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Pratyush wrote:....
CoalGate replaces 2G as the mother of all revenue-loss scams
A Political Alternative To Alternative Politics
With the Lokpal cause stonewalled, a new political course opens up
PRASHANT BHUSHAN
Most people’s movements or committed individuals have fared badly in their foray into electoral politics, for they have been unable to demonstrate the capacity to mobilise large sections of people across the country. People therefore do not see them as viable and credible players, and vote for the lesser evil among the established parties. The enormous public support for the anti-corruption movement has laid the foundation for it being perceived as a credible force for ushering in such an electoral revolution.
For this to succeed, however, it will need the preparation of a vision and agenda which is truly revolutionary and yet practical. It will require the setting up of an organisation formulated differently from other political parties, where people volunteer and participate not for office or power, but because of their concern for the country. It will require a truly transparent and participatory method of selecting candidates which ensures that only those who are honest, have a record of public service and share this vision of revolutionary systemic change, get selected. For all this to happen, it would require the participation and involvement of people and movements who are concerned about the state of affairs in the country. We hope all such people will come forward and participate in this revolutionary undertaking.
Former army chief General (retd) VK Singh, who has associated himself with anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare after retirement in May, is likely to be one of the 10 core team members of Hazare’s non-political outfit, sources close to the activist told HT. There has been intense speculation that Singh would join the political party that Hazare’s associates Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan plan to float in the near future.
But it now seems clear that Singh, who was not available for comment when contacted by HT, will be part of the core team of the anti-corruption campaign led by Hazare.
MUMBAI: A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded Aseem Trivedi, an Anna Hazare supporter and political cartoonist, to seven days police custody for drawing an allegedly derogatory sketch and uploading it on his web portal, an activist said.
Trivedi, 25, an activist of India Against Corruption, was picked up on Saturday evening by Mumbai police from Bandra-Kurla following a non-bailable arrest warrant issued against him.
He is accused of uploading "ugly and obscene" matter on his web portal and for putting up objectionable banners insulting the Indian constitution during Anna Hazare's anti-corruption agitation here last December.
He was presented before a magistrate Sunday and remanded to police custody for questioning, an IAC spokesperson said.
Trivedi faces sedition charges under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, among other offences under the Information Technology Act.
An IAC spokesperson claimed that police did not allow them to meet Trivedi when they went to meet him in the lock-up in the morning to discuss his defence procedures.
"Even in the court, they (police) did not allow the IAC people to meet him and in fact they roughed up and bluffed IAC volunteers who had gathered in support of Trivedi outside the court," the spokesperson said.
The IAC alleged Trivedi "was badly roughed up and pushed into the police vehicle where his head banged against the vehicle body".
"We are shocked at the way an artist and activist is being treated by police. The IAC Mumbai will always support freedom of expression which is the right of every individual given to us by the constitution," the IAC said.
Dipanker wrote:Cartoonist sent to jail for cartoons against UPA govt.
Anna's cartoonist supporter sent to police custody
MUMBAI: A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded Aseem Trivedi, an Anna Hazare supporter and political cartoonist, to seven days police custody for drawing an allegedly derogatory sketch and uploading it on his web portal, an activist said.
....
An IAC spokesperson claimed that police did not allow them to meet Trivedi when they went to meet him in the lock-up in the morning to discuss his defence procedures.
"Even in the court, they (police) did not allow the IAC people to meet him and in fact they roughed up and bluffed IAC volunteers who had gathered in support of Trivedi outside the court," the spokesperson said.
......
"We are shocked at the way an artist and activist is being treated by police. The IAC Mumbai will always support freedom of expression which is the right of every individual given to us by the constitution," the IAC said.
IAC takeover?FWAC had less than 70K fans till yesterday. Today they have 4 lac + !! IACor page is out.
linkSuddenly India Against Corruption becomes a movement owned by a few? Hain! These preaching kids stopped from singing Bhajans saying it was not secular in Freedom Park
linkHonestly I don't know what is between them. But I hear from some volunteers that FB page was messed (& merged) at the behest of UPA
linkconfirmed that Dept of IT and Telecom had a role in this episode. Hope Facebook folks reply to administrators of that page
Perhaps this is why. Corruption fighters battle for Facebook page rightsToday a big regret for having been a part of it Bhai. The disillusionment started when they stopped us singing Vandemataram
Team Anna on Wednesday suffered a vertical split with Anna Hazare and some top activists choosing to part ways with the Arvind Kejriwal-led group, opposing their plans to form a political party.
After a roller-coaster ride of 18 months in which they came together to run a high-steam anti-graft movement, the group led by Hazare had acrimonious discussions with Kejriwal and his supporters including Prashant Bushan and Shanti Bhushan on the issue of forming a political party.
Good that Anna realized the Kejriwal's plan of Congress B team to bring back the wretched dynasty again!Backed by activists including Kiran Bedi and Justice Santosh Hegde, Hazare told the other group during the nine-hour deliberations that they were free to form a political party but cannot use his name or photo for their campaign.
