The India was still getting out of the hangover from the WC win & also getting prepared for the upcoming IPL T20 championship season 4 – players were still talking to media. Almost every day, some big shot sports journalist or a small time writer, all of them were hailing Dhoni as the best captain ever or queuing up with the fans to bestowed Bharat Ratna to Sachin or simply following each player as they returned to their home towns welcomed with garlands, music & fanfare after winning the world cup. Happiness, cheer & “togetherness” was in air – a proud week for India & Indians all over.
In the midst of this fanfare & celebrations, all of a sudden a news came out that well known ( but not as well as Sachin or Dhoni ! ) Gandhian Anna Hazare is planning to go on fast until death @ Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. His main demand was to set up a process which will lead into the timely implementation of the Lokpal Bill, which like many other great initiatives was lying in cold storage as it would limit the level of corruption among the ministers / politicians ( read kill their sources of income ). The political leaders of India are “superfast” to act when it comes to increasing their own salaries & benefits as MP / MLAs, there is no confusion & the entire bill is passed unanimously in both the parliaments within matter of days, with no resistance from anyone. However when it comes to socially relevant acts like – Women’s reservation, Education, Healthcare or Anti-Corruption they just unanimously agree to debate things and halt proceedings. Especially the “anti-corruption” or rather “corruption” in the whole socio-political system has come on the fore front with recent series of scams around Telecom 2 –G, Land & Air transport scams and so on.
So when Anna Hazare tried to force the issue, like always, government tried to belittle his efforts & put things on the back burner. But this 78 year old man, who has been raising this issue for Anti-Corruption Laws for a while, felt cornered and did exactly what Gandhiji would have done when he was fighting the battle of independence against British. He decided to go on fast until death or his demands were met & almost instantly whole nation stopped, paused & turned around with him. From the cricket frenzy to social uplifting – rarely you will ever see such a dramatic shift in public mood. People rallied around Anna, from almost all circles & quarters of India and abroad. From Jalandhar, Bhopal, Bangalore, Patna, Guwahati, London, Tokyo, Newark, Lucknow.. people were leading out candle light marches, holding peaceful rallies against government and standing in unison with Anna. Anna brought them together and after 4 days of negotiations, fasts, protests government fell in line and agreed to set up the timeline & process around implementing Lokpal Bill.
In my living memory, this has been the first ever successful demonstration of non-political, non-violent Gandhian principle abiding protest. There was no political force behind this, no ulterior motive to gain votes or topple governments but just a very honest & direct cause. People of India realized this quickly and rallied behind Anna tirelessly. This was also the “digital” protest – with Twitters & Facebook bringing in opinions from one & sundry. They shaped the mood the Indian middle class & they marched forward – it was tough for any government to counter this let alone the democratically elected Indian Central Government. Many things went correct in this movement, which is still not over, but has achieved a major initial victory & created a momentum – it was truly people’s uprising & power display in the most peaceful ways. Almost all the speakers from various forums which sprung on each nukkad or field in small / medium towns in India spoke about the corruption in politicians & social life and struck a chord with the Janta immediately. They didn’t discuss individuals, as that would polarize & divide people, but the cause - The level of corruption & the way it is being “tolerated” was the enemy not “who is corrupt”.
Thanks to Anna – he has demonstrated & perhaps awaken a generation to Gandhian principles. We only read in history books & heard that they worked wonders during the Indian battle of independence, but here it was on display. Felt immensely proud with the overall maturity & grace with which the whole India handled this whole movement – so unlike some other countries where things turned violent, personal & gross when a revolution was underway. India came out strong from the whole movement & I am hopeful this is just the beginning of a long battle with corruption in the society at all levels.
1. Pritish Nandy's summary of Anna & movement : http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/extraordinaryissue/entry/phew-that-was-some-week
2. India Against Corruption - Facebook Page : http://www.facebook.com/IndiACor
3. Wiki Pedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Against_Corruption
In the midst of this fanfare & celebrations, all of a sudden a news came out that well known ( but not as well as Sachin or Dhoni ! ) Gandhian Anna Hazare is planning to go on fast until death @ Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. His main demand was to set up a process which will lead into the timely implementation of the Lokpal Bill, which like many other great initiatives was lying in cold storage as it would limit the level of corruption among the ministers / politicians ( read kill their sources of income ). The political leaders of India are “superfast” to act when it comes to increasing their own salaries & benefits as MP / MLAs, there is no confusion & the entire bill is passed unanimously in both the parliaments within matter of days, with no resistance from anyone. However when it comes to socially relevant acts like – Women’s reservation, Education, Healthcare or Anti-Corruption they just unanimously agree to debate things and halt proceedings. Especially the “anti-corruption” or rather “corruption” in the whole socio-political system has come on the fore front with recent series of scams around Telecom 2 –G, Land & Air transport scams and so on.
So when Anna Hazare tried to force the issue, like always, government tried to belittle his efforts & put things on the back burner. But this 78 year old man, who has been raising this issue for Anti-Corruption Laws for a while, felt cornered and did exactly what Gandhiji would have done when he was fighting the battle of independence against British. He decided to go on fast until death or his demands were met & almost instantly whole nation stopped, paused & turned around with him. From the cricket frenzy to social uplifting – rarely you will ever see such a dramatic shift in public mood. People rallied around Anna, from almost all circles & quarters of India and abroad. From Jalandhar, Bhopal, Bangalore, Patna, Guwahati, London, Tokyo, Newark, Lucknow.. people were leading out candle light marches, holding peaceful rallies against government and standing in unison with Anna. Anna brought them together and after 4 days of negotiations, fasts, protests government fell in line and agreed to set up the timeline & process around implementing Lokpal Bill.
In my living memory, this has been the first ever successful demonstration of non-political, non-violent Gandhian principle abiding protest. There was no political force behind this, no ulterior motive to gain votes or topple governments but just a very honest & direct cause. People of India realized this quickly and rallied behind Anna tirelessly. This was also the “digital” protest – with Twitters & Facebook bringing in opinions from one & sundry. They shaped the mood the Indian middle class & they marched forward – it was tough for any government to counter this let alone the democratically elected Indian Central Government. Many things went correct in this movement, which is still not over, but has achieved a major initial victory & created a momentum – it was truly people’s uprising & power display in the most peaceful ways. Almost all the speakers from various forums which sprung on each nukkad or field in small / medium towns in India spoke about the corruption in politicians & social life and struck a chord with the Janta immediately. They didn’t discuss individuals, as that would polarize & divide people, but the cause - The level of corruption & the way it is being “tolerated” was the enemy not “who is corrupt”.
Thanks to Anna – he has demonstrated & perhaps awaken a generation to Gandhian principles. We only read in history books & heard that they worked wonders during the Indian battle of independence, but here it was on display. Felt immensely proud with the overall maturity & grace with which the whole India handled this whole movement – so unlike some other countries where things turned violent, personal & gross when a revolution was underway. India came out strong from the whole movement & I am hopeful this is just the beginning of a long battle with corruption in the society at all levels.
1. Pritish Nandy's summary of Anna & movement : http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/extraordinaryissue/entry/phew-that-was-some-week
2. India Against Corruption - Facebook Page : http://www.facebook.com/IndiACor
3. Wiki Pedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Against_Corruption
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