New Delhi: While denouncing the midnight police crackdown, the CPI-M on Sunday criticised both yoga guru Baba Ramdev and the government for reaching a "backstage deal" over his campaign against corruption.
CPI-M said in a statement the "secret agreement" reached by the government and Ramdev belittled the seriousness of the issue the yoga guru had set out to highlight -- corruption and black money.
"The manner in which Ramdev`s demands were drafted and the way in which he has conducted his interactions with the government, coming to a secret agreement to withdraw the hunger strike on the basis of assurances, then reneging and announcing its extension trivialised the seriousness of the issue of black money and made it farcical," the party said.
"Clearly the backstage deal between the government and Ramdev fell apart but this brings little credit to either party and indeed raises questions about the credibility of both.”
"The presence of communal elements on Ramdev`s stage also showed up his essential ideological bias."
CPI-M said the elimination of black money and the need to repatriate illegal money holdings of Indians in foreign countries were a matter of utmost gravity and legitimate public concern.
"The CPI-M reiterates its demand for the immediate repatriation of the money illegally kept abroad. It demands that the names of those involved should be made public and that the government take urgent and necessary legal steps in this direction."
Alleging that scores of men and women had been injured, some seriously, when police cracked down on his supporters, the CPI-M said: "There was no law and order issue involved, and the police action was unwarranted."
Police cracked down on Ramdev and his supporters at Delhi`s Ramlila Ground after midnight Saturday, less than 24 hours after the yoga guru went on a hunger strike against corruption.
IANS
