In Defence of Anna

Yesterday was a landmark day. It felt great to finally see Parliament do what it should have done at the beginning of the session itself. And Anna and India finally winning.

This is to cover three issues at which people continue to find fault or fear with the campaign and my take on them.

Firstly, that there is too much politician bashing going on. If you actually look at it, there was basically one event in which Om Puri called all politicians gavar. I don’t know whether he meant it literally illiterate or gavar in the sense they seem to be illiterate of the people’s needs and demands. Either way, it was wrong, and I think that the Anna team has already apologized for any wrong or derogatory language used. But somehow people forget that while Om Puri’s comments were his personal opinion and not that of team Anna, less than 2 weeks ago the spokesperson of the Congress had called Anna ‘steeped into corruption from head to toe.’ Digvijay Singh’s language like ‘nachaniyon ki party’ for BJP etc are not entirely parliamentary either. If the politicians cannot hear their criticism, they should refrain from using derogatory terms themselves first.

Besides, the deep-rooted mistrust which team Anna and the common man had for the politicians is only natural. In April, after Jantar Mantar had ended, the government actually had a golden opportunity. Everyone who’s read the demands which were accepted yesterday by Parliament will agree that there was really no two ways about them being unconstitutional or unnecessary. They were in fact essential for the Lokpal to succeed. Why were these not included in the original government draft? Imagine the frustration of the people when it sees eminent and supposedly honest politicians like Sibal and Khursheed to say that the lower bureaucracy will not be covered, because you cannot expect Lokpal to cover so many people effectively; but ya, we will cover each and every NGO!!! Imagine what they felt when Sibal and co insisted on punishing those guilty of corruption for minimum 6 months but the accuser of minimum 2 years if he fails to prove his accusation! Imagine their disgust when they realized that the government wants to nominate 60-70% of Lokpal members itself and also have powers to suspend Lokpal on its own without the Parliament’s/ Court’s consent! How can you expect people to trust the government after all this? It is but natural that they will not agree to breaking the fast on mere promises but only after seeing some concrete action. If the government had included all these demands in its own draft, the Jan Lokpal movement would not have taken off at all in this fashion. But they have now lost the moral right to sermon us or expect our trust. Manmohan Singh states that no one can say that he was ever corrupt. I also totally trust his character. But the fact remains, that when he had 3 names in front of him for the post of CVC and only 1 of them had a history of an alleged involvement in a scam (and the Leader of the Opposition opposed his name as well), he still chose Thomas over the other two. Can he explain that?

Secondly, that Anna team should have shown more grace and stopped the fast long ago, viz when the PM wrote that letter, or when the debate started etc. And that their demands were draconian and arrogant et al. These people must understand the art of bargaining. When you go shopping at Fashion Street and the vendor asks for Rs 1000, you don’t say 500 even if that’s the price you are willing to pay, you say 200. Then he comes to 750, you go to 400, and the bargain is struck at 500. Most people who supported Anna (including probably part of the Anna team itself) also did not expect or support a law in which MP’s conduct in Parliament would be covered or phone tapping for everyone would be allowed. But that’s what bargaining is all about. If the fast had ended when the PM wrote that letter, there would have been no debate in Parliament in which every party was forced to clarify their stand. Team Anna did an absolutely fantastic job, which makes my Marwari heart swell in pride. Those clamouring for the fast to end never realized how no party had categorically clarified their stand on these issues at the time of the PM’s letter.

Thirdly, the ‘dangerous trend setting’ theory. This doesn’t cut much ice with me. The Telangana dispute, the Kashmir dispute, Iron Sharmila all have widespread local public support. People have fasted, they have set themselves on fire, they have committed suicide, they have committed even murder for many such issues. That has not forced Parliament to act on them. The point is, national support and legitimacy is won by a movement only if is morally correct for everyone. And anyway, you cannot not do something correct because of the perceived danger of something wrong happening in the future. Rahul Gandhi said something stupid. ‘Today it may be an all-encompassing demand like corruption; tomorrow it may be something which violates the fabric of basic Indian society and constitution.’ Well then, support today’s demand and oppose tomorrows if it ever comes to that, Mr Gandhi! That’s why we elect you.

