The scenario to many could look bleak. Anna the spearhead against corruption is lying low. His team appears to have lost moorings. Things are on a difficult terrain. Lokpal could not become a reality, leave alone it becoming a Frankenstein which many politicians/bureaucrats feared it would. But corruption has continued to hog the lime light. Ministers are in jail, many more ministers are expected to be in jail because of corruption. Bureaucrats are making a beeline to jail or are being suspended/hunted down from their hideouts. Sukhrams are getting no relief from courts. With elections having been announced for 5 states, cash is gushing out from places known and unknown. CBI raids, arrests, vigilance cases all would suggest that India is in the thick of corruption. Without except it is spread out to all places including in Bihar which is being singled out for praise by all and sundry. Bridges constructed a year ago is falling apart; roads constructed with so much money and fanfare is cracking up leaving many loose ends. Of UP the less said the better.
This is the obtaining situation in the country. Sachin gets his house in Mumbai insured for Rs. 100 crore for which he pays rupees four million a year. Obviously, he can afford. Money is the new deity worshipped by one and all. Who after all wants corruption to go? Anna is in abject minority. One of his own relations is going to actively canvas for Congress. So, where does it leave us? Kejriwal has asked for people's suggestions. The team appears to be at a loss. Nothing surprising in a movement like this. Anna and his team should understand that politicians of the day will not support Anna and his Janlokpal. You'll have to have new breed of politicians under a new dispensation. Its absolutely true that one can serve one's nation even without becoming part of an electoral process. One is also within one's rights to float new ideas and concepts from wherever one wishes. The problem is--you cannot influence others with any degree of tangible success. You are pitted against the establishment which is far too powerful. This fight against corruption which is no less than a Frankenstein is not an easy one. It is hopelessly and heavily loaded against you. It's David against Goliath. And this time David enjoys no warranty, and no guarantee of success. Present day Goliath is more venomous, has more fangs than you can handle or ward off.
It is now settled that Anna would not campaign in the election bound states. Some will be happy, some will be disappointed. This is nothing new. Rome was not built in a day. Revolutions also did not happen in a day. India has a long history of slavery. We have always been good at obeying orders, taking orders, doing the bidding of others. Things haven't quite radically altered even in our own times. Basically, we have the same mindset. Even Anna has commanded the same kind of obedience of people in his immediacy at Ralegaon Siddhi that ancient rulers or feudal lords commanded over their own people. No doubt, Anna's village benefited from that and today it's a model village anybody could be proud of. But it took some doing.
Tackling the problem of corruption will also take some doing. The present crop of politicians will in all probability not let go the privileges and benefits they enjoy. Anna's Lokpal is not to their liking. But public opinion can make the difference. Public opinion has to be created and that would be a Herculean task. Middle class alone cannot be relied on for altering the public opinion. Middle class is basically weak-kneed. Lure of the lucre is too strong for them to resist. They will demand their own pound of flesh. No doubt, corruption affects them and their life. But they know they can set it off against some other gains that may accrue to them through this movement launched by Anna. There are many in this movement with their fingers in the pie. You can fight a battle or two with them. But you can never win a war with them. What happened in Mumbai was a demonstration of that. In every struggle or movement, you have active supporters and passive supporters. Passive supporters usually outnumber the active supporters. Except those in the close vicinity, active supporters distantly placed try to derive some personal mileage from such movement. Bihar is a clasisc example of that. Most of the active supporters are out on a mission to achieve something for their own selves. Most of them want to present themselves as the leaders of the morrow a la JP Movement. Anna Team has to be wary of this.
So, what is the lesson? Should we leave it midway? No. Anna himself need not visit those states, nor does he have to point finger to any particular political party. The midnight drama has shown everything without any tinge of doubt about the character of the people who are ensconced in the haloed chambers of the parliament. All that is required to be done is this. Anna should make an appeal to the electorate to vote only those who are clean and have not played their part in killing the lokpal. If they do not find any suitable candidate, they should reject all the candidates. The Team Anna armed with this appeal should fan out to all constituencies and inform the people about this. For the present this would be the surest way of going about it. If the result is encouraging enough, we can pursue this in 2014 as well. In case it did not materialize the way it should have, then Team Anna should seriously ponder on the feasibility of floating an outfit that would contest parliamentary polls in 2014. Baba Ramdev has already done some spadework and that should come handy in giving it a final shape. Corruption having already made inroad in all political parties, we should try to pick on some of those individual politicians who are clean despite being part of this muck. There is no gainsaying the fact that there are clean politicians in our own midst who have made a name for themselves and they do not appear to have got any axes of their own to grind.
