-The Hindu   Strongly condemning the arrest of social activist Anna Hazare in New Delhi on Tuesday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal said the Centre's action smacked of “dictatorial tendencies,” trying as it did to throttle the people's right to speak out against any issue. Demanding a “strong Jan Lokpal Bill” that would have the office of Prime Minister within its ambit, the party also insisted on instituting a...

-The Telegraph   The CPM and the BJP closed ranks today, with Sitaram Yechury heading to Sushma Swaraj’s chamber in Parliament to plot strategy on the government crackdown on Anna Hazare. General secretary Prakash Karat’s stringent anti-Congress line prevailed in the CPM, which has so far consciously avoided being seen with the “communal” BJP, and a reluctant Yechury followed party colleague Ramchandra Dome to Sushma’s room after the politburo issued a second statement...

Anna Hazare's so-called "second freedom struggle" raises questions, one, about how long the protests can be sustained, and, two, on the merits of the protesters' demands and methods. But before that, Team Anna should be given credit for reviving long-somnolent mass politics in this country, something beyond the Opposition that has been reduced to activism on the idiot box. It shows how much anti-government political space had been abandoned by the...

-The Indian Express   Terming the Centre's assurance of keeping madrasas out of the ambit of Right to Education as misleading, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has announced to continue with its campaign against inclusion of madarsas in the Act. "The government recently gave a statement that madarsas and other religious institutions will not be covered under RTE Act which is misleading," members of AIMPLB Zafaryab Jilani said. He said that...

-The Times of India   Protests swelled across the nation on Wednesday in support of Gandhian Anna Hazare's fast-unto-death in Tihar Jail. The 74-year-old Anna fasted on Wednesday as thousands of his followers gathered outside the jail, the latest development in a crisis that saw him arrested on Tuesday and then refuse to leave jail after the government ordered his release. Thousands of Anna supporters on Wednesday also took out a march from India...