NEW DELHI: Stepping up its attack on Anna Hazare ahead of his August 16 fast, the government on Sunday said that the social activist’s right to protest was not absolute and his comments on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were not the language of a “Gandhian”.
Two senior Cabinet ministers Kapil Sibal and Ambika Soni addressed a press conference on Sunday to launch an attack on Anna’s audacity to question the Prime Minister’s moral authority to hoist Independence Day flag.
They also termed Anna’s demand for the immediate acceptance of Jan Lokpal Bill at a time when it (Lokpal Bill) is already before Parliament as “unconstitutional”.
“Parliament is supreme legislative body. Only it can make a law. Whatever Anna has to say, he could say before the Parliament’s standing committee looking into the Bill. He had already done it once and can do it again,” Sibal, the lawyer-turned-politician, argued.
On the issue of government being dictatorial, Sibal said: “The right to protest is not an absolute right, it also imposes certain obligations on the citizen. His comments on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were not the language of a “Gandhian”. A fast is meant for personal purification, not for publicity.”
“One can protest, but does that mean you can protest with 5,000 - 6,000 people in front of the Supreme Court or near Parliament. Right to protest does not mean right to protest at the place where you like. Right to free speech is also subject to defamation. Also, fundamental right is not absolute,” Sibal argued.
There may be a certain set of conditions as the police think fit for doing protest at one place, for Burari, it might be different, he explained.
“It seems Anna has a misapprehension about the fundamental rights. They say that they will not stop protesting until a Lokpal draft as what they want is introduced in Parliament, nothing is more undemocratic. People have rights, but they also have responsibilities,” he said.
