We respect Anna Hazare as a good man who loves his country, is honest and sincere. He has perhaps a lot for his village- Ralegan Siddi. Hed has enforced various social improvementl measures as seen by him. He has introduced prohibition in his village and he seems to have his own system of meting out punishment to offenders. He has done goodwork on water conservation with Govt funds and assistance. He is as much respected in his village as he is feared.
Such an elder brother provided an ideal person to be selected by some well meaning individuals to take his help to launch their fight against corruption. It is not difficult to get anyone in the country to support such a movement. So these self appointed representatives of 'civil society' formed a team of some legal brains, ex disgruntled Govt officers and others for their fight. Their first objective was to give credibility to their chosen leader. Without questioning the honesty and sincerity of their Elder brother, they sought to take the name of Gandhiji. Here is unfortunately the mistake as their Elder brother was not at all Gandhian in his methods or philosophy. But by a sustained campaign, these self appointed advisers to Anna, created a false notion of Gandhiji's image.
Gandhiji never promoted himself as a leader of the country. His philosophy of non violence and satyagraha however seemed to catch the imagination of the people and their leaders. He successfully used these methods to win our Independence from the British. He protested and started non cooperation movements on salt, British textiles and occasionally resorted to fasts ((not hunger strike to death) for short periods to counter some anti Indian moves and laws of the British Govt. He held regular talks with the British Govt incl visiting England in his traditional dhoti, but never called them names such as cheats or thieves, liars etc etc We are one of the few countries to have won our independence without a traditional notion of war. After 1947, despite his difference of opinions with the late Dr B.R.Ambedkar on some issues, he insisted that he should be the law Minister and the prime mover for writing our Constitution. Gandhiji tried to unite the country against any communal violence and went on hunger fasts for fixed periods whenever were communal riots in the country for self purification in that his principle of communal unity was not being accepted. He never used the fast as a tool for coercion announced months or weeks ahead!
This limited account of Gandhiji's philosophy is enough to counter the false notion that was being created that Annaji and his movement is following Gandhiji's philosophy. To call the movement as a 'war of independence' is a gross misnomer and the methds being followed are totally misconceived. I do not wish to attribute any false motives to him or his advisers. The cause is right. The right to express one's views and prepare a draft Jan Lokpal Bill are not disputed. But the democratic processes in the Constitution and the Parliament cannot be bypassed to approve their draft Bill in toto. Unfortunately, the whole movement became an anti Govt and not against the corruption of all politicians from most political parties. Probably, using Gandhiji's name and probably the support of various other elements who were using the movement to further their own cause and to cover up their own party policies caused enough confusion in the country to stop any meaningful activity in the country. Here it will not be out of place to mention the totally biased reporting of the media in their reports completely ignoring the balanced views being expressed in the print media on the whole issue by many jurists, experts and seasoned elder journalists. The drama that ensued including the Govt's inept handling of the arrest of Annaji added grist to the events. Speeches were made inciting people by calling MPs names and unbecoming comments such as liars. cheats and thieves. The atmosphere was further vitiated by the 'fast until death' as announced by Annaji while his own trusted ex police officer adviser had announced earlier that it would be a fast till his health permitted. Differing voices from Annaji's advisers on several issues revealed that there was no thought no behind the movement. There was fiery speech by a leading member of the team that the people will make the laws and not the Parliament. Bogus or rather defective methods of carrying out "referendums", attacking homes of politicians and such violent measures showed the weakness in movement ofther dichotomy o what is being said publicly and was being done on the ground. Luckily, sanity was restored when the Parliament with a thumping majority gave some issues to be looked into by the Standing Committee and the fast by the Big Brother was called off.
The various statements now being made by the Big Brother of Ralegan Siddi is very worrying. This shows the lack of any coherent philosophy behind the movement.The calmness and right atmosphere to allow the issues to be discussed and an effective Bill be presented to the Parliament is being vitiated by irresponsible statements being made. It is imperative that all parties should refrain from making provocative statements. While the privilege motions in the Parliament may become redundant and withdrawn equally the team should also stop taking defamation cases when apologies have been made and even accepted by Shri Annaji. Anna has also made some unfortunate remarks. Anyone opposing their Bill must be gheraoed and people should agitate against such persons. Why cannot they wait for the Bill till it is presented. Moreover, if he has the right of free expression, so do those who do not agree with any of the clauses in his Bill.
Secondly , he has made some disturbing statements that are against the very fundamentals of democracy. He says that gram panchayats members should be ''selected' and not elected. Are we therefore heading to the creation of a 'village autocrat' becoming a national dictator? With no elections as the base argument, Ralegan Siddi may become the capital of India and his 22 advisers will run the country. The Parliament and Constitution will be jettisoned and their own legal advisers will make the laws and there will be no courts as there will be no Constitution. I hate to visualise the anarchy that this country will face. May be even worse than a banana republic.
In order not to be pessimistic, I would like to make a few suggestions. Representatives of civil society cannot arbitrarily appoint themselves. on framing laws. We need a better presentation of retired judges of proven on Constitutional matters as well as independent thinkers. Drafts produced with serious thought can be presented to all political parties or all MPs so that the Standing Committee can have a good document to further examine. For the several other issues that has been raised about electoral reforms, let a broad base committee be fomed of ex Chief Election Commissioners. jurists, and other experts to prevent money power, those charged with criminal cases from being elected and a none of the above clause in thr ballot paper. Let political parties include professionals like experts in agriculture, engineers, economists, finance etc to be a part of the Govt or in Parliament. As one nhotable thinker expressed recently, we need a bipartsan approach on national issues like security, foreign affairs, defence etc Political partes should be transparent on theri funding and must have regular elections in their own party. All this can be done without having a confrontational approach and allow the right atmosphere for democracy to prevail and work. We need people participation but in a orderly and well reasoned approach to allow dissenters to present their views, if they have any substance.
It is now the responsibility of Shri Anna Hazare and his team to do some serious thinking and prepare a manifesto on every issue that they wish to raise and submits a considered document for consideration by all concerned. Let us avoid arbitrary ideas without deep thought to confuse one's thinking and have a movement bereft of any philosophy. They should promote a new party with a agenda, policy and fight elections and get heard in the Parliament and change the present system. We need such a national party desperately!
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