Uncivil showdown: It is team Anna vs govt, again

Peeved at being denied permission to hold an indefinite fast from 16 August on a venue desired by him, Anna Hazare on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accusing the government of “crushing” the fundamental rights of people. [caption id="" align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Team Anna’s strong arm tactics and a stubborn govt are gearing up for another showdown. AFP”][/caption] In the strongly-worded letter, written in Hindi, Hazare charged the Government with suppressing those who raised their voice against corruption. “Your Government is trying to crush those who raise their voice against corruption. This is happening more often in your Government,” Hazare said in his letter. In his response, Singh said: “…the terms and conditions on which you are entitled to carry on with your protest are decided by the statutory authorities concerned taking into account the prevailing circumstances and other relevant factors”. “We are all committed to the Constitution of India and to uphold it in both letter and spirit,” he added. Commenting on the government’s claim that he was resorting to blackmail, Hazare told reporters: “I have always said that if this is called blackmail, I will continue to blackmail.” Shanthi Bhushan told PTI that team Lokpal had agreed to most conditions laid out by the government, but he could not promise that the fast would end in 72 hours. He also said that limiting the number of protesters to 5000 was ‘unconstitutional’.