘sadhaks’(trainers) who have been trained never to be violent.
Earlier, when Swami Ramdev rang me up during the daytime, he had told me that somebody has given him a credible information that thousands of policemen would try to clear out the tents at midnight. The informer had also told him that the police could also kill him in a fake encounter or set the tent on fire.
I had then told Swami Ramdev, “such things can’t happen. It is impossible that thousands of policemen will try to enter the tents, and nobody can ever imagine of killing you in his wildest of dreams”.
After seeing the police on rampage from 1 am till 5 am on television, I wondered how Ramdev proved me wrong. I later realized why Swami Ramdev wore a women’s attire to sneak out of the camp. He might have thought, when his information about police entry was correct, about police wielding lathis was correct, then surely the secret info about a possible encounter would also be correct.
Congress, to me, is a party having leaders experienced in the art of governance. I had always believed that the Congress leaders know how to govern, but the June 4-5 midnight crackdown has shocked me. I fail to understand even now why the government did such a thing at all. And the most important question: What did the Congress or the government gain out of it?
Supreme Court sent a notice asking the government to explain the brutal police action in the dead of night. Will the government tell the apex court that it did this in order to assert its might, that it can gag anybody’s voice. Kapil Sibal had told the media that evening “if we know how to accommodate, we also know how to rein in”.
I wonder what did the Congress get out of all this? The yoga guru who had been extending his hand towards Congress is now its sworn enemy. The same Swami Ramdev, who was maintaining a distance from RSS and shaking hands with Muslim leaders in order to project an image acceptable to all, has been shoved by the Congress into the RSS camp. The Congress, by brutally beating up Swami Ramdev’s supporters with the help of police, has brought both Mayawati and Mulayam Singh on the same plane. A leader like Brinda Karat who used to criticize Swami Ramdev in public, appeared on television to condemn the brutal police action.
Both the Congress and the government were already in a fix over Anna Hazare and were eyeing Swami Ramdev as an antidote to Hazare, but the midnight crackdown has reversed this.
Both Anna and Ramdev who were at unease with each other are now together. Anna Hazare is sitting on fast to protest over police brutality on Ramdev supporters. Now the government will have to deal with both.
While the Congress went on back foot, rival BJP got rejuvenated. BJP which was trying to revive its fortunes but was bereft of any big issue against the government. The very same party is now out in full force, thanks to the gift of a livewire issue from Congress.
The Congress has unwittingly given the BJP not only an issue, but also a leader like Ramdev with a mass base of crores of people. Now the Congress will have to face not only the BJP, but also Ramdev, Anna Hazare’s civil society, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh.
The timing of the bloody, brutal police action was also significant. The previous evening, Kapil Sibal had created confusion by showing a letter about a deal with Ramdev. Swami Ramdev was on the defensive and he was busy clarifying that the letter merely states that all his demands will be met and the fast will be over in two days. But by sending a 5,000-strong police force in the dead of night, the government has now put Ramdev on the offensive. It is now Ramdev who is attacking Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh by name. Ramdev had been scrupulously avoiding criticism of these two leaders for the last five years.
On the other hand, Digvijay Singh described Ramdev as a ‘thug’, his associate Acharya Balkrishna a thief, and had demanded that the government must probe Ramdev’s assets. A prominent newspaper published a news item that the CBI and ED will probe the assets of the trusts and companies associated with Ramdev. Had Swami Ramdev been a thug, then how is it that the Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh sent him a letter appealing him not to sit on fast?
Why did the Prime Minister write a letter to a ‘thug’ to say that his movement against corruption was valid?
If the assets of Ramdev’s trusts and companies are to be probed, then why did the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and three other senior ministers went to the airport to meet Ramdev?
In any democracy, the people’s faith acts as oxygen for the political parties, but sheer arrogance of power can work as a corroding acid for any party.
History is witness to the fact that a democracy cannot be run on the strength of sheer brute force. Only those governments last, which listen to the voice of the opposition and of those who criticize peacefully. It is now up to the Congress to choose between oxygen and an acid.
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