This is the obtaining situation in the country. Sachin gets his house in Mumbai insured for Rs. 100 crore for which he pays rupees four million a year. Obviously, he can afford. Money is the new deity worshipped by one and all. Who after all wants corruption to go? Anna is in abject minority. One of his own relations is going to actively canvas for Congress. So, where does it leave us? Kejriwal has asked for people's suggestions. The team appears to be at a loss. Nothing surprising in a movement like this. Anna and his team should understand that politicians of the day will not support Anna and his Janlokpal. You'll have to have new breed of politicians under a new dispensation. Its absolutely true that one can serve one's nation even without becoming part of an electoral process. One is also within one's rights to float new ideas and concepts from wherever one wishes. The problem is--you cannot influence others with any degree of tangible success. You are pitted against the establishment which is far too powerful. This fight against corruption which is no less than a Frankenstein is not an easy one. It is hopelessly and heavily loaded against you. It's David against Goliath. And this time David enjoys no warranty, and no guarantee of success. Present day Goliath is more venomous, has more fangs than you can handle or ward off.
It is now settled that Anna would not campaign in the election bound states. Some will be happy, some will be disappointed. This is nothing new. Rome was not built in a day. Revolutions also did not happen in a day. India has a long history of slavery. We have always been good at obeying orders, taking orders, doing the bidding of others. Things haven't quite radically altered even in our own times. Basically, we have the same mindset. Even Anna has commanded the same kind of obedience of people in his immediacy at Ralegaon Siddhi that ancient rulers or feudal lords commanded over their own people. No doubt, Anna's village benefited from that and today it's a model village anybody could be proud of. But it took some doing.
Tackling the problem of corruption will also take some doing. The present crop of politicians will in all probability not let go the privileges and benefits they enjoy. Anna's Lokpal is not to their liking. But public opinion can make the difference. Public opinion has to be created and that would be a Herculean task. Middle class alone cannot be relied on for altering the public opinion. Middle class is basically weak-kneed. Lure of the lucre is too strong for them to resist. They will demand their own pound of flesh. No doubt, corruption affects them and their life. But they know they can set it off against some other gains that may accrue to them through this movement launched by Anna. There are many in this movement with their fingers in the pie. You can fight a battle or two with them. But you can never win a war with them. What happened in Mumbai was a demonstration of that. In every struggle or movement, you have active supporters and passive supporters. Passive supporters usually outnumber the active supporters. Except those in the close vicinity, active supporters distantly placed try to derive some personal mileage from such movement. Bihar is a clasisc example of that. Most of the active supporters are out on a mission to achieve something for their own selves. Most of them want to present themselves as the leaders of the morrow a la JP Movement. Anna Team has to be wary of this.
So, what is the lesson? Should we leave it midway? No. Anna himself need not visit those states, nor does he have to point finger to any particular political party. The midnight drama has shown everything without any tinge of doubt about the character of the people who are ensconced in the haloed chambers of the parliament. All that is required to be done is this. Anna should make an appeal to the electorate to vote only those who are clean and have not played their part in killing the lokpal. If they do not find any suitable candidate, they should reject all the candidates. The Team Anna armed with this appeal should fan out to all constituencies and inform the people about this. For the present this would be the surest way of going about it. If the result is encouraging enough, we can pursue this in 2014 as well. In case it did not materialize the way it should have, then Team Anna should seriously ponder on the feasibility of floating an outfit that would contest parliamentary polls in 2014. Baba Ramdev has already done some spadework and that should come handy in giving it a final shape. Corruption having already made inroad in all political parties, we should try to pick on some of those individual politicians who are clean despite being part of this muck. There is no gainsaying the fact that there are clean politicians in our own midst who have made a name for themselves and they do not appear to have got any axes of their own to grind.
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