“ Saab ye Anna hain na ..Dekho ..Saab ko sidha kar denge” . Chotu uttered with a beaming look while I was engrossed in catching up on the latest developments of Anna’s fast . It was the 7th day of Anna’s fast and I had gone to my regular joint to have a chai. Chotu must be around 10 and matured than most of the children of his age. A fact attributed to his fate. Not much was known to me about chotu except that he had been serving at the chai joint for 3 years and that he was called ‘chotu’,a generic name for kids of his profession. The only interaction we had so far was about the current bill and the previous balance, about which he seldom was wrong.
So did Anna win? Well the answer depends on how we perceive the battle and its outcome. The episode ended by the parliament adopting a ‘Sense of the house’ in support of Anna’s Jan Lokpal bill. Technically speaking, it is nothing more than a view of the members at THAT POINT OF TIME. It cannot be mandated into a bill or law and neither has any standing in the law formation process. To best of my knowledge, the constitutional process does not require any action to be taken on such ‘Sense of House’ adoptions. Nevertheless, the only benefit being Anna ended his fast and lives long and strong to fight more such battles. So frankly speaking, the fast ended without much outcome on the Jan Lokpal bill . Even if the house agrees to the contents of Anna’s bill, it is not binding on the members to comply to it when (and if) it comes for voting.
ICON
VIRTUE
MEANS
POWER OF ONE
While we can go about listing a lot many pros and cons of this movement, you might still ask the question – So who won ? Will the Jan lokpal become a reality? Well, to me these are irrelevant questions. To give an analogy, we all know about the Dandi March that Gandhiji undertook in protest of the tax imposed on salt. Well, the tax was never lifted even after Gandhiji famously lifted a handful of salt at Dandi. In fact the tax still continues and in much higher today!. The Dandi march became a symbol of the nation rising to recognize and fight for its rights. Even though the tax was never waived, the movement culminated into something much bigger- Our freedom.
The movement of Jan Lokpal is a metaphor for the rising aspirations of people. For a desire to make this a better country, to have responsible governance and more importantly a need to be heard. The actual bill might be just an insignificant milestone.
Yesterday, I had gone to Chotu’s tea stall. This was my first visit after Anna broke his fast. Curious about Chotu’s views , I asked him what he felt. “ Saab – Jab bhi idhar se koi batti waali gadi jaati thi, apun sochta tha ki ye sale raja hai aun apun praja. Socha tha …ek din in jaisa banunga. Lekin ab nahi lagta saab. Ab apun ko paata hai. Apun ich king hai !”
But today, I saw a different version of him. He was excitedly watching the events, commenting on some news headlines, at times arguing with customers about the outcome .He may have been factually wrong .But his sprits were high. I am not sure if he understood what the Jan Lokpal bill was about, or the differences of opinion on the topic . He probably may not even have come across corruption except for the hafta given to the police and the Corporation ‘officers’.But he wanted Anna to win. Rather, in Anna he saw sought reprisal for his own fate. While I was happy for Chotu ,the thought of failure scared me. It would shatter him to the core if the fast did not fetch the desired results.
After all, things were not that simple. Chotu was a kid and didn’t understand lot many complications that were involved. I was an educated person and could logically assess possibilities. To my mind, Chotu’s was an exaggerated euphoria.But then, Revolutions aren’t about logic. They thrive on the undeterred conviction of believers for a cause that defies all logic and laws of society. For that moment, I just chose to deny my intellect and logic, to pray with Chotu and millions of others for an ‘Anna victory’.
However, there are many other aspects of the movement which need to be deliberated before judging it in one way.
For one, here is a 74 year old who has become a messiah, an ICON for the people of the country, especially the youth.. This was absolutely necessary for a fast developing country which is high in sprits but starved of real icons. Recently I had seen youths raising scandalous businessmen and politicians to iconic stature. The elevation of Anna to assume a father like stature is the best gift the nation would have received at this point of time. After all, People follow their leaders and the collective psyche of the people decides the fate of the society and nation as a whole.
Secondly, while much is said about the strong support that Anna got in Kejriwal, Bedi and others, and the entire movement is subject of management studies, one factor that stands out and which made a difference between this movement and other such movements was Anna’s CHARACTER. In no time, Anna has reached a point that a few people strive for during their lifetime. In an age where ‘Character Dhila hai’ becomes an anthem, we have an old man challenging the establishment on the basis of one power he possesses. His character. A virtue, which has very less numbers of takers, so much so that it would have been erased from the dictionary in a few years!
Anna could appeal to the people and challenge his detractors to find faults in him merely because he is clean and can proclaim so with conviction. I am sure that the establishment would have left no tables turned to find flaws with Anna’s public and private life. The fact that they could not find any, speaks a lot about him. This movement and Anna’s life in particular helped establish the importance of character in our lives.
MEANS
Thirdly, many of us had read about the Satyagraha and non violence movement of Gandhiji .There is no parallels to such a movement in the history. The closest you could get in history that resembles such a struggle was about Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela. But then both are from a different era. I always found it impossible to comprehend that goals could be achieved by such means. And even if they were in the past, these are different times. Well, who could have imagined one year back than a non violent movement would do such wonders! To me, like many others of this generation, Anna has given a just means to fight for a just cause.
Fourthly, it was heartening to see people coming out for support in such large numbers. It was a miracle of sorts. While there had been resentment brewing in minds of people against the establishment, particularly in wake of recent incidents, the exciting factor was that people actually chose to participate in the struggle instead of being bystanders. This proved beyond doubt that the spirit of the nation is still alive. Also, the feeling that people can ( still) collectively accomplish something will help tune the history of this nation for a long time to come .
THE GIFT OF DEMOCRACY
Last but not the least, while we can go about finding flaws in the system, we must be thankful to the framers of the constitution for making this a democratic republic and the very same politicians for maintaining so for 65 years !. Imagine the fate of such a movement in China or Pakistan. I am absolutely sure that such a movement would not have sustained or would have been forced to turn violent if it were to be conducted in most countries across the world. The government did have an high handed attitude in dealing with the movement, but better sense prevailed and it was non-violent.
Well…. That sums it all
