India On Streets !

Political corridors are inherently dynamic in nature. Here, things happen; face of the party changes, while someone disappears from the scene leaving no trace, others resurrect from the dead; scams are exposed and forgotten at the same pace, and most common of all, loyalty towards one’s party changes etc. Yet, political opinion of Indians remains surprisingly constant, including the one of yours truly. Maybe each one of us truly is, in the words of Amartya Sen, an Argumentative Indian!

However, the recent events have been so unprecedented, that most of are shocked, to say the least! When I wrote my first post on Anna Hazare (Cricket, Politics and Anna Hazare- April, 7, 2011), I never envisioned myself writing this piece. For once, I found my own arguments and reasons flawed, vision disillusioned and goals hazy.

UPA’s Failure

This government has done all the blunders it could in handling the issue. No amount of trust or loyalty towards Congress and allies could prevent anyone in believing this. What Arun Jaitley said (video) in the Parliament was correct verbatim. The lack of political will and statecraft, as he put it, has made the whole Parliament look draconic. The 542 people sitting there are all elected members. However, they can never outnumber the people outside of the Parliament and the common man would always have the last say in the functioning of the country, either by being a part of the drafting committee or by electing a new government in 2014. The loose tongued leaders of the Congress have made such silly statements and allegations that people are surprised. Every time Digvijay is on screen, you know another blunder is about to be blurted out! No one ever thought that Congress would find itself in such a quagmire. The reactions that followed the arrest of Baba Ramdev should have given them some hint about people’s sentiments, but they have failed utterly in reading the mass pulse. Even if they were right at times, using the words Hijacking or Ransom did no good to them.

Hazare is no Gandhi or Lala Lajpat Rai, but his arrest and his subsequent fast from the jail, could well prove the last nail in UPA’s coffin!

India on Streets

This movement was always going to involve people. The popular belief may be that Indian middle class is not involved in politics and they just sit and curse. The voting percentages in every election are a testimony to that. But this was always going to be different because of its timing and the cause that affects the middle class the most. The inception of the Anna Hazare phenomenon was brilliant. “An old Gandhian fighting the corrupt government single-handedly” could be a one line script for a best-seller novel that also turns out to be a Bollywood potboiler. And we fell in love with this. Finally, someone was doing something! The country had just rediscovered its long lost passion and often-hidden patriotism due to the World Cup victory and Cricket had done its trick. Suddenly, we felt the power to change everything wrong with the nation and what better than corruption to start with. Nothing wrong with any of this, till we got too emotional and a lot less practical!

If 2011 has taught us something, it is that getting an Indian out on streets isn’t that hard. The electronic media, the social media and the suicidal government all contributed to that. But getting out on streets isn’t going to solve anything. Remember, in 2006, there was another mass movement-Anti-Reservation Movement. That was also led primarily by students and youth. The prestigious institutions like AIIMS and IITs were at its forefront. Organizations like “Youth For Equality” mobilized people in large numbers to come on the streets and protest. The protests, then, were also peaceful and there was no bloodshed. There was a lot of social media involved then too. Facebook hadn’t made big in India by then, but we had Orkut! The communities like “Reservation Sucks” and “Youth for Equality” had around 5000 and 8300 followers respectively. The images of doctors in front of water cannons became common and everyone showed solidarity. However what did it lead to? Supreme Court upheld the 27% OBC reservation and the movement fizzed out.

Draw parallels to the current scenario. The social media is much stronger with Facebook at its forefront. There are countless groups supporting Anna and the movement with 5-10 times more members. Now, we have another group “India Against Corruption” which is mobilizing people into peaceful protests all across the globe. Déjà vu? Anyone? The jokes are also the same, previously they were on Arjun Singh and now they are on Sibbal and Digvijay! The PM was called powerless then too and Rahul was also a “baba”!

