It
has been an extraordinary intellectual journey as a student of politics. The
charade has ended. Indian Democracy emerges victorious. Yet Again.
Winston Churchill has
been quoted in countless history books lampooning Indians (on the eve of their Independence) saying "Power
will go to the hands of, rogues and freebooters. All Indian leaders will be of
low caliber and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts.
They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political
squabbles."
In
Modern India of 2012, This is far from true. I have no doubt whatsoever that
there have been shortcomings. Some Big, Some Small. There has been rampant
Corruption, Communalism and Casteism
(The
Big C's ) in our socio-politico-economic existence. But when one sees the
larger canvas, there is undoubtedly a feeling of sheer pride. A small sense of
achievement in the eyes of every Indian.
Democracy
is Collective Co-existence with Diverse views. India is perhaps, one of the most
diverse nations in the world. It is said in India - Culture, Religion,
Ethnicity, Language, Creed - All changes every 10 villages. Imagine a country
having 6.5 lakh villages. This is humongous diversity.
Indeed.
At the heart of all democratic theories is the concept of popular power. It
refers to a situation where power and authority ultimately rests with the
people. A democratic government is contrasted with an authoritarian one, on the
basis of consensus created by the people to take decisions. In an authoritarian
regimes the 'will of the people' is not concerned. Periodic Elections are not
held, with un-elected elites controlling the reigns of power. In India,
its just the opposite. Elections are frequent - on each level of governance.
India conducts on an average at least 15 state elections per year, elections of
urban local bodies are held in different cities throughout all seasons,
elections are held at grass root level - Gram Sabha- panchayats to imbibe
direct democracy. In fact, elections are so frequent, that it has prompted many
critics of "India's low
growth" to say that there is too much "Democracy" in India.
Sometimes, People of India, do suffer from Election Fatigue. More so when
democracy impedes growth. (That is however a deeper question to reflect on, and
a separate discussion is required on it)
No, wonder The world calls India - The Largest Democracy on
Planet Earth.
Constitution
and its ethoes, in India are
credited to social reformers like Raja Ramohan Roy - One of the First Indians
to speak his mind on socio-political issues concerning India. Later
when the British Rule ended- Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajgopalachari, B R Ambedkar,
K M Munshi, Rajendra Prasad, Maulana Azad and others gave a structure to the
idea of India.
Nehru, undoubtedly as the First Prime Minister of India is credited for the
strong foundations of India's
constitutional and institutional traditions. B R Ambedkar gave us the largest
ever 'written' constitution in the world - which had all the basic ingredients
of Equality, Liberty,
Justice, Secularism essential for a Liberal-Socialist Regime. Later Ram Manohar
Lohia, who had significantly different views than Nehru's model of centralized
welfare democratic socialist state also had an indelible impact on contemporary
Indian politics. Lohia's views assume importance because there is a renewed
focus on decentralization as a way back to tackle bureaucratization and
centralization of power.
The
wheels of power started turning. Institutions were established. Institutions
took time to deliver too, but nevertheless delivered, some still delivering,
some trying to deliver, some did not deliver and so on. Civil Society and Pressure Groups played
their role from time to time. From Jyotirao Phule to Vinoba Bhave, From Baba
Amte to the great E. V. Ramasamy 'Periyar', From Jayaprakash Narayanan to Swami
Vivekananda.
The
one social reformer which India
will perhaps never forget was of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was truly original.
The
introduction to this passage talks about the 3C's that confront India.
Corruption being the most relevant today, since we have started witnessing an
Anti-Corruption Movement- A First of its kind. Sections of educated Indians
were on streets when last year in August - Anti-Corruption crusader Anna Hazare
was taken into preventive custody. The story that followed is well known. More
known via the media- the 24x7 news channels that flashed every detail of it. Newspapers
reported it in kilometers Suddenly a sense of detest crept in.
Every
institution was mocked and criticized by a bunch of 6 people branded
as - 'Team Anna'. There was some genuine anger against the disproportionately
big scams by the Govt of the day. Some Allegations, Some Real ones. Also vested
interests in the opposition- started actively supported the movement.
Initially, some opportunistic politicians wanted to share stage with this
"Gandhian" crusaders, but were shunned.
Some
members of the team, never failed to entertain us too with their Anti
Politician angst. Some called MP's as looters,
rapists, thieves. Media was vehemently covering and showing every little
act of this team. Their sound bytes got in the TRP's. Suddenly a Nation had
awaken to this new magic wand called "Jan Lokpal"
which was touted as the cure of all its problems of corruption and loot of
taxpayers money.
Rest
story, if repeated- would make this passage too long to read. To cut the long
story short.
Lokpal
passed by the Lok Sabha, got stalled in the Rajya Sabha ( the one adopted by
the sense of the house resolution and recommended
the Parliamentary Standing Committee)
Presently it is with the Select Committee of the Parliament. Every
person, who was unhappy with any politician or institution was painting the
entire political class in one single brush - CORRUPT !
He
says "Fast, as an instrument, must come from the depth of one's soul. It
is, therefore, always rare. A Satyagrahi should fast only as a last resort when
all other avenues of redress have been explored and have failed. There is no
room for imitation in fasts"
Anna
Hazare fasted for several times during the past one year, and have been covered
by the main stream media as the "Modern Gandhi".
As
a student of political science, I watched every action of Team Anna and their
supporters. I realized that in all this noise- some essential points were being
forgotten. Particularly the Lokpal Bill. Most sections of the media had failed
in their prime responsibility of educating the
people about the bill. When Parliament started debating the provisions of
the "Lokpal", media slowly followed, but got people confused. There
were deals within deals- between Govt, between Opposition and of
course with Anna on key
provisions. Some climb downs, Several changes. This to my mind still
portrayed that Democracy prevailed.
