Lokpal: Team Anna indicates 4 venues to hold protest

New Delhi, Aug 3: After Team Anna was denied permission by the Delhi police to hold their protest at Jantar Mantar, the former have come up with four different venues to hold their fast.

The four venues are - Ramlila Maidan, Shaheed Park near ITO, Boat Club and Rajghat.

The team was denied permission on the grounds that the venue has "little capacity".

“it is imperative for the duration of the dharna to be specified as no single organization can be allowed to usurp and lay exclusive claim to the place meant for holding demonstration or protest for an indefinite period of time.

"This space has to be shared equitably with others intending to hold peaceful protests and there are many claimants from all over India seeking to hold demonstration at Jantar Mantar site…This venue has little capacity and it would be difficult to accommodate the huge crowds expected by you and otherwise anticipated by the media," said a letter to Team Anna.

In reply, team Anna wrote to BK Gupta, Police Commissioner and sought an answer on why they were denied permission when Medha Patkar was given permission on the same.

They further said that the police was already aware of the one month time period for the fast and it was wrong to say that the time limit was not defined.

"Though we are not convinced with the reason for denial, if you feel that Jantar Mantar Road is inadequate for accommodating large number of people, we are suggesting the following places in accordance of preference for the proposed fast. Jantar Mantar Road, Boat Club, Rajghat, Ramlila Maidan and Shaheed Park," said the Hazare Team.

There were indications from the police earlier that the chosen venue Jantar Mantar would not be allotted to them and that Hazare look for another venue to conduct their fast. The police had also asked Team Anna on how many days they planned to sit on a protest at Jantar Mantar, along with the number of people expected to attend the fast.

The police further said that Team Anna would've been granted permission if their fast would have been for a day with not more than 2,000 people.

"I don't want people to say that Anna is stubborn on this. Our issue is not Jantar Mantar, our issue is Lokpal," said Anna Hazare over the issue that his motive to sit on a strike was not choosing the venue but Lokpal.

OneIndia News