Baba Ramdev refuses to call off fast

The Indian government on Wednesday failed to convince Baba Ramdev to call of his anti-graft ?fast unto death? set to begin this weekend, even after it dispatched its top political fixers to placate the famed yoga guru.

Fast hasn?t ended, they wanted to kill me: Baba Ramdev

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who called an emergency meeting in the evening, seemed clearly apprehensive of having an April-like situation when another anti-corruption five-day hunger strike by Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare forced him to give in to his demands.

Furious activity was visible in his cabinet since early morning when top ministers huddled yet again to discuss the impending impasse and invited Ramdev to the capital to negotiate his demands and convince him to call off his hunger strike set to begin on June 4.

A red carpet welcome greeted the bearded, saffron-clad yoga star as he descended from a private jet in the New Delhi international airport where the government?s stalwarts including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal went to receive him.

However, the Congress-led coalition government, which has been seriously weakened in recent months by the onslaught of several corruption scandals, projected a dialed down image of their desperation.

The ministers had gone to ?meet? the dissenting yoga guru-turned-social activist who commands a fan following that runs in millions of Indian middle class to try and address his concerns, government officials told the media.

After the meeting at the airport even though Ramdev said that the talks were “positive” and they also concurred on some issues, he remained firm that until government agreed to all his demands, the strike would go ahead as planned.

Painting an intimidating image, he said that over one crore people would join him when he started his fast at the Ram Lila maidan in New Delhi, where massive arrangements, including the erection of large tents, were on to prepare for the ?satyagraha?.

?On June 4 more than 1 crore Indians will fast on day one. Crores want to see the country free from this [corruption, black money],? Ramdev said, as he examined the preparations on the grounds which is expected to bustle with a full capacity crowd of over 25,000 supporters.

?Till there is complete consensus, our satyagraha will go ahead as planned. Our first issue is black money and the second is corruption,? he said.

The yoga guru has placed forth a bevy of demands, the prime of which talk about “quantifiable steps” to repatriate Rs 400 lakh core worth of Indian illicit funds supposedly stashed away in offshore banks.

Ramdev has said that this so-called ?black money? suspected of being funds paid for bribes or other illegal transactions and stashed away to evade taxes could provide a huge boost to the Indian economy.

?When the black money is brought back, our economy will be so huge, our currency will be so strong that our one rupee will be equal to $50,? he was quoted in an interview earlier this week, where he demanded that the government take firm steps on retrieving the funds.

His other proposals also include withdrawing large denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 that he says are used for illicit transactions, introduce the death penalty for corrupt officials and dispose of graft lawsuits within one year.

Even though some of the demands of the 46-year-old guru, who believes that homosexuality along with Cancer and HIV/AIDS can be cured through yoga, seemed eccentric, the government appeared to tread carefully around him.

After their meeting on Wednesday, Union Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal said, “We met Baba Ramdev for over two hours. Ramdevji raised lot of important issues that can impact the future of our country. He raised broad ranges of issues.”

?The issues he raised are exceptionally serious and as we run a responsive government, we will take up all these issues. We will have a dialogue with each other in the next couple of days,? he said.

Besides Sibal, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Parliamentary Affairs Minister PK Bansal and Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay met Ramdev trying their best to woo him, indicating the worries of the government in diffusing the situation.

The ministers reportedly passed on a second personal appeal from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and notified him of the steps they were taking to recover the black money from foreign accounts. The process was complicated, and plenty of protocol was involved, they said.

However, Ramdev, whose business empire of yoga sessions, televisions shows and ayurvedic medicine generates over 180 crore every year and commands a huge fan following, seemed unmoved and announced the strike stood as of now.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram later in the day said that the government would soon get into another round of talks with the yoga guru. ?I am told that they have agreed to meet again on June 3 to continue the discussions and I will advise everyone to observe restraint,? he said.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister himself appealed to Ramdev to call off his planned hunger strike and said that there was still time to tackle the issue and sought cooperation from ?all concerned?.

?Corruption is a big problem and we are making serious efforts to tackle it. It’s not a divisive issue. We have to work with Baba Ramdev and look for solutions. I have already asked him not to take recourse to an agitation,? he said.

On Saturday, his announcement that he will fast-unto-death as part of a ?satyagraha? against black money and corruption aiding tax evasion from June 4, had garnered support from over 32 lakh people online.

The threat comes close on the heels of similar campaign by Gandhian social activist Anna Hazare in April that forced the government to form a joint panel of ministers and activists to draft a tough ombudsman bill – the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Hazare and his followers, whom Ramdev had invited to join his movement, on Wednesday voiced their full support for the yoga guru?s agitation. Anna’s associates RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and former cop and Kiran Bedi said they were on the same page on the issue.

Opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) voiced their support for Ramdev?s movement and exercised the opportunity to once again whack the beleaguered Congress-led government on the corruption issue.

Graft has long been accepted as a way of life in India. In its latest corruption index, Transparency International ranked the country, one of few yet to ratify the United Nations convention against corruption, at 78, placing it below neighbouring rival China.