On a quick note, Irom Sharmila is not part of movement today (and she's unequivocally conveyed she wanted to be), as she is under house arrest initiated against her by "them". Yes, it is a pity that her cause still goes largely fought for only because it hasn't been able to garner the mass support (yet!) - possibly because her demands for repeal of AFSPA from Manipur isn't a cause that appeals to each and every section of the society and country the way Anna's movement did. (And, as an aside, just to set the records right, I have been part of my school and college alumni's organizing regular protests at various forums to highlight her fight and the cause she is fighting for.) Hopefully one day someone will come to their senses and take the right decisions...
On electing the right people, SK, wish "they" would have created a parliamentary democracy process that allowed one among "us" to stand in elections; and even if we managed to do that, let one among "us" get elected in the face of the huge election funding through the black economy resorted to by "them". I don't know if it was ever anything other than a "we" vs "they" debate in our country when it came to electoral practices. We may tom tom to the world about successfully conducting the right to exercise of franchisee for a most populous democracy, but are we as individuals really proud of what and who we can and are able to elect?? We do not bat an eyelid when for 64 years post independence the entire political establishment self-righteously postures, smug in their belief that having GOT THEMSELVES ELECTED for 5 years, they now have the "God-given rights and blessings" to loot, plunder, and soil the nation. So what's wrong in self-righteous posturing of someone lesser, supported by a rag tag coalition of supporters without the vast state resources at their command, who have summoned the courage to stand up against the entire might unleashed upon them, and yet make the "high and mighty" shake in their Italian boots and bring down them down to their steel-replaced knees?
Agreed, it is not a elitist movement, so it may not appeal to the littereti, the chatterti and the twittereti, and TV spots may show mostly the unglamorous middle class from humble backgrounds coming out in droves supporting the cause (which by the way is a miscommunication as . But isn't it them (means many of us) who are the most affected by the scale of corruption all around us? Some among us may have stayed largely protected from the daily travails of having to deal with the corrupt bureaucracy and administrative machinery, but not all of us had the privilege. Highlighting some personal experiences - I had to face demands of bribe to renew my passport and driving licence (even with every genuine documents in my possession), to get my property registered with 100% payment in white and then more to convert the property from lease hold to free hold. Because I have not capitulated, my property still lies leasehold even after 2 years of having got it registered. Even to get 100% insurance payment after my dad's operation last year, I had to part with 5% of that as payment to the govt insurance company officer, without which they were quoting God-knows what technicalities to deny payout! And these are just among a few of my own personal experiences and I am now sick and tired of these! One can imagine how much it affects the national character collectively. Those who haven't dealt with these species of humans will not understand the exasperation and despondency of it all! It was always a "us" vs "them" debate, it never was otherwise, and I guess I take personal affront if someone trivializes my sentiments in the issue!
On Arundhati Roy, I want to believe that a Booker cannot have been bought, so she definitely must be a powerful writer, and I do not deny that her psychobabble does managed to show many the path, whether right or wrong well... we can keep debating! I also agree that it gives her literary credibility high to coin fancy terms like "freshly minted saint" to describe a Anna Hazare. Not sure though that being in that state of high gives her the social and literary licence to belittle the
sentiments of millions of people who believe in the movement. Yes, Indian democracy gives her the right to write and express herself the way she wants to, and so also also to govt-spokesperson slicksticks like Manish Tiwari and Kapil Sibal, but then she is as guilty as the people she accuses today of acting like a self-styled mesiah of the underdog, basking in a self-bestowed sense of pseudosuperiority over everyone else, who fortunately or unfortunately, have a different point of view about anything. "Hum karein to chamatkar, tum karo to balatkar!??" I would not like to attribute motive to her most recent muse, but I am sure it has something to do with her failure to garner the kind of support for her espoused causes with all the elite literary might she commands that an unlettered and un-Bookered Anna has managed to do for a cause that truly and convincingly afflicts every section of the country - including the causes she wants to highlight such as Big Dams or the Naxalhealthcare... you name it! What on Earth is she babbling of!?
On Kiran Bedi's waving the flag, SK... it may've looked dramatic, or even comic, on TV. But had one been up close on the ground watching her waving the gigantic flag relentlessly and untiringly, you wouldn't believe the kind of electrifying motivating effect it had on the teeming thousands (and lakhs on Sunday last) of the unglamorous supportive crowd present there. The sight did not let the the enthusiasm and energy waver for a moment even after so many days, which the public would've tired of had the cause be of a lesser magnitude. Kiran Bedi is one of the most accomplished and upright police officials our country has ever seen. She single handedly instilled the fear of the law amongst the most corrupt of people (irrespective of their high and mighty status) wherever she had been posted to. Her successful efforts at institutionalizing prison reforms and humanitarian policing management is unparalleled even today. I am sure a little over-the-top flag waving (one may call it the one fatal flaw in her character) should not invite so much cynicism from anyone, right.. specially as she only has the flag to wave and not the batons and rifles the Govt loves to wield on unarmed and sleeping protesters in the name of protecting hapless democracy!
But having said all these, I do agree with the minority view that though Anna's cause may be of relevance, his arm-twisting methods may not have been the right approach. As the PM said, it may set a wrong precedent. Having said that, however, I can't in the world, with my very very limited knowledge and intelligence in such matters of the state, think of an alternate way which would have made a powerful govt yield to the demands of a strong legislative provision to watch over corruption in high and low places, specially as there is a huge conflict of (vested, self-serving) interest of the Honorable Members of the Parliament who are expected to pass such a legislature.
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