Recently some of my friends noticed that I dislike Anna Hazare; and as is quite expected - everyone’s reaction was: “what!!!”, “how come?”, “why”, “this is strange”, “he is fighting to end corruption”, “I should support him” n all that.
First things first, I support a Corruption-Free India; I support the need for instititution of Ombudsman (LokPal at centre and Lok Ayuktas at state level); and I do press for stronger anti-corruption laws.
What I am opposed to is the uncanny play by Anna Hazare and his associates. Back in April, I was really one of the “Anna Supporters”, because out of the blue, a modestly known Gandhian had the mettle to rattle the government’s attention and public responsiveness in a colossal manner. Finally, people had found some non-political image to be placed as an icon in what I would call the “social activism”.
But as time progressed, I have seen this “icon” turn out to be nothing less than a huge disappointment. Straightaway coming to the reasons as to why I don’t support Team Hazare:
(i) Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara!:
A proclaimed Gandhian as Anna calls himself… always reminds me of the movies “Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara” and “Lage Raho… Munnabhai”. I just ponder over the fact that how many have a people have used Gandhi’s name without even knowing or having read Gandhian philosophy. For sure, I can bet Anna has not read the Gandhian Ideology of State and Politics.
Oh! Sorry… he follows the principle of non-violence… He is a Gandhian… no arguments!
(ii) Representatives of Civil Society – A Misnomer:
The first blot on this Team Hazare undoubtedly is their rant as being representatives of the Civil Society. The real representatives of a civil society are the ones elected to legislatures – be it Parliament or State Legislatures – who have undergone elections – and represent the “mandate of people”. Team Hazare is more of a pressure group which needs to know it is a pressure group and not a super-parliament!
(iii) Consistent Insults to Parliamentary System:
Burning a bill outside parliament! Not having faith in parliamentary procedure of making a law (the parliament that makes laws on even security and defence purposes) ; consistently calling parliament a sham (that’s amounts indirectly to calling Indian Constitution a sham);
I needn’t say more on this! (It’s just that they could have a better approach than insulting the very structure laid down by the Constitution).
(iv) Cruel Intentions!:
Often a times in present times, an “icon” of a social movement who has been instrumental in gaining public support (on other note: most of anna’s supporters don’t know what a lokpal is, they just want an end to corruption), have been found to have political nexus (yeah! They deny it) and monetary gains (money is honey!). Anna reminds me of Leela Karan Sharma. Those of you who don’t know who L.K. Sharma is, a reminder – L.K. Sharma spearheaded the agitation regarding Amarnath Yatra land issue in the summer of 2008 in Jammu region of J&K. For 3 months, the southern part of the state was at a complete standstill for a cause. He kept saying he or his team were not affiliated to any political outfil. Come 2009, he fought election for Lok Sabha on BJP ticket. (He did loose though! People get smarter when they know they were cheated in some context).
I see a lot of similarities between him and Anna. Only time will tell!
(v) Anna's speeches – disastrous:
The main reason for my dislike of Anna are his speeches. Kindly! Kindly! Have an assistant and if you have- fire him, and get a professional. Only if Anna could give better and well-thought speeches, the government and others would have had no reason to counter him. Insulting the Parliament, P.M. and ministers – OK! Fine… you are protesting – but give a classic speech too. All I remember him saying is “Azaadi ki doosri ladai”… “ bigger threat than anything else” (I thought terrorism was biggest threat)… “Ann shan” (ok! I like this word now… hunger strike sounds too formal)…
He’s still got some time… give a remarkable speech!!!!! (or the speech experts in the government will play football with you).
(vi) Anna – can he give away his awards and honours:
Now, this is very amusing to me. Anna Hazare has been bestowed with Padam Bhushan in 1992 and Padam Shri in 1990 alongside an n number of awards and honours by the Government of India. And as is quite evident, he has been calling government corrupt at all levels. His team member, Kiran Bedi, is known for calling national awards rigged and unfair. Now, the question is why isn’t Anna threatening to give away his awards and honours which have been bestowed by the overtly “corrupt” government of India. Care a thought! (He might end up getting my support and many more if he does so. Needs character and guts! Call it a fight for cause! Rabindra Nath Tagore gave away his knighthood… Don’t worry Anna aint got that persona)
(vii) Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara! :
A proclaimed Gandhian as Anna calls himself… always reminds me of the movies “Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara” and “Lage Raho… Munnabhai”. I just ponder over the fact that how many a people have used Gandhi’s name without even knowing or having read Gandhian philosophy. For sure, I can bet Anna has not read the Gandhian Philosophy of State and Politics.
Oh! Sorry… he follows the principle of non-violence… He is a Gandhian… no arguments!
(viii) Legal Viewpoint on Lokpal Bills:
The Lokpal bill of the government is error-prone. Yes! No doubts on that. But it has not been passed yet. Every bill of the government, a legal researcher would agree on this point, has a lot of flaws and often a times get passed by the Parliament. How to cure the errors and flaws in the Acts – well! I hope everyone’s aware of process of amendment (even Constitution can be and has been amended). And as far as a bill is concerned, it has to go through a lot of stages which involve lots of changes and the utmost – approval of the Parliament (representatives of people).
And the much hyped Team Hazare’s lokpal bill – another bill full of errors. An interesting feature which amuses me is the minimum punishment for corruption – 7 years – equivalent to that of a person who has committed rape. Yes! You can imagine a person who has been wrongfully framed for corruption can easily be serving his sentence like a rapist (for the records, it is very tough to prove rape and involves a lot of procedure). I advocate for stronger punishments for corruption cases, but a sense of reasonability is what lacks in most of the provisions of Team hazare’s Bill… They definitely needed a better legal researcher instead of those lawyers they have in team (isn’t overcharging a client also a corrupt practice… Care a thought for team anna lawyers!).
(ix) What next for Anna if he succeeds?
A campaign for Bharat Ratna (the only award missing from his list);
An MP election ticket (from BJP likely);
Or may be advisor to Lokpal (or may be no age limit for Lokpal… n he himself becomes the Lokpal);
A Rajya Sabha MP (nominated by BJP or any opposition party… or wait Team Hazare might want to get him nominated by President);
Supervisor of Lokpal and Lok Ayuktas (possible! Anything is possible for Anna).
Ok! That’s it… I guess that should be enough! He’s old… oh sorry! he called P.M. old (P.M. is 79 and Anna is 74 - for the records).
What is my summary/suggestion/conclusion:
Well… I would better see fighting against corruption using Gandhi’s name and image instead of pseudo-gandhians or so for the matter. History has been rewritten people who were good with their words and actions. Anna and his team are no match. They are just a bunch of attention-seeking wannabes (an appearance by Anna in a children based reality show, Lil Champs on Zee TV recently… Is he seeking TRPs now… hasn’t he already got enough?.. ). I am no supporter of congress, bjp or any other party. I support people who have the character and a persona to be respected, much like Atal Behari Vajpayee (who withstood the toughest times this country has seen in recent times – kargil war, attack on parliament) or the likes (just imagine him speaking against corruption right now… half of the country will forget Anna). Such kind of personality is needed to spearhead movements of “social activism”. And a concluding thought, keeping in mind that almost everyone is corrupt today in one sense or the other (even blackmailing is a form of Corruption… what say Team Hazare)…
“Honesty is the best policy, corruption simply compliments it”.
