Anna group against Ramdev's decision to raise armed wing

The Anna Hazare group today distanced itself from Ramdev's decision to raise an armed force to resist any government crackdown on the anti-corruption movement, saying all protests have to be non-violent.

The Anna Hazare group on Wednesday distanced itself from Ramdev's decision to raise an armed force to resist any government crackdown on the anti-corruption movement, saying all protests have to be non-violent.

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Civil rights activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who sit with Hazare in the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill, said all protests have to remain non-violent.

"We do not support this (Ramdev's announcement of forming an armed wing). All protests have to be non-violent," Kejriwal told reporters in New Delhi.

Asked whether they still remain associated with Ramdev despite his fresh move, Bhushan said the question was not whether they were with Ramdev or not but one has to protest against the assault on the fundamental and democratic rights of a person.

"Hazare's fast was not in support of Ramdev but the police assault on his protest. We respect the right of everyone to stage a protest," he said and termed the yoga guru's announcement of forming an armed wing as "very uncomfortable".

On whether they were encouraging the "anarchism" propogated by Ramdev, Kejriwal said they were neither supporting Ramdev nor encouraging anarchism by anyone.