In
the summer of 2011, Team Anna started their direct indulgence with electoral
politics, in the Hisar Bye-Elections. Hisar is a dusty town in North India. It was founded by Firozshah Tughlaq of the Delhi Sultanate. Now
Hisar became the rallying point of Anti-Ruling-Party forces, supposedly used by
Team Anna to flex their electoral muscles. They pleaded to the people to defeat
the ruling party, had letters signed by the president of the opposition
party, in favour of the Lokpal. The opportunistic opposition gladly obliged,
giving a written assurance that if their candidate won- they would support
Lokpal. The Opposition alliance candidate won. The drama played on.
Reality
was different, Team Anna got bitten by one of the "C"'s of Indian
Politics. "C" - For Casteism. Hisar voted for the pedigree. Kuldeep
Bishnoi retained his fathers seat - Bhajan Lal - One of the most prominent
Non-Jat leaders of that area.
Systems
and Institutions were clearly catching up. Team Anna kept on using fasts and
anshans as an instrument to keep up the pressure. Pressure for what? Pressure
for getting - Their and Only THEIR Version of the Lokpal Bill passed. Democracy
too was catching up. Politics clearly is and was the centre of this entire
movement. They invited some politicians across the opposition ( no-ruling party
member was reportedly invited ) to share stage with them.
All
this was a clear demonstration that Team Anna was highly political in its
purpose. And It had lost all its rights to act as Pressure Group of Civil
Society. It also lost the right to abuse the system and the politicians,
because slowly and surely Democracy and Constitutional Institutions were
catching up with them.
There
cannot be 5 people dictating a duly elected government- pressing for their own
law. Using fasts to blackmail it. Interesting to note that, in all these fasts-
Young members of Team Anna never fasted- They only made 73 year old Anna Hazare
to fast ! (sic)
In
the monsoon of 2012, Team Anna has politicized its agenda. Now it wants a SIT (Special
Investigation Team) to probe charges of "corruption" against 15
sitting ministers, including the Prime Minister and the President of
India. That too with 3 eminent jurists of their choice. This decision by them,
didn't surprise me, but has surprised
his supporters. The movement which they had supported so zealously by buying
all these "I Am Anna" Gandhi caps had let them down. Team Anna
launched a fast yet again, this time an "Indefinite One" for their
demands. Lokpal, for the time was kept aside.
Flashback - Mahatma Gandhi. He said - "
Fasting cannot be undertaken mechanically. It is a powerful thing but a
dangerous thing, if handled amateurishly. It requires complete
self-purification, much more than what is required in facing death with
retaliation even in mind. Ridiculous fasts spread like plague and are
harmful"
Young
members like Arvind Kejriwal fasted. No sizable
crowds came at Jantar Mantar, this time. Ramdev was roped in for a day ( a
cameo with his supporters indeed- he did get some supporters) Supporters started
misbehaving with the media, alleging that this time they were not given due
coverage. Team Anna supporters and actor - Anupam Kher told Karan Thapar-
"Media should consider Anna as their friend, since both benefit from
it" This meant that Team Anna and
the Media had a symbiotic relationship last year, which they could not enjoy
this year. So the Media Charade got exposed.
Anna
Hazare also plunged in. Desperate, Disgruntled and Directionless the movement
had become. Supporters pelted
stones at Prime Minister’s residence. Maligned its walls with the
word"Chor", demonstrated at other residences too.
Meanwhile,
Another "C"- Communalism came to bit Team Anna. Albeit, in a
different kind of a way. On the day - Baba Ramdev (Now a collaborator of Team
Anna- a marriage of convenience) shared stage with the mascot of Communal
Violence- Narendra Modi in Ahemdabad, Team Anna retaliated against him. Abused
Modi and said that they would never support him. This was the last
"C" in their "C" -Coffin !
When
a Fast unto Death is withdrawn without either objective being achived it
becomes a Farce. Now Team Anna has promised to break their fast tomorrow ( 3rd
Aug 2012) at 5:00PM and Anna has announced that they are now open to the idea
of forming a political party.
I
whole heartedly welcome this decision.
They
were in Politics from Day-1, But were calling themselves Apolitical and
"Civil Society" crusaders. All the fundamental "C"'s of
Indian Politics bit them. The phrase "Team Anna" crafted by the media
should be extinguished by it too, so that a New "Anna Political
Party" could come up. An Alternate which people of Hisar also aspired for.
Despite being an active participant in that political campaign, they failed to
provide that alternative. This proved the adage "Those who live by the media, die by the media", True.
Indian
Democracy triumphed. Now it will have another political party with some strong
ideas to benefit from. If Indian
Democracy can bring dreaded insurgents and their leaders in states like Assam and
Mizoram to join mainstream politics- Anna Hazare was pretty easy. Indeed
Several
Questions Still Remain Unanswered.
Fast unto Death was a political ploy
to garner publicity for their action? Did they abuse the pure and Gandhian
ritual of fasting for their political purposes?
Why did they fast if they knew that a duly elected Government would
never investigate its own PM and President?
Some
even deeper questions.
Will the 3 "C"s that bit
Team Anna - Corruption, Communalism and Casteism be ever defeated. The answer
is yes.
If calibrated reforms - Social,
Political, Economic are carried out- that is possible. But When and How?
Let Democracy Be The Judge!
