Quote:Hours after being bundled out of Delhi, Baba Ramdev targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi and government, alleging that [size="5"]his peaceful agitation was treated with unprecedented "barbarism" and vowed to continue his 'satyagraha' against corruption.[/size]



Reaching his ashram here after the midnight crackdown at his protest site in Ramlila ground in the national capital, [color="#FF0000"][size="5"]a visibly shaken yoga guru alleged that there was a conspiracy to kill him and a "threat" was given to him during a meeting with senior ministers[/size].[/color]



Wearing a white ladies suit instead of his trademark saffron robes, Ramdev accused the government of not being serious about discussing issues of corruption and black money stashed abroad and alleged that government negotiator Kapil Sibal had cheated him through "scheming and cunning" attitude.



[size="5"]"The barbarism and atrocities inflicted by police on one lakh people crossed all limits and even women and children were not spared...They dragged and beat them up,"[/size] he said.



Attacking Sonia while talking about last night's developments, [color="#FF0000"][size="5"]Ramdev said "She is running the government by remote-control. She is daughter-in-law of this country... she does not love the mothers and sisters of this country."[/size][/color]



[size="6"]"If anything happens to me, Sonia and Congress government will be responsible...The government, especially the Congress, do not want to see me alive as my movement can expose their black deeds,"[/size] he said.



However, asked if he feels Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was responsible for the incident, he merely said "the ministers said they are coming on behalf on the PM".



Ramdev rejected the government's charge that he misused the permission given to him for a yoga camp at the ground, saying his agitation was also part of yogic elements.



Narrating to his followers how he tried to escape the "brutalities" at Ramlila by wearing a women's attire after the midnight swoop by police, Ramdev at times seemed nearing tears as he alleged that he was nearly strangulated with his scarf by the policemen. "I asked them, do you want to kill me?"



He claimed there was firing during the crackdown and several workers are in ICU. Ramdev said he has not called off his agitation but did not specify where he would continue it.



Ramdev said "black day" will be observed peacefully across the country today and tomorrow against the police action which he termed as a "blot on democracy".



He also alleged that there was a conspiracy to arrest him and "eliminate" him in an encounter.



"They were ready to unleash another Jallianwala Bagh. We were pressurised to give the letter (about ending the fast by June 6). We were told the otherwise we will have to suffer the consequences," the yoga guru claimed.



Asked about allegations raised against him by Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, he termed them as "baseless and irresponsible".



"I am serving the people for 20 years. If people give donation to me that is the fruit of their labour, not black money," he said.



On accusations of RSS remote-controlling his agitation, he said his campaign had got support from various quarters including TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.



"What is the problem if someone supports us? They (government) should rather answer why all these happened," he said when persistently asked about Sangh Parivar backing.

Quote:Tainted regime takes recourse to brutality



The raid by heavily-armed personnel of Delhi Police and the Rapid Action Force on Ramlila Ground in Delhi in the early hours of Sunday has understandably outraged the nation. The sheer brutality of the manner in which the police assaulted sleeping men, women and children who had gathered there to participate in Baba Ramdev’s satyagraha against corruption, fired scores of teargas shells inside the tent, and dragged out the protesters merits unequivocal condemnation, as does the callous indifference of the Police Commissioner who was more keen to please his political bosses than to ensure orderly behaviour by his men. But the real reprobates are those who ordered the police to crack down on the gathered crowd of people in the dead of night — it matters little if the Congress is now desperately trying to wriggle out of the mess; the party and its leaders stand accused of trying to put down mass unrest over rampant corruption that taints the UPA regime through means that are reminiscent of Mrs Indira Gandhi’s Emergency. Nor does it matter what Mr Manmohan Singh has to say about the appalling misconduct of the Government he heads: After Sunday morning’s naked display of fascist state power, he stands exposed as a morally decrepit wimp who, having presided over the most corrupt regime India has witnessed, is happy to see popular anger being doused with state-sponsored brutality. An indecently supine and morally dishonest [color="#FF0000"]Prime Minister cannot claim to be either decent or honest[/color].



It is abundantly clear that the Congress tried to create differences among those leading the anti-corruption movement and discredit Baba Ramdev by first despatching senior Ministers, including Mr Pranab Mukherjee, to negotiate with him and then plant the story, with the help of ‘friendly’ media, that he had struck a deal. When that fiction stood exposed and Baba Ramdev went ahead with his satyagraha along with thousands of his followers, the Government ordered a crackdown, supremely confident that nobody would dare question its patently illegitimate action. Did the Congress fail to anticipate the fury this would unleash? Or is it arrogance that led it to commit what is clearly a monumental blunder? The latter appears to be more likely. To now slyly allege, as the apologists of this shameless regime are doing, that the gathering at Ramlila Ground was sponsored by the RSS or that the BJP was working behind the scenes is sheer bunkum. People have the right to protest peacefully in our democracy, and it is of no consequence as to what is the ideology of the protesters or those organising the protest. Hindu-bashing, in which both the Congress and the Government it leads excel, cannot be justification for such barbarism. Saffron is not a banned colour in this nation, at least not yet.



