Speaking to
Arab News prior to leaving for New Delhi, Hazare said that he was anticipating
police action by the government against his hunger strike scheduled for Aug. 16.
The Gandhian leader said that he would move the Supreme Court in two days to
prevent any situation similar to the police crackdown on they Yoga guru Ramdev
and his supporters at the Ram Lila grounds in New Delhi two months ago.
“I am not
Baba Ramdev. Millions of people and the civil society demanding implementation
of the Lokpal Bill are behind me. We know the federal government will try to suppress
my agitation also. But they should know that these threats do not work. It
would not be as easy as the government thinks to suppress my agitation. The
government should explain to the people whether such threats are part of
democracy or autocracy? The government cannot suppress our movement and that’s
why we will move the Supreme Court on if not on Monday then on Tuesday for
sure,” Hazare said.
Asked as
to why he was moving the Supreme Court, Hazare said that he was doing so to
seek the court’s protection for his hunger strike on Aug. 16.
“I and my
team of civil society people would bring to the notice of the court through a
petition the ‘unconstitutional’ statements being made by Congress ministers and
other leaders to threatening a democratic movement. I have already informed the
government about the planned indefinite hunger strike if the government fails to
bring a strong Lokpal bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.
Hazare
came down heavily on Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh for his recent statement
that Hazare would be given the same treatment as Baba Ramdev, while other
Congress leaders also issued similar statements. “This is people’s movement,
not an individual’s campaign and
it would never be easy to crush a democratic movement,” Hazare said.