My point is not that coming out on streets is useless. That is a way to show the government that the most important cog in the wheel of democracy is still the common man. But that’s not going to bring a change. Liking pages, updating statuses and sharing links is not going to make any corrupt official or politician pay for his actions. Take the famous example of Egypt where the power of social media brought a regime down in 18 days. What happened after that? If you read the recent Time issue, you would know that the people of Egypt are clueless now. All the Facebookers, Bloggers (yes ! I am as much guilty as anyone) etc have disintegrated and no one wants to be a part of the government. Even the man who started the social media movement, the famous Google employee, Wael Ghonim, also doesn’t want to be active anymore. The global interest is over and Egypt faces yet another leadership crisis.

In India, we don’t need a Tehreer Square. Elections in India are Tehreer Square like movements every 5 years. If the doctors, who were protesting in 2006, would have voted in 2009, UPA wouldn’t have won with such overwhelming majority! If you want to see a change, think beyond the streets. Political issues would always be dealt in closed rooms in Delhi and not on the streets!

Why did we follow Anna Hazare?

Not all Indians are Idol-Worshippers by religion, but we all are idol worshippers by heart! This trait transcends all religious, state and language barriers in India. The lack of political will in the common man of India forces him to follow anyone who stands up for a cause, sometimes even without understanding the cause in its totality. Till we were determined to root out corruption, it was good and meaningful, but when we started to follow a person, the movement lost its sheen. The initial idea was to have a public say in the drafting of a stronger Anti-Corruption Bill which soon transformed into exposing how the government is preventing a stronger law to be tabled in the Parliament. Then it moved a step ahead and became an anti-UPA movement, primarily around Congress. And now, it has become only and only about Anna Hazare. I criticized how Baba Ramdev took center stage and tried becoming bigger than the movement itself in my last post (Ramdev Fasts Shorter And Runs Faster..!, July 3^rd, 2011). Anna dissociated himself from Baba because he didn’t want to be the part of the Ramdev sham, or at least it looked like that then! What’s happening now is that people have become so fanatic about Anna that any view that is not his, makes you pro-Congress or anti anti-corruption, in public eye. The buzzword has changed from Lokpal to Anna Hazare. Now, it’s either Anna Hazare or Anti Hazare! Bringing government down was never the idea when the movement started but the focus has shifted dangerously.

Politics should be about “Ideal Worship” and not “Idol Worship”!

Comparing Hazare to Gandhi is the evidence of lack of political knowledge and imagination. Gandhi fought in a time of foreign rule for India’s sovereignty. It was not an anti-establishment or anti-government movement by definition, because there was no government. There is a basic difference between ruling and governing a country. This government has been elected in a democratic way and should be thrown out in a democratic way too. Anna Hazare ,in no way, is working in democratic ways. Slogans like “Anna is India and India is Anna” sound awfully like “Indira is India and India is Indira” during emergency. We all know where that took us! Democratic systems are not perfect, they never were. But it still is the best way a country should be governed. If we start giving deadlines to governments, beyond a point, we all are a part of an anti-establishment movement! To give a deadline to draft and table a bill is acceptable. But to say that pass it till August 30^th, is not only unacceptable but a supreme mockery of the whole system. As of now, the movement has been peaceful and it would probably remain this way. But such deadlines can set a wrong precedent for future where there could be an armed movement setting deadlines for government to heed. I know it has been a controversial term, but this is called Hijacking! We live in a country where Maoist movements are strengthening by the date and in such cases it could be a harmful example for people too.

This system may be corrupt, flawed and ineffective but still remains the best option. Just because you don’t like a government, you can’t be undemocratic. Period.

Why Lokpal?

What we are overlooking in our emotions is that Anna is never going to be a part of a democratic system. He is comfortable rallying people for a cause, which is good, but not beyond a certain extent! Even if we have a stronger Lokpal, the people in-charge of implementing it would still be politicians and bureaucrats. To understand this we must understand the power of the existing laws and the flaws in their implementation. An informative article in Pragati by Amba Salelkar-sheds light on the short comings of the idea of Lokpal. According to the people’s draft, the chairperson and the members of the committee should be people with “unimpeachable integrity and should have demonstrated their resolve to fight corruption in the past.” This leaves out a lot of scope in electing people for this post. Anyone can be recommended for these posts and the names would be put up on internet for people’s feedback. Here is my first question, how many people in India have access to such “hi-tech” technologies? It may seem absurd to the people reading this article, because you are online right now, but the reality is that in India just a little over 8% people have net access! Also, if we have such people willing to make a change, why not have them in the existing agencies and committees and empower them?

