-The Hindustan Times Never a dull moment in Indian politics — or whatever you choose to call what the nation was subjected to last week that culminated in self-styled activist, yoga teacher Ramdev being evicted from the Ramlila Maidan on late Saturday night. The government finally did the right thing. After days of wooing the man — with the four Union ministers sent to placate the Baba-ji outside an airport — and...
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A weakness born of bad intent by Siddharth Varadarajan
Like millions of others across India, I have spent the past week repelled by the spectacle of a weak government entering into improbable contortions over the naive and somewhat bizarre demands of Baba Ramdev. And when the “toughness” followed in the early hours of Sunday, it came in a typically cowardly fashion — with police action in the dead of the night against unarmed supporters who did not pose an...
More »Swami, Anna and Baba
-The Business Standard Swami Agnivesh with his Swami Vivekananda-style turban, Anna Hazare with his Gandhi cap, Baba Ramdev with his yogi’s beard...Who next? Time for a Maulvi? The voices from India’s civil society are getting curiouser and curiouser. Time was when gurus and yogis like these worried about the after life, or about the environment and vegetarianism. But today they have come to the centre-stage of Indian politics. Is it...
More »CBI, I-T on Ramdev trail by Saroj Nagi
-The Hindustan Times After the midnight purge, Baba Ramdev now faces CBI and income tax department scrutiny. The government activated the two agencies to look into the companies, properties and audit accounts of the yoga guru and his aides on Sunday, the day it broke up his fast, evicting him and his supporters from the Ramlila Maidan. Initial paperwork has begun. Under the scanner is the functioning of about 200 companies with...
More »The end of a circus in Delhi
-Live Mint In their politics, they are in the same class as the Maoists-the difference being that the latter want to break the system with a gun; for others the chosen weapon is satyagraha. Baba Ramdev’s show is over, for the time being. Early on Sunday morning police swooped on his tent city in the heart of Delhi and detained him. His followers dispersed quietly after an initial round of skirmishes...
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