The Anna Wave and What I Feel…

Whatever might the CYSKICS (Cynics, Skeptics and Critics) say we need to commend (not condemn) and appreciate the effort put by Anna and his team (especially Arvind, Prashanth and Kiran and many more brains and supporters behind him who came on to streets). I think, no one can and should comment on the Non-Violent protest that has once again proved to the whole world the importance of Non-Violence and the power of democracy.

I know this is a very long post as it’s a burning topic with lot of debate going on and hence can't justify everything in this post itself. So just trying to highlight some points in brief.  May be, will explain much through comments and future posts.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: 

     First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

This is what has happened during the independence movement and again in these few days during the fight against corruption in India.

OK, straight to the point whether I support Anna and the movement, I say YES. There is a fundamental difference between supporting and following blindly. One should identify the basic difference between the two. When you support, you support the cause and not just the person, you reason and not just argue, you look for the approach and not just the result, and finally work for a practical solution to the problem. 

We Indians, have made "Hero Worship" as a way of our life, be it in our scriptures and traditions or even as a part of our history. Having faith is perfectly alright but attributing everything to a person and criticizing any imperfection from him as a failure of the whole idea is wrong. We tend to forget that the idea is more important than a person. That’s where the blame game, the guilt factor and the credibility issues come.

 It's not about ANNA, It's about CORRUPTION


The Blame game:

Thanks to the blunders of the Congress Party (not just the government) that made this awakening possible. It includes trying to blame Anna of being corrupt and it’s a publicity stunt, then a desperate attempt to state that US is involved and arresting and throwing Anna Team in Tihar jail or a very weak statement that Parliament is Supreme over everything or Law will take its course. All of these added fuel the fire. This is exactly opposite of what the 125+ years experienced Congress party does which is master of tactics involving delaying the decision by buying more and more time and killing the cause in due course. Atleast once this has backfired and now it has to take the whole blame.

Anna's credibility:

There are a few videos (involving some of his earlier friends and activists) and blogs questioning the credibility of Anna and his team. This in itself will become a separate topic and will try to address separately in another blog post. Forget for a second who Anna is and what his credibility is, Isn't the cause he is fighting worth supporting? Do these people without vested interests need to be supported? Is the approach of non violent protests and fast became so undemocratic?  I once again want to reiterate that an IDEA is more important than a Person. Whether you support the person or not you need to back the genuine idea.

The Guilt Factor:

I think, we Indians are one of the most god fearing (or) self critical beings in the world. We over attribute our self mistakes to relatively larger proportion and guilt feeling overtakes our conscious response. Self Criticism is a must and a great feature of character, but it shouldn't be an obstacle in overcoming or protesting a wrong thing.

I feel the argument that whoever that are supporting Anna now once in their life have been corrupt or part of a corruption and hence they cannot protest is not correct. Most of the times they are the victims of the corruption or bound by the shackles of the corrupt system which does more harm when you go against it. I agree to the saying “Offering bribe is as wrong as taking bribe” but It’s very important to identify the fundamental difference between being a victim of corruption and being corrupt. 

Everyone tries to make the most from what is available but no one will try the illegal route first if it’s possible legally. And in a competitive environment like India where the gap between the classes is so great, Struggle for existence dominates everything.

The Informed Middle Class and Youth:

I agree that the current wide support for protest (especially by youth and middle class) is because of the political vacuum created during the last few decades but stating that they are ignorant is not true. They might be venting out their anger but their anger is much justified. The crowd is well informed of the reason of their protest unlike the lakhs of crowd that is brought by the political parties. I am not saying about their knowledge of the Jan Lokpal or the personal details of Anna Hazare but about the reason why they are there protesting, a common cause of fight against corruption.

The so called Arrogance of Anna Team:

Its definitely not arrogance or dictatorship when they say slogans like “I am Anna" or when Kiran Bedi has quoted as "Anna is India". It should be considered just as a passionate comment during the protest. Some critics have even said that Anna is acting like Hitler. Hitler!!! hmm ... Yaa may be a Non-Violent Hitler (as passionate as Gandhi) who wants to eradicate corruption (not Jews or some race). Anyhow its good Team Anna is quick to respond that the statement was just a passionate comment rather than some threat.

Also the statements like Anna Team is blackmailing or they are putting a gun on head of government is utter nonsense. No one ever said Gandhi was blackmailing by doing Satyagrahas or he acted like a dictator when he called off Civil Disobedience Movement. Coming to the point of restraint in negotiations it might be just lack of credibility in government ways and congress party, which is notorious for its back stabbing. The CYSKICS should remember what the Government did in April when it called for the Joint Committee in drafting the bill.

Lack of Leadership:

Everyone will agree that this entire situation is because of the lack of Leadership. Leadership in the sense, not just the ruling congress party or government but the opposition as well. Why it has to be Anna who is on the fast and why not Advani? Because even the opposition party lacks the conviction and strong will to fight against corruption. May be its time for the leaders like Manmohan Singh to show some self respect and act for the country rather than the party. I think, the Congress Party tested if it is the right time to launch Rahul Gandhi, But I hope a clear message is sent that he is not. Though he will be anointed as the next PM candidate from Congress, for time being its good he is away and he needs to show leadership skills on his own to be considered as a leader.

Civil Society and Aruna Roy's Draft:

Some people might say that Aruna Roy and Nikhil were wrong in proposing a new draft, and some critics that it’s a strategy to nullify Anna movement as she is part of NAC. I disagree with that. National Advisory Council (NAC) is a group of intellectuals to advise the government and they did a great job honestly. The draft put by Aruna Roy highlights the importance of freedom in democracy and calling her team as traitors is like calling Bhagath Singh and Subash Chandra Bose a traitor and not a patriot. Bose and Gandhi had their differences but always talked about each other in high regard and that's how great leaders behave.

This brought into light the lifecycle of a bill, importance of pre-legislative process and standing commitee and certain parliamentary processes that are backbone of democracy.

The CYSICS reacted the same way when the RTI Act was underway. They said its an useless act and a toothless act etc. But it’s the same act that made exposing the current corruption charges possible.

Enough said about what’s happening, I want to highlight the most important points that are to be considered, which I fear are getting ignored. (To be continued…)

PS: This post has already been very long and so ending it over here, but will update my views on Jan Lokpal Bill in my next Post.