New Delhi: The Anna Hazare group on Wednesday distanced itself from Ramdev`s decision to raise an armed
force to resist any government crackdown on the anti-
corruption movement, saying all protests have to be
non-violent.
Civil rights activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer
Prashant Bhushan, who sit with Hazare in the joint drafting
committee on Lokpal Bill, said all protests have to remain
non-violent.
"We do not support this (Ramdev`s announcement of
forming an armed wing). All protests have to be non-violent,"
Kejriwal told reporters here.
Asked whether they still remain associated with Ramdev
despite his fresh move, Bhushan said the question was not
whether they were with Ramdev or not but one has to protest
against the assault on the fundamental and democratic rights
of a person.
"Hazare`s fast was not in support of Ramdev but the
police assault on his protest. We respect the right of
everyone to stage a protest," he said and termed the yoga
guru`s announcement of forming an armed wing as "very
uncomfortable".
On whether they were encouraging the "anarchism"
propogated by Ramdev, Kejriwal said they were neither
supporting Ramdev nor encouraging anarchism by anyone.
PTI