Moving on.

Coming back to “unimpeachable”! If anyone is found to be of less than “required honesty” then only the already overburdened SC can remove him/her. However, if someone is dismissed wrongly, there is no appeal system! You can see how half-baked the whole idea is! The experts of Constitution also point out a very basic “unconstitutional” flaw in the Lokpal-it crosses the 3 wings of the Government, the Judiciary, the Executive and the Legislature. The basic idea of separating the 3 is to thwart the power abuse. However, Lokpal goes over this very definition.

I have written enough against Lokpal, to make the “revolutionary youth”, mad at me, call me “Congressi” and stop reading beyond this point! :)

However, if you are still reading, I would still say that I support Lokpal. We do need a change. Though I am a little skeptic and I have my reasons.

The very root of corruption is the complexity and the hierarchy of the system as a whole. To have one person, supremely empowered, sitting over all the existing wings of the government, probably even PM, just make it a lot more complex and still leaves a lot of scope for corruption if that one person is not the right one!

That’s a huge risk!

Where do we go from here?

The enthusiasm the country has been witnessing and the rage the government is facing, from the common men, is not just about the Lokpal. I believe, it is more about losing hope in the elected members. People are confident that the 542 members sitting in the Parliament are unwilling to do anything good. The support for Lokpal and Anna is derived from the loss of faith in Democracy. How much ever sad it may sound, it is true!

But there is one more truth. “Janta” is not going to come out on streets for every cause. Anna says after this he is going to have a movement for police reforms, farmers etc. That is an impractical approach. If you have to reform this nation, you have to be a part of the system. Fasts can only take you this far!

Lokpal or no Lokpal, government’s version or Anna’s version, are the issue that won’t matter once the logjam is cleared. What would matter after that is public memory. Even if government relents now, are we going to forget this phase of rage and impasse? Are we going to repeat the 2006-2009 analogy?

Trust me, 2011 seems important, but the real “struggle for independence” (another holy term grossly misused in this context), would be 2014! We have to come out of the "mobocracy" mode and take some serious decisions!

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Ramdev Fasts Shorter And Runs Faster..!

In my previous post, I mentioned that India’s fight against corruption is new. Corruption is so ingrained in the system that people got used to it and everyone just accepted it as their fate!

So, when Anna Hazare stood up one day to fight corruption, India was stunned. Here was a man in his 70s, barely 5’5’’, wearing a Gandhi cap, declaring a war against corruption-his weapon, a previously unheard and unrealized form of protest, a bill, the Lokpal Bill. People were mesmerized by the simplicity of the whole process. There was awe about Anna that attracted people to Jantar Mantar and protest!

But on second thought, all this was way too simplistic. What were these people protesting against; the government, the Congress party or the inability of the government to draft the bill? Or they were just supporting a guy whom they thought will bring a change, without putting too much thought into what that change might be?

There is something in the history of this country that should teach that a movement, without a clear agenda for the future, can go haywire, despite an active participation of the masses. In 1974, the Gujarat Nav Nirman Movement, was a social movement against corruption. Chimanbhai Patel became the CM of Gujarat in 1973. But his reputation for corruption combined with the general undercurrent of the J.P movement, led to a widespread movement in 1974. This movement was solely led by college students and their teachers. Within a year, they managed to make Indira Gandhi ask Patel to step down, make 95 out of 167 MLAs to resign and finally getting the Assembly dissolved. For a student movement this was a huge success. But in the hindsight, it did not answer the issue of corruption at all. Nav Nirman was the buzzword for students and teachers but their value system was not different from the people they were protesting against. So things were back to square one! Patel became the CM again in 1990 with BJP’s support and the movement also saw the arrival of Narendra Modi to the political scene from the backyards of RSS and ABVP. This movement let reactionary forces to flourish!

