Anna Hazare finally finds place to fast - its JPN Park!

New Delhi, Aug 11: After the Delhi Police barred Gandhian Anna Hazare from organising his fast unto death protesting against the government's version of the Lokpal Bill at the Jantar Mantar, he seem to have finally zeroed in on the much-publicized fast-protest. The new venue is touted to be the Jai Prakash Narayan Memorial Park, next to Feroze Shah Kotla grounds . The Delhi police is believed to have accepted the proposal as well.

The decision was made late Wednesday night and a comment was made by one of the prominent voices of the campaign, Arvind Kejriwal who said that with the police giving their go-ahead, they will not have to take permission from CPWD who owns the land. The park is situated next to the Shahidi Park where the MCD had plans for building a multilevel underground parking. The ASI had then denied permission citing that the location was in close proximity to many important historical structures.

Wednesday also saw senior Delhi police officials huddled in a meeting to decide on the venue. They finally decided on the venue following a detailed inspection team visiting the place before coming to a conclusion. The Anna Hazare team had also sought an extension from the Delhi Police commissioner B K Gupta on Tuesday to give their choices for the venue of the fast.

A police officer has been quoted as saying, "JPN Park can accommodate 12,000 persons. The protestors can park at the Feroze Shah Kotla parking area." The Feroze Shah Kotla area is a bustling area with many newspaper offices in the vicinity. The venue is mostly used for cricket matches and other high profile events. Any event of such magnitude poses immense challenge for security personnel and police officials in terms of traffic control and security.

The Anna team had zeroed in on four other venues like the Boat Club, Rajghat , Ramlila Maidan and Shahidi Park. The officials however did not give the clearance for the said venues. The Anna team had earlier got an NOC from MCD to conduct the fast at Ram Lila Maidan with the police apprehensive on the idea since the event would hamper security efforts for the Independence Day celebrations.

OneIndia News