Anna Hazare stir is Brahminical: Swami Agnivesh
NEW DELHI: Swami Agnivesh, who was sidelined by Team Anna because of their suspicion that he was a "government mole", hit out on Saturday at his former comrades, accusing them of promoting a cult around Anna Hazare and behaving like Brahmanvadis.
"Everyone was wearing 'I am Anna' written cap...what was that...it was an attempt to build a cult...They should not have tried to do this...This was Brahmanvad," Agnivesh said.
Agnivesh also criticized and demanded apology from another Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal for his remark that Anna is above Parliament. "Those who have said that their leader is above Parliament must apologize," he said.
Though the Arya Samaj leader took no name, the remark highlighted the bitterness between him and Team Anna.
Once a visible figure in Team Anna's activities, Agnivesh lost his prominence after a TV channel stealthily filmed him criticizing his former colleagues to one Kapilji on phone. The "sting" was carried out when Anna and his colleagues were locked in a tense confrontation with the government, and was seen as an act of betrayal by anti-corruption campaigners.
Agnivesh's claim that the "Kapilji" he was talking to was not HRD minister Kapil Sibal, but Kapilji Maharaj, a guru, did not find any takers from the anti-graft brigade.
Agnivesh chose the platform of the All India Federation of SC/ST Organizations - known critics of Team Anna and their version of the Jan Lokpal bill - to air his views. The Federation has alleged that the terms of the Jan Lokpal bill were loaded against non-upper castes: something that Agnivesh did not seem to agree with while he was with Team Anna. Naturally, the accusation of Brahmanvad went down well with his audience.
Agnivesh reasoned that he fell out with Team Anna after he failed to convince them to push the parliamentary Standing Committee considering the Lokpal bill to incorporate the provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill.
"...I tried to persuade them that the Standing Committee can make changes in government's version of Lokpal bill. It has the power to change the entire legislation...It is like a mini-Parliament....and we should meet, pressurize and convince the Committee to adopt provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill...we should keep meeting the Committee...but they did not listen to me," Agnivesh said.
Addressing the gathering, dalit leader Udit Raj demanded representation of dalits, Muslim and backwards in the Lokpal Committee and asked Anna Hazare to accept the provisions of Bahujan Lokpal to get the support of these social groups. "We want reservation in Lokpal. We demand that expand the Lokpal committee to accommodate social groups," he said, arguing that no law would be successful if it did not enjoy support of 85% of the population.
NEW DELHI: Swami Agnivesh, who was sidelined by Team Anna because of their suspicion that he was a "government mole", hit out on Saturday at his former comrades, accusing them of promoting a cult around Anna Hazare and behaving like Brahmanvadis.
"Everyone was wearing 'I am Anna' written cap...what was that...it was an attempt to build a cult...They should not have tried to do this...This was Brahmanvad," Agnivesh said.
Agnivesh also criticized and demanded apology from another Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal for his remark that Anna is above Parliament. "Those who have said that their leader is above Parliament must apologize," he said.
Though the Arya Samaj leader took no name, the remark highlighted the bitterness between him and Team Anna.
Once a visible figure in Team Anna's activities, Agnivesh lost his prominence after a TV channel stealthily filmed him criticizing his former colleagues to one Kapilji on phone. The "sting" was carried out when Anna and his colleagues were locked in a tense confrontation with the government, and was seen as an act of betrayal by anti-corruption campaigners.
Agnivesh's claim that the "Kapilji" he was talking to was not HRD minister Kapil Sibal, but Kapilji Maharaj, a guru, did not find any takers from the anti-graft brigade.
Agnivesh chose the platform of the All India Federation of SC/ST Organizations - known critics of Team Anna and their version of the Jan Lokpal bill - to air his views. The Federation has alleged that the terms of the Jan Lokpal bill were loaded against non-upper castes: something that Agnivesh did not seem to agree with while he was with Team Anna. Naturally, the accusation of Brahmanvad went down well with his audience.
Agnivesh reasoned that he fell out with Team Anna after he failed to convince them to push the parliamentary Standing Committee considering the Lokpal bill to incorporate the provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill.
"...I tried to persuade them that the Standing Committee can make changes in government's version of Lokpal bill. It has the power to change the entire legislation...It is like a mini-Parliament....and we should meet, pressurize and convince the Committee to adopt provisions of the Jan Lokpal bill...we should keep meeting the Committee...but they did not listen to me," Agnivesh said.
Addressing the gathering, dalit leader Udit Raj demanded representation of dalits, Muslim and backwards in the Lokpal Committee and asked Anna Hazare to accept the provisions of Bahujan Lokpal to get the support of these social groups. "We want reservation in Lokpal. We demand that expand the Lokpal committee to accommodate social groups," he said, arguing that no law would be successful if it did not enjoy support of 85% of the population.