DELHI: Police have used tear gas and canes to forcibly end a mass hunger strike by yoga guru Baba Ramdev and tens of thousands of his supporters, claiming he did not have permission for his protest against government corruption.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
However, while his protest was ended violently, it appears the charismatic guru may have won an agreement from the government to work with him to battle corruption. More than 40,000 people had joined Ramdev in his protest against the graft scandals which have dogged this Indian government and the endemic corruption which blights all levels of Indian society.
At about 1am yesterday, as the promised ''fast until death'' entered its second day, thousands of police surrounded the Ramlila Maidan grounds in central Delhi, where the protest was taking place, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd. Protesters formed several human rings around the saffron-robed Ramdev, resisting police efforts to get to him by throwing stones and fighting with officers.
Ramdev was flown out of Delhi on a chartered plane to Dehradun. A police spokesman said permission had been granted for Ramdev to hold a yoga function for 5000 people, ''but more than 40,000 had turned up at the venue, and it was not possible to provide security to them'', Rajan Bhagat told reporters.
Ramdev, who heads a multibillion dollar global yoga empire with millions of devotees, began his hunger strike with a laundry list of often impractical demands, including the death penalty for corrupt officials, abolishing the 500 ($10.30) and 1000 rupee notes, and abandoning English in schools.
He told supporters that his fast would continue ''until death'' or until his demands were met.
It has been reported that he was given a written guarantee from the government that they would work with him to address corruption issues, but he did not tell his supporters or break off the protest.
The government saw this as reneging on his promise, and decided to end it for him.
