New Delhi:
Baba Ramdev is back in Delhi. The yoga guru was in the Capital today to visit Rajbala, one of his woman supporters injured during police action at his yoga camp plus sit-in-protest at Ramlila Maidan earlier this month.
This is Ramdev's first visit to the Capital since the June 4 incident. He reached Delhi from Haridwar via road this afternoon and straight away headed to GB Pant Hospital in central Delhi to visit Rajbala. The 53-year-old resident of Gurgaon has been in hospital in serious condition for over 20 days. Doctors had earlier said that even if she recovers, chances are she will be paralysed for life.
Delhi police say there is no special arrangement for Baba Ramdev's visit and that he will be allowed to come in without any restrictions.
Late in the intervening night of June 4-5, the police lathicharged and teargassed 65,000 people who were with Baba Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan in support of his protest against corruption. Baba Ramdev was caught trying to escape to the railway station and was flown to his ashram in Uttarakhand. The police blame the violence at the camp on the chaos that followed as Baba Ramdev tried to evade arrest by disappearing into the crowd.
The police said that it was forced to retaliate after supporters of Baba Ramdev threw stones and flower pots at them when policemen tried to reach the stage where Baba Ramdev was delivering a speech.
At the beginning of the month, the government spent considerable time and effort on wooing the Baba, promising to pay attention to his list of demands if he decided to cancel his hunger strike. The Baba wants the government to recover black money from foreign bank accounts and confiscate it so the un-taxed money can be treated as "a national asset." Four ministers rushed to the airport to receive him when he landed in Delhi. After days of negotiations, however, the gloves came off. While the Baba was in the first few hours of his hunger strike, the government disclosed a letter where the Baba had committed - even before starting his fast - to ending it on the first day. The Baba had clearly struck a deal with the government, those who were negotiating with him said - a deal that he did not disclose to his lakhs of supporters. The Baba's team retaliated that the agreement had served as a tactical move.
Activists and Opposition parties have described the late night police action, when many were sleeping at the camp, as a violation of the right to peacefully protest. (With PTI inputs)