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Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of attacking civil liberties, a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance met President Pratibha Patil to demand convening of a special session of Parliament to discuss the issue of black money and police action against Baba Ramdev and his supporters.
A delegation of NDA leaders led by BJP Parliamentary Party Chairman L K Advani met the President and handed over a memorandum demanding immediate convening of a special session of Parliament and passage of a resolution declaring the ill-gotten money stashed away abroad as national asset. Those accompanying Advani were Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj, party president Nitin Gadkari, former president of the party Rajnath Singh and deputy leader of Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia.
The memorandum said in the special session, the opposition wants to "compel" the government to explain its "brutal action against peaceful protesters and apologise for this attack on civil liberties and democratic rights". It said the opposition also favoured passage of a resolution declaring all Indian money stashed away in foreign banks as a national asset.
"Never since those fateful days of June 1975 has the country witnessed such a brutal attack on civil liberties and democratic rights enshrined in the Constitution as it did just past midnight on June 4-5 this year. Your Excellency, as the guardian of the sacrosanct Constitution, we believe it is your duty to safeguard its principles and ensure that people's rights are not trampled upon," the resolution said.
"Through this Memorandum we therefore seek to draw your attention to the concerted attempt by the Government of the day to stamp out people's yearning for a corruption-free regime, specifically their genuine demand to unearth and bring back to India money that has been illicitly stashed away in foreign banks and tax havens. The barbaric attack on peaceful supporters of yoga guru Baba Ramdev by the Delhi police on the instructions of the Union Government, is truly reminiscent of General Dyers' psychopathic action against freedom fighters in Jallianwala Bagh. Never before in recent history has brute force been unleashed on an assembly of unsuspecting people who were peacefully sleeping at that hour," it read.
After a 20-minute meeting with Patil, Advani told newsmen at Rashtrapati Bhavan, "I wrote a letter to the prime minister in 2009 when Germany said that it was ready to release the names of those who have opened account in German banks. But the prime minister has taken no action." He referred to Dr Singh's government as the most corrupt government since Independence.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said, "The president met the NDA delegation led by L K Advani. He requested the president to summon a special session of Parliament to explain the action taken against protesters or civil society activists and to discuss issues related to corruption and black money".
Patil gave them a patient hearing and assured the delegation that the memorandum will be examined and sent to the government for appropriate action. "The president reminded that receiving a delegation and memorandum have never been a mere formality and that appropriate follow up action has always been taken," the spokesperson said.
The BJP, whose top leaders are holding a satyagraha at Rajghat to protest the crackdown on Ramdev and his supporters, accused the government of "shielding and protecting" the corrupt.