Trust to protest against crackdown on Baba

HYDERABAD: The state unit of Bharat Swabhiman Trust will stage a peaceful protest at Jal Vihar on the Necklace Road here on Saturday against the recent central government’s crackdown on Baba Ramdev’s hunger strike camp at Ramlila Grounds in Delhi. Addressing a press conference here on Friday, G Sridhar Rao, chief coordinator of the state unit of the trust, said they (policemen) wanted to kill the swamiji but he emerged unscathed thanks to his presence of mind. About 50 members of the nearly 50,000-strong crowd had to be hospitalised on the night of June 4, said Rao. Answering queries on non-disclosure of tax returns by the companies owned by Ramdev’s trust, the chief coordinator said that the balance sheet of a company cannot be made public. All donations were made by people in good faith, he claimed.Rao denied that Ramdev had political motives to the agitation. The question being asked has social relevance. The black money worth Rs 400 lakh crore belonged to the people of India and that was the only motive behind the satyagraha, he said.Reliving her experience at the Ramlila grounds, Neelam Tripathi, a resident of New Bowenpally, said she had suffered lathi blows on her back when the police attacked the women who had cordoned the Yoga guru. She also accused the police of being drunk. “They pushed the elderly and abused the women supporters present. Given a chance, I will go back again but I will be prepared to lay down my life this time,” she said.