"It is unfortunate that the team has separated ... I will not join any party or any group. I will not go for their campaign. I have told them not to use my photo or my name in their campaign. You fight on your own," he told reporters here.
Hazare refused to accept the survey done by India Against Corruption which overwhelmingly favoured a political path, saying he does not agree with the exercise done through social networking sites.
He says that when the five Congress ministers came to receive Baba Ramdev at the airport and held talks at Claridges hotel, one of the demands made by Kapil Sibal was that Anna Hazare should not be allowed to come to the Baba’s stage. ''If Baba comes talks fail, Sibal told us,’’ says Sharma.
"The very next day Arvind Kejriwal gave a list of conditions for us if we wanted Anna to share stage with the Baba. Kapil Sibal also told us that he was talking to Arvind every day. This was confirmed later by Arvind to me," says Sharma.
Again in December when the crowds were thin in Mumbai, Baba offered to come and join the protests but Arvind did not allow it.
While first it was Sibal who was doing the manipulation, later it was Sandeep Dixit who was in touch with Arvind followed by Yogendra Yadav.
"You need time to build a party. If they form a party now they would help the Congress which is what they want," says Sharma.
He recalled that Kejriwal had said earlier that he would not have a party if Anna did not want it. He should stick to this position and not have a party now. Or the movement and the party both would be stillborn, says Sharma.
Sharma says that Kejriwal’s ego and the huge media coverage was his undoing. A volunteer told me that Kejriwal said that if he raised a hand, the whole country would stand up…Such was his vanity . This led to his fall. He can still get up and recover lost ground by going back to Anna and the movement, says Sharma.
The Enforcement Directorate's (ED) case against Baba Ramdev' s close aide Balkrishna under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) has raised eyebrows within the department itself. Many have pointed out that those handling the case have not yet gathered enough evidence to suggest that yoga guru' s aide was engaged in laundering proceeds of crime: the offence that PMLA is designed to deal with.
ED' s enforcement case information report (ECIR) against Balkrishna, registered on August 22, accuses him of operating through England, Wales and Scotland and that the agency is probing the "proceeds of crime generated and laundered at the strength of the passport obtained illegally by the accused Balkrishna".
However, the details provided by the ED don' t back up the charge that he was involved in money laundering, sources said. They also said that the ECIR is limited to the charge that Balkrishna obtained passport on the basis of a fake date of birth certificate, an alleged offence for which he has already been chargesheeted by the CBI.
Balakrishna was arrested by the CBI and is currently on bail granted by Uttarakhand High Court.
The case against Balkrishna was registered after the nationwide black money stir launched by his mentor Baba Ramdev. The yoga guru and Balkrishna have accused the government of unleashing its investigative agencies against them for leading anti-government protests against graft.
Registering a PMLA case, or ECIR as it is called, requires the agency to provide specific details of charges of money laundering. However, in Balakrishna' s case, the column where the details of property allegedly amassed through crime is to be listed, there are no details except the allegation that the accused "has visited a number of countries at the strength of his passport obtained by using forged documents and established a number of trusts and companies".
The ECIR goes on to merely catalogue the trusts and companies in which Balkrishna is associated as a trustee or a director. These include: Patanjali Yogpeeth UK Trust, Patanjali Yogpeeth (Trust) Mauritius, Patanjali Yogpeeth Tatha Ayurved Company, Nepal; Herboved Inc, USA and Patanjali Malagasy SARI, Madagascar.
ED has, however, defended the use of PMLA against Balakrishna reasoning that it was necessary for investigating the financial transactions that he made using a passport he had procured illegally.
Some months before Anna Hazare split with his once close associate Arvind Kejriwal, the latter had offered to hand over to the veteran activist unspent funds of India Against Corruption (IAC) lying with Kejriwal’s NGO Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF), sources close to Hazare in his village Ralegan Siddhi said.
Hazare, however, declined to accept the money, these sources said.
They said that with tensions beginning to peak in Team Anna over converting the anti-corruption movement into a political party, Kejriwal had travelled to Ralegan Siddhi “a few months ago” with a cheque of “around Rs 2 crore” and requested Anna to accept it. The sources could not recollect the exact date when Kejriwal made his request.
“Arvindji had brought a cheque of an amount around Rs 2 crore. That was all the IAC money that PCRF had in its account then. This was the time when formation of a political party had become a bone of contention in the core team. Arvindji offered the cheque to Annaji. However, Annaji refused, and Arvindji returned to Delhi with the cheque,” a close aide of Hazare’s told The Sunday Express.
Dinesh Waghela, a former member of the now defunct IAC core committee, confirmed that Kejriwal had made the offer to Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi.
Kejriwal could not be reached for a comment. Text messages and emails remained unanswered.
The issue of unspent IAC funds lying with PCRF was reportedly raised by an ex-core committee member in Hazare’s September 20 meeting with pro-movement activists in Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan.
