India against corruption: Parties slam govt for cracking down on Anna Hazare's team

NEW DELHI: Parties ranging from the Left to the Right today came down heavily on the Government, condemning detention of Anna Hazare and the refusal to give him permission to hold his fast demanding a strong Lokpal, saying it is an attack on democratic rights of citizens.

Slamming the government for the police action against the Gandhian and his team, political parties accused the government of stifling the legitimate rights of the people and described it as a "sad day for Indian democracy".

"I think it is a very sad day for Indian democracy. You cannot take away the right to protest and the right to dissent....this we have never seen earlier. This is completely unprecedented," leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said.

Senior BJP leader L K Advani said he was not surprised at the detention of Hazare and charged the government with looking for scapegoats and stopping peaceful protests instead of fighting corruption.

"I am not surprised at this development. This is the direction in which this government is moving. Instead of dealing with the problem of corruption and owning responsibility it is trying to find scapegoats and stopping peaceful protests," Advani told PTI.

Condemning the police action against Hazare and his team, senior CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat termed it as an "attack" on democratic rights of the people.

"We condemn the arrest of Hazare and his team and the ban on their hunger strike. We consider it as an attack on the democratic rights of the citizens," she said.