Baba Ramdev and the Central Government are now involved in an all-out war of words following the crackdown by the Delhi Police to evict the yoga guru and thousands of his supporters from Delhi's Ramlila Ground on the intervening night of June 4-5.
While the Central Government through Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay accused Ramdev of pushing his political agenda in the grab of launching an agitation against corruption and for the repatriation of black money stashed in foreign banks, the yoga guru called the police action a black moment worse than Emergency and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre carried out by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer.
Ramdev also raised the issue of foreign origin to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi and alleged that as she was not born in India so she had no respect for the traditions of this country.
"Earlier I didn't used to pay attention to the fact that Sonia Gandhi wasn't born in this country. But, after Saturday night's incident, it shows that she does not have any sympathy for the women and children of this nation," Ramdev said in Haridwar.
The UPA Government, too, did not spare the yoga guru with Subodh Kant Sahay justifying the police action stand on Sunday and explained the sequence of events during the talks with Baba Ramdev.
He explained that on May 19, the Prime Minister wrote a letter to Baba Ramdev saying, "I have requested the Union Finance Minister to brief you about the step taken by the central government on the issues raised by you."
"On May 20, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote to him that he is willing to met him," Sahay said.
Clarifying on why four Union Ministers went to receive Baba Ramdev at the airport on June 1, Sahay said that Baba Ramdev had raised some questions, and therefore, the ministers went discuss some issues with him in an effort to sort it out on June 1 itself.
Sahay said that the government had been in touch with Baba Ramdev since the last 20 days. "We were constantly requesting him not to encourage the agitation. We did not want it to result in any untoward incident such as self immolation. That was why, to avoid such incidents, the government was in touch with him since the last 20 days," Sahay said.
Sahay also accused Ramdev of turning his fight against corruption to a fight over other issues like why the government showed the letter and why was he forcibly removed.
"We were forced to show his letter as he was not announcing withdrawing of Satyagraha even after promising. We were waiting for his announcement in the evening press conference and he did not announce his withdrawal, following which we were forced to reveal his letter," Sahay said.
Baba Ramdev, however, claimed that he was forced to give a letter of consent to the government. "Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee were consulted. I got this information that either I be arrested, put in encounter or taken to an unknown destination," he claimed.
He also claimed that the government wanted him to call off his Satyagraha on June 3. He said, "The government could not see such a large Satyagraha where crores participated across the country. We were forced to write a letter on June 3 that by June 6 we will call off our Satyagraha."
While Baba Ramdev criticised the government for the brutal handling of the event, Sahay defended the act saying, "Police could not have physically removed such huge number of people. That's why they used tear gas shells, not trying to justify them, but they did use minimum restraint."
Ramdev said that the government kept pressurising him to end his fast. "We were assured that whatever we wanted would be done. We were told that an ordinance will be brought to nationalise black money. We were assured that information regarding corrupt leaders, traders etc will be put in public domain. Everything was agreed upon except for one issue. The issue which was not agreed upon was the issue of nationalising black money stashed in foreign banks. The government was pressurising me to end my fast," he said.
Sahay also accused Baba Ramdev of ditching the government and said that talks with Baba Ramdev are over. "There is nothing left to discuss further," he said.
While the Central Government through Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay accused Ramdev of pushing his political agenda in the grab of launching an agitation against corruption and for the repatriation of black money stashed in foreign banks, the yoga guru called the police action a black moment worse than Emergency and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre carried out by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer.
Ramdev also raised the issue of foreign origin to target Congress President Sonia Gandhi and alleged that as she was not born in India so she had no respect for the traditions of this country.
"Earlier I didn't used to pay attention to the fact that Sonia Gandhi wasn't born in this country. But, after Saturday night's incident, it shows that she does not have any sympathy for the women and children of this nation," Ramdev said in Haridwar.
The UPA Government, too, did not spare the yoga guru with Subodh Kant Sahay justifying the police action stand on Sunday and explained the sequence of events during the talks with Baba Ramdev.
"On May 20, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote to him that he is willing to met him," Sahay said.
Clarifying on why four Union Ministers went to receive Baba Ramdev at the airport on June 1, Sahay said that Baba Ramdev had raised some questions, and therefore, the ministers went discuss some issues with him in an effort to sort it out on June 1 itself.
Sahay said that the government had been in touch with Baba Ramdev since the last 20 days. "We were constantly requesting him not to encourage the agitation. We did not want it to result in any untoward incident such as self immolation. That was why, to avoid such incidents, the government was in touch with him since the last 20 days," Sahay said.
Sahay also accused Ramdev of turning his fight against corruption to a fight over other issues like why the government showed the letter and why was he forcibly removed.
"We were forced to show his letter as he was not announcing withdrawing of Satyagraha even after promising. We were waiting for his announcement in the evening press conference and he did not announce his withdrawal, following which we were forced to reveal his letter," Sahay said.
Baba Ramdev, however, claimed that he was forced to give a letter of consent to the government. "Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee were consulted. I got this information that either I be arrested, put in encounter or taken to an unknown destination," he claimed.
He also claimed that the government wanted him to call off his Satyagraha on June 3. He said, "The government could not see such a large Satyagraha where crores participated across the country. We were forced to write a letter on June 3 that by June 6 we will call off our Satyagraha."
While Baba Ramdev criticised the government for the brutal handling of the event, Sahay defended the act saying, "Police could not have physically removed such huge number of people. That's why they used tear gas shells, not trying to justify them, but they did use minimum restraint."
Ramdev said that the government kept pressurising him to end his fast. "We were assured that whatever we wanted would be done. We were told that an ordinance will be brought to nationalise black money. We were assured that information regarding corrupt leaders, traders etc will be put in public domain. Everything was agreed upon except for one issue. The issue which was not agreed upon was the issue of nationalising black money stashed in foreign banks. The government was pressurising me to end my fast," he said.
Sahay also accused Baba Ramdev of ditching the government and said that talks with Baba Ramdev are over. "There is nothing left to discuss further," he said.
