By Srinivasan K. Rangachary
Those who thought that the anti-corruption movement is dead because its self-styled torchbearer Anna Hazare chickened out a few months ago, should get ready for his reality show once again. Hazare is launching the next version of his attack. But you must give him time till the IPL-infected cricket fever is over because during cricket days Indians don’t take any interest in any other show.
So, fearing public neglect, Hazare has carefully timed his upcoming drama. It’s scheduled to begin after the IPL games on June 3. This time, he will be accompanied by a popular yoga instructor Ramdev who was earlier ousted by Hazare and his team from the Part 1 of the anti-corruption campaign when he said he will raise an “army” of supporters to deal with corrupt Indian government.
Then, Ramdev decided to go alone for his hunger strike against mounting corruption in India. But he was forced by the police to end his protest. However, the sadhu has not given up. He has again jumped in the fight against corruption with greater energy. He has even invited Indian Army Chief, General V. K. Singh, to join his campaign after retirement.
Although Hazare, supported by Ramdev and a handful of other assistants, is launching the second version of his attack against the government, he knows that he can’t bring even an iota of change in the corrupt Indian governance, which is stubbornly powerful.
The only hope for Hazare and his team to win is on a totally irrelevant turf. As it happened last year, they can expect an award or two from some unprofessional media organizations. It’s a known fact in India that most media companies and their people work in a totally irresponsible manner.
Just to falsely woo the consumers, they bestow awards on people or their actions without using any methodical yardsticks. In fact, so far the contribution of Hazare and his team in stamping out corruption has been zero — nothing less nothing more. Then why awards?
Hazare and his team members are just running after some cheap self-publicity without understanding the real nuances of corruption that has deep-rooted tentacles in India. They don’t have any set strategy to deal with corruption. Their single-tracked method of hunger strikes won’t change the way callous and corrupt politicians of all political parties work.
Moreover, it’s very difficult — perhaps impossible — to win any battle through peaceful means when your opposition is atrociously strong. Only Mahatma Gandhi could do it in India’s freedom struggle with his power of perseverance and intellect. But you can’t expect Gandhi to come in every century. Hazare and his close clique are deliberately living in fool’s paradise if they think they can achieve something with their naive approach.
It’s a war in which the enemy is very strong and cruel. So, you need a perfect war strategy to fight this battle instead of going to these ineffective hunger strikes after every few months. Perhaps, Ramdev understands this better than others. That’s why he is calling Indian Army Chief to help him in this crucial war against corruption.
As the things stand today, public support to Hazare and his campaigns has already started dwindling because his methods are merely limited to sloganeering and lack intellectual element. In the upcoming protest, it’s again going to be a waste of time for Hazare. Fortunately for him, he has plenty of it.
The ultimate paradox: India is a democratic country, but common Indians can’t live democratically. The Congress-led ruling party in India is all set to give a new definition to democracy.
The new government diktat amounts to saying: “You’re free to express your views openly. But take care your views must not be against the government bosses even when they’re corrupt of the highest order.” This is evident from the high-handedness of the Indian government that has allowed the Delhi Police to arrest social activist Anna Hazare, who — supported by millions all across the country — decided to sit on an indefinite fast, raising his voice against the rampant corruption in India.
Anna Hazare and his supporters are demanding a strong legislation in the form of a Jan Lokpal Bill, have rejected the Bill proposed by the Indian government, saying it’s too weak to control corruption. They say another freedom struggle has begun after six decades to get rid of corrupt politicians and government officers at the helm of affairs.
The Hazare team wants to bring even the Indian prime minister under the purview of the Bill claiming that there have been a spate of major corruption cases — telecom scam, Commonwealth Games scam, etc. — that have happened right under the prime minister’s nose and he failed to stop them. Prime minister Manmohan Singh has admitted that his government doesn’t have any control on the mounting corruption in India, saying: “government had no magic wand to deal with corruption.” Then the question is: Why do Indians need such a government and such a prime minister?Toothless Manmohan Singh and his spineless government may not have a magic wand to deal with corruption, but they’ve an iron baton to use against the peaceful protestors who dare to raise their voice against corrupt government forces.
Anna Hazare, 74, is not the only one who has faced the Indian government’s wrath. In June, Yoga Guru, Ramdev, who began his hunger strike against corruption was forced by the police to end his protest.
Ramdev was demanding that the black money amounting to billions of dollars stashed away by the corrupt politicians and others in foreign banks must be brought back to India and should be declared as national asset.
All these dictatorial actions of the Indian government are destined to kill the democratic system in the country. And these can be equated with the haughtiness of Chinese authorities who sent human rights activist Liu Xiaobo to jail.
Liu has been spearheading a peaceful movement in China to see democratization of the political process in that country. And last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.
Similarly, the persistently callous behaviour of the Indian government can be compared with Myanmar’s military junta that arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1991) Suu Kyi who had been spearheading a movement to achieve democratic system and protection of human rights in her country. Then how is Indian government — after arresting Hazare and crushing Ramdev — different from other dictators? The Indian government, like other dictatorships, has been ruling with an iron fist to silence any voice that is directed toward its follies. INAV