Ramdev a 'face of RSS', says government justifying crackdown

New Delhi: Accusing him of being a front for the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the government Sunday said the action against Ramdev and his supporters was justified.

"Today it has become clear that he is another face of the RSS," a combative Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in the first official reaction on the forced dispersal of Ramdev and thousands of his supporters from Ramlila ground after midnight Saturday.

Sibal said Ramdev had told the government he would only hold a yoga camp for about 5,000 people at the Ramlila ground. "How did he collect 50,000 people?" the minister asked.

Saying the government was confident of handling any situation following Ramdev's externment from Delhi, he refused to go into details of the talks he and other ministers had with the yoga guru.

The government held more than one round of talks with Ramdev before he went on a hunger strike Saturday morning against corruption and black money stashed abroad by Indians.

"What we have done is right," Sibal told reporters.

 

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

Police break up Ramdev's anti-corruption fast, protest venue cleared

Hundreds of police swooped on the Ramlila ground here just after midnight Saturday and forcibly removed Baba Ramdev after dispersing his restive supporters with tear gas and batons, ending a high-profile   »

Thousands lend support to Ramdev; Digvijay slams 'five-star satyagraha'

Communalism dangerous than corruption, Ramdev fast political conspiracy'

  Most Read

Rabies deaths rattle Andhra

As Challa Babu pleaded with doctors to save him, the medical staff and his parents watched helplessly. The 16-year-old lost the battle to rabies, a disease that has claimed at least 13 lives in one month in Andhra  »

Civil society members divided over Ramdev's fast

Even as yoga guru Baba Ramdev Saturday drew thousands of supporters at the Ramlila Ground here for his fast against black money, some civil society members present at a similar fast by social   »

Ramdev an attention seeker, fast a sham: Netizens

  News Pick

Unsure government finds itself cornered once again

There are several factors behind the Manmohan Singh government's predicament. One is that the government has seemingly lost its nerve because its reputation is at its lowest ebb. Hence it appears to be bowing and  »

Maharashtra's 'Mother of Orphans' wins Woman Of The Year Award

Born as an unwanted child and bred in poverty and obscurity, eminent social worker Sindhutai Sapkal, who is known as the 'Mother of Orphans' in Maharashtra, has been conferred the  »

Mamata orders judicial probe into Bengal legislator's death

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged suicide of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator  »

CPI-M legislator jumps to death in Bengal

Gutka pouches worth Rs.one million seized in Goa

The food and drugs administration (FDA) department of Goa Saturday arrested a couple and seized nearly Rs.1 million worth gutka pouches from them, police said. The couple, identified as Ravindra Matkar and Rohini Matkar, were  »

Netanyahu and Obama: What's the difference?

Two speeches made by a President and a Prime Minister within the short span of three days confirm what we have known all along: the US and Israeli governments have no interest in a just solution to the Israel-Palestine  »

Picture of the Day

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh addressing the Joint Session of Ethiopian Parliament, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 26, 2011.