And finally, will the BSP ever improve? It managed to get reservations into this issue as well!! Thankfully, its demand was hardly supported, with caste, creed and religious barriers being broken for the cause of India, and the likes of BSP and Shahi Imam being given a befitting reply this time.

PS: Notice that no party has still committed to any sort time frame for the Judicial Accountability Bill. Hopefully it too will see the light sooner than later, and without another campaign required for the same.

Show me the Intent, Mr Prime Minister

Mr Prime Minister,
I am writing this letter because I want to give you one last chance; not for what you are, but for what you were and what you can become once again for me. You seem to be at a loss to understand the reason behind what is happening; I am hoping that if I explain this to you, you may change and do what you seemed to be the ideal person to do.

What does the ordinary citizen of this country, the voter, a person like me, really want from our leaders, from you? He wants to see in you the intent to do something good for the country and its citizens, the will to improve our lot. I had seen this intent in you and your government in the last elections; in your implementation of the NREGM, in the waiver of loans for farmers, in the way you pushed the nuclear deal. And that’s why I had voted for you. I had not read the minutes of the nuclear deal when I made the decision to support it, nor had most of those who supported it. But my support was still an informed decision. I knew the broad outline of the Deal, I had listened to many debates and discussions on it, and I believed that it would be beneficial for the country. I cast my vote for you because you showed the intent to do something which you believed would benefit the country and you were willing to even risk your entire government for achieving that purpose. Post election results, it was quite clear that my stand was also that of most of the country. I genuinely thought that you had got this message we were trying to send to you by our vote.

Two years have passed since then. And the basic principles of the public and the voters have remained the same. They are still supporting a person who is willing to stake it all for the benefit of the country. Many critics (cynics is a better word for them) say that people don’t even know what they are supporting. That may be partially true. But the public is not naïve Mr Prime Minister; they can differentiate black from white, as also from different shades of grey. The public who realized that the complex nuclear deal is beneficial for the country and voted for you realizes even better and clearer that the Jan Lokpal Bill is also something which is necessary. They need not know the nitty-gritties of the Bill, but what is clear in the minds of the people is that it is better than the government version. And this is clear to them because of your inaction Mr Prime Minister.

What you and your government, the critics (and in the previous elections, the opposition) have failed to realize is that while the people may not understand all aspects of the Bill or the Deal, what they can clearly see is the intent of the leaders. What the public really supports is the intent to honestly want to do something good for the country. They saw it in you the last time and supported you. They see it only in Anna and his supporters this time, and hence they are supporting him.

Where is the intent seen in the government to fight corruption Mr Prime Minister? You had over three months to draft a strong anti-corruption bill, but you spent it instead on fighting with the civil society and launching smear campaigns against them. If your government’s stance was that there should be a separate Judicial Accountability Bill to cover the judiciary, what stopped you from drafting the same in these three months? But you didn’t do so. While I did not support all of Baba Ramdev’s demands, the way the government dealt with him stank of arrogance and intolerance. There were supposedly 3-4 points on which your government had agreed with Baba Ramdev and which you were going to announce when his fast was supposed to end as per your ‘secret’ deal. If your government was serious about the black money issue, what stopped you from announcing and enforcing the same once you had suppressed Baba’s agitation? But you didn’t. Instead, all we saw was a vicious personalized maligning campaign against the civil society.

The public is not blind Mr Prime Minister. If you had initiated a Judicial Accountability Bill, if you had done something for bringing back black money besides investigating Baba Ramdevs accounts, if you did not have provisions in your Lokpal Bill in which the accuser is punished even more viciously than the guilty if he fails to prove his accusations, and if after doing all this you had come and stated openly that you believe that the office of the PM should be outside the purview of the Lokpal, I would have trusted you and your government’s judement (as I had the last time) and given you a chance. But you have not shown me the intent this time round, Mr Prime Minister. And so you have lost my faith and support as well. Power corrupts, they say. Well, it also blinds and deafens is what you have proven this time.

But you still have a chance Mr Prime Minister. Show me the intent. Show me the will which you had shown during the nuclear deal. Do all that you should have done three months ago. Treat the civil society and the middle class with respect. Hear our voices, our demands, our aspirations, and we may listen to you yet again. We the people have a very short memory and a very large heart. You may still win our forgiveness and our support. Otherwise, as Anna said, lao ya jao.