By IANS,
New Delhi : Team Anna had the right to protest but they should make sure that the law of the land was followed and ordinary people were not inconvenienced, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday.
“Everything has to be within the rule of law… You can’t allow a major gathering in today’s circumstances if it is uncontrolled,” said Khurshid, who was also part of the Lokpal bill’s joint drafting committee.
“We are not in any position to judge requirements for proper conduction of people so that no inconvenience is caused to common people,” he added.
Khurshid said that a democracy gives its citizens a right to protest but the government was also responsible for ensuring safety of the people.
“If they want to agitate and protest that’s part of their right. But it is the government’s and the concerned department’s responsibility to ensure safety and proper regulation of traffic and of people,” said Khurshid.
“Even when we, the ruling party, wants permission to hold a rally, restrictions are imposed on us and we accept those,” he added.
Hazare has vowed to go on hunger strike here from Tuesday against the government’s version of the Lokpal that keeps prime minister and judiciary out of its ambit.
Team Anna and the central government has been sporadically involved in a war of words since April when Hazare fasted for a strong Lokpal.
The cabinet has cleared the government version of the Lokpal bill, which has angered civil society members.