Anna: From Movement To Agitation

(Reproducing the article that I wrote for Merinews yesterday)

The British ruled over India for about 190 years during which they sustained what they believed the biggest jolt to their rule in the form of Revolt of 1857. Historians, now, say that the revolt of 1857 failed to live upto its promise because of its inherent weaknesses, biggest being internal dissensions. And, the British continued to rule for another 90 years. There seem to be a parallel in Anna’s movement for Lokpal Bill which is evidently directed against the present UPA government.

It was only last year, when the entire nation made beeline behind an old man, who finds Gandhism thrust upon him. Anna Hazare has tried to emulate the Mahatma, but despite his personal integrity and grit, his movement has all the signs of frittering away and waning. People of the country are no longer moved by his call for fight against corruption. The government prepares for his call for fast, agitation and mass gathering, but somewhere within, it knows that Anna is more like a spent force now.

There are three important components of the Anna Movement, Anna, himself, his Team and people. Anna, first. The supposed Gandhian leader took up the cause floated by India Against Corruption and championed it and on the way to mercurial popularity he expanded his arena of fight from Maharashtra to cover entire India. He was clearly swayed by the volumes of support that he got from the people of this country, who felt that a new Gandhi had emerged to take on the might of the government, which had been disconnected from the people it governed. People’s anger found a genuine expression in Anna’s call to stand against corruption. Similar emotion had already been experimented successfully in Bollywood through films like Lage Raho Munna Bhai, where people clapped when an old man, a retired school teacher embarrasses a government official to secure his pension.

People are fed up with the all pervasive corruption for long now and Gandhianised Anna gave hope to them. But, somehow, Anna Hazare failed to keep that mass support intact. One has to accept this as Anna’s inherent weakness. He is no Gandhi. People failed to realize this and their expectations of Anna remained so high that he could not have lived upto. He lacks the organizational skill and the understanding of public mood of the Mahatma. Also, Anna Hazare has not been consistent in his speeches and actions over past one and a half-year, which is so un-Gandhian. This drifted the masses away from him and his movement.

Anna’s team is, at its best, pulling in different directions. Allegations of nepotism and dictatorial attitude have been the biggest obstacle in accomplishing the task that the team has taken unto itself. Chief architect of the Team Anna, Arvind Kejriwal has, somehow, alienated all colleagues but a few. Even Anna Hazare does not seem to be in sync with his team all the time. This has exposed an organized bunch of activists to the ruthlessness of the government. Also, the allegations against Kiran Bedi of malpractices and of having communal tinge against the team have not done any good for it. The inevitable result has been loss of credibility of Team Anna among the masses.

On their part, people have also behaved in an intriguing manner. All of a sudden, when the middle was rising, the masses in India rallied behind Anna Hazare, giving hope to the old wise man. Anna mistook this momentary exuberance of people as their readiness for a long drawn battle against the government. This was not. The hope of Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, the political capital dashed in the Azad Maidan in Mumbai, the commercial capital. It also served the Team Anna a clear message that people cannot sacrifice their economic/commercial interests for some wayward political gains. This is precisely why and how Anna’s anti-graft movement became a pro-lokpal agitation. The coming days, beginning today, are likely to follow the same pattern.

Bharat, Beyond India: Sons of The Same Mother

Today, I am not writing any comment on any development in India. I am just uploading a few photographs, that I took in July this year at around midnight in Delhi. This is the scene just outside the venue of a dinner party organized by people, who really represent Shining India. But, these images betray the reality of Bharat that is striving to survive on the left overs by India. I can but hardly forget the dichotomy. Hope, sentiments are understood.

Delhi Rains

It's been raining in New Delhi for days now. Just couple of weeks ago, people all over the place, particularly on television, were anxious that the monsoon was not hitting the city and the summer heat refused to wean. Now, the same people have problems with the rains when this August has already become the wettest one in a decade and it is well on the road to become the wettest ever.

Soon, we will see people attributing this August rains to climate change but only they are finished with the cynicism about CWG irregularities and its negative linkage with the monsoonal rains. Then, the residents of the city will freely converse in metro trains, city buses and all the places of public gathering that the end of the world is near as the climatic change has started showing its effects. But they are less concerned about the fact that this variation over a period of 8-10 years is only marginal one given the deviation in annual weather pattern on the planet in its geological past.

But, what everyone is missing is poor governance of drainage in the national capital. Historians claim that drainage system of Delhi was far more efficient and well managed during the time of Shershah who ruled from Rohtas in Bihar. Even during the rule of the Tomars in the early medieval period the city drainage was better. An ordinary citizen can expect this much from the city government as well as the union urban development ministry. A well managed drainage will itself help in checking in the dengue, malaria, typhoid and a several kinds of dysentery. All these diseases have plagued the city for years now. This will also help government help residents better.

Maintenance of drainage will not only give relief to the people who have been paying taxes for its upkeep(?), it will also help keeping the roads hassle-free ride and drive in the city. Delhi will look cleaner and pavement dwellers will also be served better.

Do I need to enumerate more benefits of an efficient drainage system in Delhi, which is aspiring to become a world class city from a walled city?

Whatever, the monsoonal rains has made people forget the real heat intensity in the city and people look more calm off road; vegetation has started looking greener. Ain't these things enough to welcome rains? Rain please don't go away!