A Mismanaged Promise

The title may suggest this write-up as a one which instructs or tries to draw conclusions, but let me clarify that neither does this piece intend to do that nor is this penned for the sake of it.

A couple of days after the incredible night of 2^nd April 2011, India & Indians were struck by Anna Hazare and his colleagues. The support was infectious, age was no bar, job status didn’t matter and most of the 1.2 billion Indians thought this was the ‘change’ everybody wanted with the Indian system. You felt that this was the moment when fantasies could realize, India would be devoid of any black money stashed abroad and life could be different. It was euphoric, it was unprecedented, it was fantastic and it was real! Today, the media has a strong influence the way and amount of stories they cover and present; as the movement came about suddenly the media didn’t have time to prepare for it. Primetime debates were occupied by unstoppable chatter about the movement, the characters involved and the legislation desired. The support strength quickly grew from a few hundreds to a few thousands to a few millions! I liked the campaigned, believed in it, but wanted to wait and watch.

The public pressure forced the Congress to commit for passing the Lokpal bill. Things appeared to work, move, and anticipation grew. Experienced political experts knew and predicted that once things settled down the government will buy time and try to reduce the bill to just something. You almost could foresee the reaction but didn’t want to happen - the reaction in the form of another fast, infact two - one in August and another in December. Somehow the attendance at fast venues decreased. Newspaper headlines and TV shows had moved from “Who is Anna?”, “Anna strikes huge chord” in April to “Anna breaks fast, nation relieved” in August to “Why Lokpal show flopped in Mumbai?” in December. The movement was teetering, the momentum was sliding away, the impact was diluting and gradually the fizz was blowing off. I started feeling that I was right in my stance of wait and watch!

There were plenty of characters during this period associated with that subject - Baba Ramdev, Congress leaders, BJP leaders, media critics, pro-Anna celebrities, yet the focus centred Anna Hazare and his core committee. A year and a quarter later since the first week of April 2011 ‘team-Anna’ (as they are popularly referred as) have set out on, well, another fast! The attendance has continued its trend, the cynicism about it is growing, the ruling party by ‘strangely’ passing the bill in the Lok Sabha is morally correct in its stand, and where have we reached - nowhere! Anna Hazare is on an interview giving spree. He says he doesn’t need huge crowds to stage a protest, he says he will support ‘honest’ candidates for the next elections; he says he won’t contest elections personally. Vague and incoherent as they sound, they suggest a sense of disheartenment. So where did all this go wrong? Poor management? Or is this being made to go wrong? Doing a certain thing too often does dilute the impact and protesting via fasts 4 times during 15 months hasn’t helped the cause. Public perceptions, especially in India, change quickly; team Anna’s movement has reiterated that.

Team Anna was acclaimed for their courage to take on the ruling government, an achievement in itself, but in hindsight you feel that too much was being expected out of the movement. You got to thank Anna for making you believe that a magnanimous protest can shake the ruling government; and perhaps you could be disappointed that the movement hasn’t translated into something concrete, I am. Anna Hazare & co. will go down in history books for what they did or are doing, but mass movements can be of use only if they develop certain concrete changes; Lokpal bill that has been presented is far from what was proposed. Retaliation/rebellion has to be pointed, coherent, ego-less and relentless for it has to confront innumerable hurdles. This movement promised a lot when it began, gradually has tapered down to big egos, ‘political’ explanations and too rigid to associate with. The Congress government has been caught corrupt on more than one occasion, but you have to be surprised that an anti-corruption movement has subdued during a period when politicians have been caught and jailed. I have no ‘moral’ or competent authority to impress my views upon others or suggest that they ‘represent’ the larger view, but the above paragraphs just intend to speak out the thoughts of somebody who has witnessed a promising movement being quashed.