Anna Hazare, a new phenomenon in the Indian national polity has emerged as a champion of anti corruption movement. “Movement against Corruption†is a subject which has neither caste, creed, religion or colour and any one can come under that umbrella to express his resentment for corruption. In fact corruption is a menace, the origin of which is unknown to mankind. I wonder whether any one has made any research on the beginning of corruption. In India I think we train our children to become corrupt in their nascent age only. Take for instance that when a child weeps, we do not try to understand why it weeps but we put some sweets in it’s mouth and it stops weeping. When he refuses to go to school, we give him chocolates or some coins so he or she goes to school. We do not tell her or him why he should study and why he should inculcate that discipline in him. When he goes to college, he comes to know that his parents want him to become a professional and he says at that time unless I am given a motor bike I will not go to college. Like this at every stage we spoil his character and we indirectly train him to acquire a “result†oriented behaviour. Thus when he takes up an employment, he or she adopts the same attitude with the work and says if you want your work to be done, then satisfy me.
That is why when one gives bribe, he or she does not feel ashamed as people are trained in that way right from their childhood days. How are we going to eradicate this cancer from our system? People are aware that many a times those who speak about corruption are themselves corrupt. Those people who stand on the way side and watch these people are aware of this and they are like ‘aam aadmi’ who sees helplessly and does not speak. But Anna Hazare’s movement brought “hundreds and thousands†of people on to the streets or Ram Leela Maidan/ground. How did it happen and how is it that Indian society which had taken everything lying down suddenly became aware of its rights. What magic Anna did? There was euphoria at least in the media and some of the TV channels which heralded that ‘Anna has won’; ‘Anna has prevailed’; ‘Anna is India’; ‘Anna is an Icon for the youth’; ‘Youth found a model in Anna’; ‘Anna is messiah;’ etc etc. OK, one cannot object if one gives such encomiums to a person who is respected by a large number of people. Even otherwise how can any one contradict such claims or titles if it does not harm him or his interest. Just because nobody is contradicting it, can it be said that what those people said about Anna Hazare or of his movement should be accepted without examining such claims. One should be cautious to put this question as the mood of the country bars you from raising such doubts or questions. We know when the fast was going on there was no scope for any wrong chord to be played as it would have been frowned upon. We know the fate of the Congress spokesperson who said something against Anna Hazare. The political Party to which he belonged had to silence him and put him in the back room beyond the people’s eye contact. The Party made him to eat his humble pie so that it could remain in the center stage. He had forgotten that it was safe to go with the current rather than against it. A good and intelligent man has been dropped by the Party because of his untimely attack of the person- Anna Hazare. He was not allowed to explain his allegations. People always want to hear both sides but in view of the media support, no one dare say anthingagainst the mood of the”nation.”It is but sure that no person is infallible. Talking against Anna Hazare was and even now is considered as a great sin because no channel and no media was prepared to air it in it’s right perspective.
Now the fast is over and when the dust will settle down shortly and Anna hazare reaches his village, Ralegan Siddhi, then it becomes incumbent on every Indian or at least to a Research Scholar to see how this entire game plan was formulated.. Was the movement a media creation, what was the role of media played in the entire episode. Why the media took such a stand in the matter, why they projected the entire movement in that way. How was it conducted with such meticulous care, whether Anna coming on the stage or Anna giving speech, or other heavy bodies who shared the platform ( they went wrong in the case Om Puri) These questions do arise in the mind of silent majority who just watched the channels without comments. What made the media to project the Government or the ruling party as a villain of the show or as a helpless actor in the entire episode. Why people felt that there was no balanced reporting. Above all, who funded this entire show? Why Anna Team is against NGOs being brought under Lokpal. ( Please see the post script at the end )
It is also necessary to see from which segment of the society, youth having affiliation had come to Ram Leela Grounds or to all the centers of demonstrations all over the country. Did they have any political back up? It is certain that people belonging to ruling party might not have gone there. So the question arises who actually went there. They were shouting slogans against the Government and this should give an indication who had congregated in Ram Leela Grounds. Were they neutral people and had come there solely with the avowed object of fighting corruption? Was there any political hidden agenda?
People who loved parliamentary type of democracy which we had given unto ourselves after a long battle with the British were shocked to see how a few people to the glare of TV camera could hijack that system from a public park. We know that it is not possible for the country to go for grama sabha type of Government which is prevalent under Panchayath Raj system. Whether Central laws can be enacted through such methods.
One should make a thorough study of what aspect of Anna Hazare attracted those people who went to Ram Leela Grounds. Have they gone there after studying or at least knowing for what principles Anna stood for. Did they compare Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings with Anna’s views? By which bench mark did they give Anna Hazare the equal ranking with that of Mahatma Gandhi. Further it is well known fact that people of some profession hardly receive amounts against receipts. We have seen several people of that kind in the said congregation. That apart, one should think is it to have fun that the youth went there without knowing how Lok Pal Bill would eradicate corruption. How many of them know what is corruption? Did those young people ask their parents whether they have indulged in corrupt practices. I know of one MLA who never accepted bribes. Whenever any person offered money to him he would not accept it. The people therefore used to take fruits to him with an envelope placed in between them. He would tell those people that he would not touch it because he did not accept them and he would call his son and tell him to remove it from the table and the son would take it inside the house. Corruption is like a hydra and it has many heads. How can it be controlled? Is it through one more legislation like Lokpal? This is what one should think. It is also necessary to ponder whether corruption can be eradicated through strong legislation like Lokpal or should it be done by change of our character, discipline and behaviour.
These are some of my thoughts which I have put down in writing without any malice or bias. towards anyone. It is exercising one’s democratic rights to express his thoughts which may be different from others but these questions are necessary to be posed to enable one to decide how he or she should go forward. In a democracy, pressure groups have a role to play but can such pressure groups resort to Satyagraha when we have a working constitution and an elected parliament which enables us to go for polls once every five years to gauge the public opinion apart from having debates and seminars and public protests and rallies. India should consider who should make laws to us – is it parliament or parliament through street demonstrations coupled with satyagraha.
(Post Script: In India there are over 1.2million NGOs some registered most not. The Society for Participatory Research in Asia estimates 19.4million people work in India’s NGO sector & most of them volunteers, one then can but wonder exactly how many a single NGO really employs. 400 NGOs have been blacklisted by the Council for the Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) while the Central Social and Welfare Board (CSWB) have blacklisted 3,000 NGOs . In any case, it is not only difficult to find out exactly how many NGOs operate globally, their global workforce it is almost impossible to benchmark how much of the aid they get actually goes into development work. – based on UNAC Report)