In the present scenario, everything looks the same, may be a bit toned down and the new buzzword “Lokpal”! The point being, corruption is not just the failure of governance, it is an ideological failure. While Anna Hazare, like J. P, would have addressed the ideological issues also, but the arrival of “celebrities” is shifting the focus and diverting the attention of people. When every social figure is trying to become a social activist, the message is lost.

To take a vow to make this country corruption free is good, but a directionless pursuit is not going to lead us anywhere. With an over-zealous and politically naïve Baba Ramdev jumping on the bandwagon, the whole movement has lost its mass appeal. Baba Ramdev is a perfect example of how much wrong a person can go if he blindly follows a set path, in this case the path being, Fight by Fasting. He is also an example of how people can be misled if they don’t realize who their leader is and what are his goals. Ramdev, literally, undid whatever Anna had achieved just a month ago.

Ramdev shifted focus from the cause to himself (with the disturbing images of him clad like a woman, he probably scarred some impressionable people for life too!). Anna’s fast was an appeal for people’s support, Baba’s fast was a cry for attention. Baba Ramdev appears to be a man who thinks (??) he can correct everything that is wrong with this society. He thinks he has people’s support and even in his mindless pursuits people will stand by him.

What did the images of him being forced out of Delhi conveyed? Certainly, government’s cruelty (no saving grace there). But it also portrayed that the man, who was supposed to take on the government, was running, hiding and changing into woman’s clothes to save his life. He was in tears in the press conference. That conveyed weakness. Baba looked as if he has put foolishly himself in a whirlpool of political mishaps and now, just after a day, he desperately wanted to leave. This image was so contrary to Anna that it hurt the movement.

Things would not have been this bad had he realized that this is not his cup of tea after that night. But he continued his naïve tongue wagging to the point of making statements of raising an army against corrupt people! He seriously needs a better PR and a political advisor. Based on his embarrassingly short fast, shorter than Anna despite being a master Yoga Guru, he probably needs a physical trainer too! (P.S. Shilpa Shetty! are you listening?) This is not the first time he has made such senseless and childish remarks. Remember, when he wanted to treat Homosexuality "virus" by Yoga !

At the end of the whole drama, he looked no different than a celebrity in a wrong reality show. When the messenger becomes bigger than the message itself the cause takes the backseat. Anna never tried to grab headlines and that’s why even the government had to take him seriously. Finally, Anna had to dissociate himself from Baba to continue his movement.

Corruption is not just moral depravity; it has become a state of mind and a way of living. Corruption has always plagued the growth of developing (read: third world) countries. The choice between one’s nation’s growths vs. one’s personal growth is not an easy one to make, especially for those who are deprived of basic amenities of life. Does that justify corruption? How much ever controversial this statement may be, but this attitude of “me first-country later” does justify corruption at least at the grass root level. Can any government or any P.M. be held responsible for such attitude? No. This is not going to change regardless of the government or the coalition in helm. In our “fight against corruption”, this is the most basic point, we all have conveniently forgotten.

Lokpal Bill is no panacea for corruption. And though, I may be misconstrued at this point, read this post later and you would know that the idea is not wrong. Lokpal Bill gives unreal powers to one particular person or committee, termed the Lokpal to deal with corruption. That may create a Marshall Law sort of situation, if it goes in inept hands! I don’t oppose the bill, but we must see beyond this movement into the right execution of the bill when it becomes a law. Corruption cannot be dealt with a blanket law. We need to look beyond this agitation. Democracies are not about agitations, they are about accomplishments through the agitations.

How this society will change by a Law needs to be seen.

(Photo Courtesy: Google Images directed to NDTV.COM )

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Cricket, Politics and Anna Hazare

We are the World Champions of Cricket after 28 years and India seems more united than it has in the last 10-12 years. My last memory of seeing India united was during Operation Vijay in Kargil in 1999 when everyone poured in money to support the Jawans at the border. Not that India had faced some serious political meltdown since then, but still the passion for the country and the feeling of “being Indian” was never this evident. The tragedy of Mumbai-26/11 did bring Indians together for a while, but as I have always maintained, we forgot it too soon!

