Washington: Several scams have seriously dented the image of Congress-led UPA government and positioned opposition BJP in better place for the 2014 elections, and by jailing Anna Hazare the government looked both "inept and undemocratic", a Congressional report on India has said.
"By jailing Hazare, the government looked both inept and undemocratic, and united a wide range of otherwise reluctant actors in support of Hazare's movement," said Congressional Research Service (CRS) in its latest report 'India: Domestic Issues, Strategic Dynamics and US Relations,' which gives a detailed account of the anti-corruption movement in India.
An independent and bipartisan wing of the US Congress, the CRS prepares periodic reports on issues of interest to the US lawmakers.
The 94-page report was released by the CRS for US lawmakers on September 1, a copy of which made public by the Federation of American Scientists on Tuesday.
By the spring of 2011, negative emotions sparked by months long revelations of high-level corruption reached the point where mass public mobilisation could occur, the CRS report said, adding two figures Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare were notable in initiating this development.
"In early June, yoga guru Ramdev staged a major anti-corruption protest in the Indian capital and launched his own mass hunger strike to demand government action to recover black money.
"That night, after apparently inaccurate reports that the government had acceded to Ramdev's demands, hundreds of police swept through the protesters, using tear gas and batons to disperse them; at least 30 people were injured," the report said, adding critics accused the government of using unnecessary force against peaceful protesters.
Government officials said that Ramdev's permit allowed him only yoga and not a political demonstration; police said that permit was for a maximum of 5,000 attendees and some 40,000-60,000 showed up, the report said.
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