Team Anna, Govt. hold “positive” talks
Tue, 08/23/2011 - 14:17
New Delhi, Aug 23 (IBNS): Reconciliation efforts between Anna Hazare and the Indian government progressed further on Tuesday evening after a meeting aides of the anti-graft protester and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, which both sides said were positive.
Emerging from the meeting, top members of the Hazare-led India Against Corruption Group (IAC) Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan said that the talks were “fruitful and held in good atmosphere”.
Saying that the government asked for time and promised to get back on Wednesday, the anti-corruption activists added that they wished the government had approached them for talks a few days earlier.
Mukherjee too said that the talks were fruitful and he was hoped a solution to the impasse would emerge soon. He said that he had appealed to Hazare to break his fast and informed that the matter would be taken up at the all-party meeting on Wednesday.
Following the meeting Bedi tweeted, “Considerable progress made in talks with Govt. Anna awaits their firm commitment and declaration. Sooner it comes safer it will b (sic) for all.”
“Barring a few points all other key points are agreeable by and large to Govt. They are holding a cabinet meeting to resolve (those),” she added.
However she along with other close associates said that Hazare would not give up his protest until the government made a written commitment.
Hazare, on the eighth day of his public fast at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, has refused hospitalisation even as he was put on intravenous medication and doctors has advised that he be shifted to a medical facility.
Hazare's doctor Naresh Trehan has suggested hospitalization for his vital signs are not good, but the Gandhian activist on a fast for a strong Lokpal bill to fight corruption has refused to go to hospital.
Earlier, bowing before the civil society group led by Anna Hazare, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday urged the corruption crusader to give up his fast, offering to discuss the version of the Jan Lokpal bill's draft presented by the Anna group.
The PM in a letter to Anna said he is concerned about his health.
The PM also said that the Parliament's Standing Committee can discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill if the Speaker permits.
"The Government is committed to passing a constitutionally valid and the best possible Lok Pal legislation with inputs from Civil Society with the broadest possible consensus," the PM wrote.
"We are ready to talk to anybody. However, we will have to keep in mind Parliamentary supremacy and constitutional obligations in matters of legislation. As a Government we respect and are responsible to the Will of the Indian People as represented by Parliament," he said.
The PM said: "As you are aware, the Lok Pal bill is now before a Standing Committee of Parliament. I have made it clear earlier and would like to restate that all options are open before the Standing Committee."
"Undoubtedly, they would be entitled to consider, in detail and clause by clause, subject to their discretion, not only the Bill introduced by us but the Jan Lokpal Bill and other versions like those prepared by Ms. Aruna Roy," the PM said.
"Equally, I do maintain that they are fully entitled to make any changes to the Bill introduced by the Govt. and referred to them. In that view of the matter, the formal non introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill version by the government is irrelevant and would largely boil down to a semantic debate," the PM said.
"Nevertheless, in view of the concern repeatedly expressed by your team that the Jan Lokpal Bill version should be before Parliament, but more particularly and more importantly, in view of my deep and abiding concern for your health, our government is prepared to request the Speaker, Lok Sabha to formally refer the Jan Lokpal Bill also to the Standing Committee for their holistic consideration alongwith everything else." the PM said.
"Furthermore, if you have any anxieties about time and speed, the Government can formally request the Standing Committee to try, subject to its discretion and the necessity to reflect deeply and spend adequate time on an important Bill, and fast track their deliberations to the extent reasonably feasible," the PM said.
"I would like to say that this letter and each suggestion herein is actuated solely by the twin considerations of deep and genuine concern about your health and the emergence of a strong and effective Lok Pal Act in accordance with established constitutional precept and practice," the PM said.
The PM said he hoped that Anna will consider his suggestions and end his fast to regain full health and vitality.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and the PM also met on Tuesday to discuss the situation following which there were talks between Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed and Anna group key member Arvind Kejriwal.
There are reports that pressure is even building up on Rahul Gandhi to write to Anna.
Grappling for a consensus, the government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss the Lokpal Bill issue even as the fast of Anna Hazare entered its eighth day on Tuesday and the Gandhian activist appeared on the stage and exhorted the people to keep the fire of protest burning.
The meeting has been scheduled on Wednesday 3-30 pm.
Anna Hazare , who lost over five kilos of weight, appeared before masses on Tuesday and urged everyone to fight for corruption with non-violence.
"Do not drink or create brawl as I heard about some reports. The government will use such things to destroy our movement. Don't let any blot on the movement," he told the gathering at Ramlila ground.
"Today, the parliament was stalled in two minutes. It is because of our non-violent movement," he said.
He said the people had become the owner of this country in 1950 when India became a republic.
Anna also took on those who criticized him for not taking into his movement the Dalits.
Anna cited the example of villages where he worked and where the upper caste tilled the land of the Dalits to help them clear their debts.
"We have to fight and remove untouchability. Those who criticize me do not know my works. They may be cronies of Kapil Sibal," Anna said.
Anna raised the pitch saying he would love to die for the country fasting instead of dying of a heart attack one day.
In Parliament, there was ruckus in the Lok Sabha and house was adjourned.
Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj called the government draft of Lokpal Bill as useless and shallow.
Pressure was seen mounting on the Indian government to augment reconciliation efforts with Anna Hazare, as the 74-year-old activist’s fast gathers momentum. His close aides said authorities were yet to approach them for talks.
Unconfirmed reports said that it was considering agreeing to include the Prime Minister’s Office under the ambit of proposed Lokpal Bill -- one of the key demands of the activists.
Hazare has been on a public fast since Friday at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, having earlier completed three days of hunger strike under police custody at the Tihar jail demanding that the government adopt a tough ombudsman law that has been on the cards for four decades.
The veteran social activist and his aides, nicknamed “Team Anna”, who have already set an Aug. 30 deadline for the government to get their version of the Lokpal Bill approved, on Monday said they wanted a direct representative of the Prime Minister to discuss the law with them.
Denying the existence of any behind the scenes negotiations, key Hazare aide and former top cop Kiran Bedi earlier tweeted, “Anna is saying let the Govt come forward to discuss the Janlokpal bill. Let the PM send his representatives. Any negotiations are rumours.”
Media reports said Hazare had sought either Prime Minister Singh or Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi or Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to mediate the talks after discussions with bureaucrat Umesh Chandra Sarangi and spiritual leader Bhaiyyu Maharaj failed to yield any result.
However, Kejriwal on Tuesday denied that such specific demands had been made and said the other leaders, including Bhaiyyu Maharaj who were meeting Hazare did not come with authority from the government.
At a function in Kolkata on Monday, acknowledging the public frustration with systemic venality, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday reiterated that his government was “open to a reasoned debate” on the Lokpal Bill.
“Corruption not only weakens the moral fibre of our country, it also promotes inefficiency and cronyism which undermine the social legitimacy of market economics. It also creates a trust deficit,” he said.
“We have introduced a bill in Parliament which is now before the Standing Committee. There are differences of view on details of the Bill. We have made it clear that all concerned individuals should convey their concern on different aspects of the Bill to their representatives in parliament and to the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee has the power to propose any amendment. We are open to a reasoned debate on all these issues,” Singh said.
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