Cricket unites India beyond anything else. It introduces Indians to a trait they very comfortably forget in their day-to-day life, which is, Passion.

The popularity of Cricket in India has always been related to the change in the mindset, earning potential and the general beliefs of the common man.

The first time Indians got a taste of World Cricket at their doorstep was the 1987 Reliance World Cup. India was the co-host with Pakistan and the defending champions. But that’s not the interesting part. India and Pakistan were going through one of their worst political phases. Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq had made an unannounced uninvited visit to Jaipur in February on the pretext of watching a test match between the two nations as a part of the Cricket Diplomacy. The whole world, including the people of India and Pakistan, were skeptical about the co-organizational skills of both the countries amidst such tension. However, the passion driven countries proved to the world that when it comes to cricket, we are on the same page!

The rise of Sachin Tendulkar, or as he is famously referred to, the God of Cricket, is coincidental with the rise of the middle class in the early 1990s. India had just opened doors for the foreign companies to come into the erstwhile fortress and Indians replaced Campa Cola with Pepsi and Liberty with Adidas in no time. The middle class started to believe in itself and, for the first time since independence, their dreams of a “lifestyle” were being fulfilled. And then there was Sachin Tendulkar. A man who epitomized the Indian middle class and whose stature grew taller than the game in no time. When Sachin said “yeh dil maange more” on the big hoardings across the nation, people could relate that to their own dreams, they wanted more! When his bat ruled the world in 1996 and 1998, every mother saw him in her kid. Not that they wanted all of us, who were growing up then, to be cricketers, but they wanted the same unparalleled success for their kids. If Sachin could dictate his terms, sign a 100 crore deal with Worldtel and haunt Shane Warne in his dreams, so could we.

Cricket re-ignited the patriotism and the passion in Indians by the end of 2008. A shattered nation woke up to a famous victory 15 days after the Mumbai attacks and the world saw a new resilient Indian. The chase of 387 on the last day of the Chennai test reminded Indians that we cannot be bogged down. As always, Life in India always finds a way! And it did find a way. We were neither soft nor brutal, we just got noticed. The whole team dedicated the win to the NSG commandoes. India cheered once again and the pain was subsided.

It has to be fate that this 2011 World Cup win comes at a time when India is in another crisis, this time an internal one. The fight against corruption is a new one. We are so used to corruption that no one ever felt that something could be done. This time India needs Hope and a reason to celebrate. India may be a land of many religions and festivals but seldom do we get a chance to celebrate as a nation. Dhoni and his team have given us a reason. The common man is on the roads with the tricolor in his hands. That’s exactly the spirit we need to support Anna Hazare’s movement. With tough games to come after the league round, Indian team didn’t lose Hope. Similarly, with tough times ahead of us, all we need is Hope. We have the manpower to bring this change and to be the Champions of our own fate.

What’s so special about this team? It is lead by a guy from a small city, has beaten all odds to become numero uno in the arena, has belief in itself and most importantly it has given the Indian masses a reason to cherish. What to do we need for this movement to be a success? People from all towns, cities and metros to join hands, beat the self-congratulatory government, be Gandhian in its ways and rule the arena!

Skeptics would say it is an unfair and unreal comparison. But trust me, for a country of the size of India, we either need a common enemy or a common cause or a common passion to be united. Cricket is the passion, Anna Hazare is the cause. What makes me do such a comparison is the spirit that ruled the streets of India and even other countries with considerable amount of Indians on the night of March 30 and April 2. We are emotional people. All we need is to give those emotions a cause and a direction.

This is our moment. We need to be on the streets once again with tricolor in our hands.

I quote from a note on Facebook by my friend Naveen Kumar Chaudhary that’s adds up all that I intend to say through this post.

“Last night I felt something...

Who is an Indian....

One who is not divided by religion

sex , caste, race, creed or color..

Neither he is rich nor poor

He is just an emotional guy dancing after 6 hours of play

because his country has tasted the sweetness of victory...

IN THE WAR WITHOUT BULLETS

This is INDIA and we are INDIANS”

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