This cash-and-carry regime owes an explanation to the nation. But we know it shall remain silent. The only way forward is to force the Government to call an emergency session of Parliament so that it can be held accountable. If it refuses to do so, as it will, then the Opposition must prepare to take on the Government during the Monsoon session. The collective bluff of those who claim to be concerned about corruption while allowing it to flourish must be called. The Prime Minister, his colleagues and their political bosses must be pitilessly exposed for what they are. The people of this country have suffered the excesses of this corrupt regime for far too long. [size="6"]India deserves better[/size].

Quote:The gloves are off. Under attack from all sides for the action against Ramdev, Sonia Gandhi now plans an offensive to counter the after-effects and take on the communal and other forces who, it charged, have joined hands to weaken democratic institutions. “The party has accepted the challenge,” said general secretary Janardan Dwivedi after Gandhi met office-bearers, state in-charges and the four ministers who were talking to Ramdev to call off his fast.

In a thinly veiled attack on the RSS and BJP, he said there are political and communal forces, who, after failing to get a mandate, try to come to the fore by weakening constitutional and democratic institutions.



Dwivedi refused to say if the party backed the police action against Ramdev: “We do not discuss individuals….The person mentioned is nothing and is supported by other forces.”



Fuming that the Congress and Gandhi were being targeted, the party directed its workers to unite against this onslaught and propagate the party’s policies and achievements.



Earlier, Congress leaders justified the police act while accusing Ramdev of betrayal and failure to abide by his commitment to call off the fast.



[color="#FF0000"]But finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, whose visit to Delhi airport for talks with Ramdev had upset several Congress leaders, struck a different note.



He termed the police action “unfortunate” and said the issues raised by the yoga guru needed to be addressed.



“When negotiations were conducted, he said he would confine his protest to three days. If he would have stuck to this, then these turn of events would not have happened,” he said.[/color]

Quote:On 11 November, 1991 the journal had reported that [size="6"]Rahul Gandhi was the beneficiary of accounts worth 2 billion dollars which were controlled by his mother Sonia Gandhi.[/size] If the reports published in a book by a member of the Soviet government’s KGB Commission is to be believed either part or the entire money most likely came from the Soviet KGB. The Russian government confirmed the veracity of the disclosure in the book. Its official spokesman speaking to media defended it as necessary for "Soviet ideological interest." When the alleged payments to the Gandhi family commenced Rahul Gandhi was just two years old. The Swiss account if it existed may have been closed down and the money deposited elsewhere. But the record of the account as alleged by Schweizer Illustrierte must still be there with the bank. If the account was not declared with Indian Income Tax authorities it is a clear case of tax evasion. This information is not only in print in both media and a book but is also on the popular and respected Internet website, Wikipedia.

Quote:he government and Baba Ramdev [ Images ] have been unable to come to a negotiated settlement over the Baba's indefinite fast at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan. But the real story is the widening gulf between the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress party and the Dr Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance government which has now come out almost in the open.



In an interesting development, Sonia Gandhi called a meeting of senior leaders at her residence at 6.30 pm on Saturday. Calls were made to all the members of the Congress Working Committee, including Dr Singh, to attend the meeting.



At the same time, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal was holding a press briefing to inform the media about the letter written by Baba Ramdev on Saturday, where he had reportedly agreed to call off the fast in a day or two, even before he began his protest.



According to Sibal, Baba Ramdev had already agreed to the government's request, but stated that he needed to carry on the fast for a day or two.



It is learnt that soon after calling the meeting, Gandhi cancelled it. The party has now asked the government to go all out to expose the Baba for the manner in which he was holding the government to ransom.



A senior leader, considered to be close to Gandhi, expressed his unhappiness over the manner in which the government had appeared totally ineffective about the Ramdev issue. He said it was the responsibility of the government to act on such issues but the reality was that it had not been able to handle the crisis situation. It was after this comment was made that Gandhi called the meeting of senior leaders to discuss the situation, before cancelling it.



Gandhi even took Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to task for going to the airport to meet Baba Ramdev after his arrival to persuade him to call off the fast, according to sources.



She is learnt to have told him that he should not have done that as it sent a wrong message. Mukherjee accepted that it was a mistake on his part that should have been avoided, said sources.



The tension has peaked in the Congress party and the blame game is on about who is responsible for the mess and fiascos which are taking place at regular intervals, with the government unable to act at the right time in the given situation.