There is no doubting that the anti-graft crusade received a shot in the arm after all the varying segments of dissenting voices, the so-called pro-people forces(Medha Patkar, Awami Agnivesh, Kiran Bedi, Arjun Kejriwal, Prashant and Shanti Bhushan, Baba Ramdev, IAC et al), came together for Anna's Hazare's clarion calling crusade against corruption but the honeymoon seems to be over.After the Baba Ramdev fiasco came the Ram Lila show of strength but that victory was taken to be representative of the whole nation when in actuality that voice did not even constitute 1/1000th of the population of our country. Sailing on that victory Anna continued his strident obscurantist demands and his henchmen and women who would otherwise have backed away only prostrated their support. Sense had become a casualty and jingoism and radical positioning began to take over what seemed like the campaign of the century. The Mumbai segment of the campaign which followed the government's tabling of the Lokpal bill only seemed to magnify the distance between the people and Anna and his team. It was becoming loud and clear that Anna's team member's misdemeanors, confrontational attitude and critique only of the government when all parties were equally responsible for blocking the bill's passage,( making it even more evident) that Anna's whole campaign appears to be motivated to destabilise the government more than to pass the Lokpal legislation. The interference in local politics and vote-mongering for the opposition BJP in the Hissar bypolls only made it more and more difficult for the biased campaign to survive. Then came Anna's illness, leaving no one else (trust-worthy enough)to assume the leadership role and the campaign totally lost it's footing.
Anna's constant threats against the government and his attempts to fracture the mandate in the election bound states clearly point to him being misguided and misled by advisors who now seem to think they have the power to make the government crawl. The government may not be lily white and pure but it has definitely shown that it can take action against the corrupt. The number of ministers in jail is ample proof of that fact.It's another thing that Anna and his cronies refuse to recognise that indelible fact preferring to pillory the Government while praising opposition parties and leaders responsible for national disintegration. Anna's voice is also becoming inconsistent. One day he advocates beating up of alcoholics and politicians and the other day he claims he never advocated violence.I happened to be on the media team covering the premier of 'Gali Gali Chor hain' produced by Nitin Manmohan, directed by Rumi Jafry and starring Akshaye Khanna, Shreya Saran and Mugda Godse- held in his village Ralegaon Siddhi. It was obviously a PR exercise by the producers but what surprised me more was the manner in which Anna and his henchmen rule the village. The film had to undergo unnecessary cuts in keeping with Anna's sensibilities. As a result the experience was pretty dissatisfying with the narrative appearing choppy and lacking in finesse.During his address to the people of the village and the assembled press persons he voiced his oft-repeated sentiments hoping for committed participation from the youth in cities, supporting his campaign. He claimed he understood their preoccupation with family and work and hoped they would reassess their priorities after watching the film. In his hamlet Ralegoan Siddhi Anna is more or less regarded a despot of sorts. He and the sarpanch Jaisingh Mapari, lord it over the villagers curbing their individual freedom (going against constitutional provisions and individual human rights). TV serials are a strict no-no , alcohol is prohibited and so is smoking. Anyone caught indulging in any of the above mentioned vices would not only be flogged(in case of alcohol) but also have to pay a hefty unheard of fine.The man who has the inside connection to Anna, his secretary, is rude and pretty much arrogant. The people there are even afraid to voice their fears of him. Despite his humiliation in Mumbai, Anna continues to spurt venom on the government. So in a way Anna and his team are no different from the other strident and violent segments of society that have since become political formations and use fear as the key to gain a foothold in the Government , be it at the state level or the central level. Anna and his team also seem most likely to adopt that approach now given their failure in the more democratic approach!
Johnson Thomas
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