The ex-core committee member is learnt to have asked Hazare if they should request Kejriwal to hand over the IAC volunteer database and the unspent donation funds, as it was this faction that would continue the anti-graft movement for which the donations were originally collected.
To this, Hazare said he had already declined Kejriwal’s offer of the money, said another ex-core committee member who was present at the meeting.
“Try to get the data but don’t ask for the money. Arvind had offered me Rs 2 crore but I refused to take it and asked him to keep it,” this ex-core committee member quoted Hazare as having said.
Despite several attempts, the exact amount of IAC donation money that PCRF currently holds in its account could not be ascertained.
Since its hugely successful protest at Jantar Mantar in April 2011, the IAC received liberal monetary support from donors. According to an audit report published by IAC last year, in the six months between April 1 and September 30, 2011, it received Rs 2.94 crore in donations, including Rs 1.14 crore received during the Ramlila agitation alone.
According to the report, the IAC spent Rs 1.57 crore during these six months.
After this audit report, published in November 2011, the IAC hasn’t made public the details of donations collected and expenditure incurred until now, barring details of the collection of Rs 39.5 lakh during its recent protest at Jantar Mantar from July 25 to August 3, on the last day of which the announcement on forming a political party was made.
“Those who favour party has been saying that if Anna says, then they will not form a party. But despite that, they have decided to go ahead with the plan against my decision. Sometimes, it is also said they were forming the party because Anna has decided so. This is not right,” he said.
In a new blog post, the 75-year-old activist also said the movement was not divided in the past two years despite efforts by UPA government. But, he added, now it has split even without the government putting in any effort as one group wanted to take the electoral route.
Expressing confidence that Lokpal Bill will be passed before 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he said “unfortunately, the movement has split even before we got the Bill. One wants to go political and the other wants to keep the movement alive”.
“Now, there is an effort to link me with some party, or communal organisations. I have never in my life been a part of any such organisations. Till my last breath, I will not be part of any such things… the movement has split due to politics. Efforts are on to destroy whatever is left now. People should not fall into such accusations.
“As elections are nearing, some party will try to misuse my name to garner votes. They will try to associate myself with them. There will be misuse of movement’s name. You should not trust all these. The movement will remain movement only. Because it is sacred,” he said.
RALEGAN SIDDHI: Coming out in support of Arvind Kejriwal on his allegations against Robert Vadra, Anna Hazare on Saturday asked why Congress is fearing a judicial probe in the matter if they are sure that the charges are false.
"Many Congress leaders say that these allegations are only because of electoral compulsions and are baseless. We say that if the allegations are untrue, then why don't they order a judicial probe into it. And now if it is false, file a defamation case against Arvind. Truth will be out," he said.
Hazare's remarks came against the backdrop of Kejriwal levelling allegations yesterday that Vadra had bought property worth crores of rupees with an "unsecured interest free loan" of Rs 65 crore given by realty major DLF.
He said when they raised allegations against 15 "corrupt" ministers earlier, the government noted that there was no case in them. "Now, two of the ministers are out. The coal scam is out. Whole country has seen it," he said.
Hope AK trains his gun on the congis "great hope" also. he seems to have great traction with media unlike others-- whether opposition parties or BR.He asked why only Vadra was being targeted by activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal and his associates when the properties under question also belonged to his wife.
I see it as a good sign. May be after sometime, all MPs are considered as Mango People only with limited privileges only.New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Notwithstanding pressure, Air India staff refused to waive the charges for 193 kg of excess baggage being carried by three MPs from Guwahati to Delhi and flew the goods in cargo after they made the payments. Three Lok Sabha MPs -- UP Congress chief and Faizabad MP Nirmal Khatri, Congress MP from Almora Pradeep Tamta and BJP MP from Meerut Rajendra Agrawal -- were returning from Guwahati in Air India's flight (AI 9612) on Tuesday, airline sources said. They wanted to check-in together with 268 kg of baggage but an economy class passenger is allowed to carry only 25 kg of checked-in luggage as per airline policy. The MPs, who are members of Parliament's Rajbhasha panel and had gone to Guwahati for an official meeting, wanted the airline's station manager to waive off the excess baggage charges. But the airline officials expressed inability citing Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh's August directive prohibiting any waiver on excess baggage allowance to VVIPs, ministers and bureaucrats, the sources said. The MPs were asked to book the excess baggage in cargo after paying a fee, to which they agreed and the baggage came to Delhi in another flight, they said. PTI SMJ ARC RAI
The Uttarakhand government Friday recommended a CBI probe into the disappearance of Guru Shankar Dev Singh. The ayurveda expert and teacher of yoga guru Baba Ramdev is missing since 2007.
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh had last month raised the issue, saying something was wrong in the matter.
Congress members have been hinting at complicity between the yoga guru and his associate Acharya Balkrishna in the disappearance of Shankar Dev Singh.
But Baba Ramdev accused Digvijaya Singh of "stooping too low".He said the police had tried to find his guru but were unable to trace him.
Baba Ramdev is heading the Patanjali Trust since Shankar Dev Singh's disappearance.
