Kejriwal writes to PM, says ready to face punishment

Arvind Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption (IAC) on Monday shot off an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying in case the UPA government considered protesting against corruption a crime, the organisation was ready to face the consequences.

Arvind Kejriwal-led India Against Corruption (IAC) on Monday shot off an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying in case the UPA government considered protesting against corruption a crime, the organisation was ready to face the consequences.

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The four-page letter was written to highlight the alleged "harassment" of IAC volunteers by the Delhi Police for the organisation's 26 August protest outside the residences of the Prime Minister, UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and BJP president Nitin Gadkari.

"We have said that whatever we did on 26 August was for the country. If it is a crime for the government, we are ready to face punishment…If you mean that fighting against corruption is breaking the law, then we have broken it and we will keep breaking this law," stated the letter also signed by Prashant Bhushan and Manish Sisodia, among others.

Kejriwal said he was pleading guilty for having organized a peaceful protest demanding the cancellation of all 142 coal blocks allotted between 2006 and 2009 and an independent probe into the issue, but his supporters should not be harassed by the police.

"The police have been harassing our supporters. We have told the police to arrest us and not harass our volunteers. We are responsible. We will accept the charges and we are ready to face the punishment," he said.

IAC volunteers said their letter to the Prime Minister should be treated as their confessional letter and they were prepared to face the consequences.

"We have also asked police that we want to record our statement before a magistrate. They said they will get back to us," Bhushan said. The activists said they were admitting they had violated prohibitory orders.