anna hazare

There are 14 posts tagged anna hazare (this is page 1 of 3).

Top 5 Take Aways from the Anti-Corruption Movement

Anna Hazare has been voted as the Person of the Year / The Indian of the Year by many news channels and newspapers recently. Even international press has noted him as one of the top news makers of the world in 2011. And why not? After all, this 74 year old Gandhian has changed the way Indians look at corruption and given all of us hope that this disease can be removed from our country. As I wrote in a poem, he has come as our Messenger of Hope in 2011.

Below are what I feel are the top 5 take-aways from this movement so far –

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption Rally, Delhi

Anna has found support from people of all age groups

1. Strengthening of Democracy

Anna Hazare has spend all his life promoting the decentralization of power in democracy and his asking for a Lokpal, free of any government control, is another step in this direction. By directly involving the people in his protests, and highlighting the point that the people are the real masters and the politicians only public servants elected by them, he has made it clear that they should proceed in accordance of the will of the public.

He and his team have taken the issue of Lokpal to the people in small towns and villages, holding live debates and educating the people about the various fine points of the Lokpal Bill and the importance of each clause. This has never happened before. Politicians have never bothered to debate with the people about the fine prints of any bill. By involving the public and making them aware of why and what they are doing, they have enabled a healthy environment which has resulted in the strengthening of the democratic institution.

2. Hopelessness to Hope

If you would have asked anyone about the issue of corruption in India at the start of the year 2011, you would have only got hopelessness and pessimism in return. But in one year, Anna has changed that mood to one of hope and optimism. People have seen the power of peaceful protests and how they can pressurize the government to do their job properly. This must be the biggest take-away from this movement.

3. Uniting India for something other than Cricket

When India won the World Cup this year in April, people came out on the streets and danced and partied all night long. I wondered that do we have the same unity and patriotism for other issues which are much more important to our country. But my doubts were put to rest as during the two fast-unto-death’s which Anna underwent in April and August, he received huge support from people of all walks of life – from big cities to small towns and villages like. It was so glad to see the whole of India united and fighting for a cause that really matters to every one of us.

4. Gandhian Values

It was India who gave the world the weapon of peaceful protest – Satyagraha. But questions have been raised in recent times about its relevance in a 21st century world. But this movement put all such speculations to rest and showed that Gandhian methods of peaceful and non-violent protest are as much effective today as they were 70 years go. It was amazing to see young leaders like Arvind Kejriwal and others using technology (internet, social media) to gather support and spread their word quickly among people.

5. Patriotism and Power of Youth

A famous quote says that “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government“. This movement has shown the power of youth and the importance of patriotism in democracy. By coming out in big numbers and by even courting arrest in huge numbers, the Indian youth has shown the importance of public protests in democracy. It has shown to the world that even a corrupt government will find it difficult to operate if the public is aware and ready to hold the government accountable for their actions.

I would like to conclude by saying that just as a strong and responsible opposition is needed to keep the government on its toes and working properly, a strong public (or civil society) is needed to keep any democratic institution on its toes to do its duty responsibly.

India, Its Government, the Opposition and Anna Hazare

With the recent Anna Hazare led movement against corruption and the amazing support that it has received from the common man, everybody is busy pointing out the failure of the government. The media, social activists and the common man, have all come out and criticized the government and its ministers of the way they have handled the issue of corruption. But what about the opposition? How have they fared over the past few years? And on a general note, what is the role of the opposition in a democracy?

What is the role of the opposition?

I feel the role of opposition in a democracy is as important as that of the ruling coalition. The most important job which the opposition has is the responsibility for keeping the government in check and making sure they are delivering their promises to the public. Just because you are sitting in the opposition, it doesn’t mean that you are not liable or don’t have any commitment to the public who have elected you.

In fact, in my opinion you can do more good in opposition if you are really committed to serving the people of your country. The opposition should be sensible, intelligent and wise. They must use their intellect and reasoning critically and constructively. The opposition should work and interact with the people of the country and bring the concerns of the people to the government, if the government is not already doing so. Within the parliament and other democratic structures, they should engage in constructive debates and help/support the government in the common objective of serving the nation. They should also act as a deterrent in case any party or office bearer try to misuse his/her office for personal gains.

Anna Hazare's rally in Delhi

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption Rally, Delhi (photo courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/ishanz/)

What is not the role of the opposition?

The opposition should not be the opposition just for the sake of it. Also, they should not criticize and oppose every government policy just because they are sitting in the opposition. They should not disrupt the working of parliament and other constitutional structures. All their actions have to be directed towards the common cause (which they share with the government) of serving the nation. In the Indian scenario, it is clearly visible how the opposition have lost their credibility and status as they oppose each government policy and indulge in mindless accusation of government leaders.

What has Anna Hazare done?

No matter how good or sincere Anna Hazare is, he would not have been able to gain the public support if the opposition had been doing its job properly. Anna Hazare has only stepped into the vacuum left by the non-governance by the ruling coalition and the total ineffectiveness of the opposition parties to check that. The situation has come to a point where the public was totally hopeless and helpless, and only in this space Anna Hazare and IAC have stepped in. They are doing the job of the opposition, to pressurize (and support) the government to do their job. (I have answered some FAQs about the movement here)

Today’s opposition parties might be tomorrow’s ruling parties, and their approach and analysis can backfire on them tomorrow, if they show negative thinking and only care about coming back to power. Opposition is the back-bone of a healthy democratic setup, and a good opposition is necessary for the success of parliamentary democracy.  I hope our opposition realizes this, sooner than later.

Some Q&A’s about Corruption and the ongoing movement against it

I have been hearing many questions in the minds of people regarding the ongoing movement against corruption. In this post, I have tried to document and answer (according to my thinking) some of the most frequently asked questions. These questions have been asked on social media websites or on my blog on the articles I have written related to the Anna Hazare led movement.

Q – I do not identify myself with no corruption. Can those lakhs of people pledge on their life that they will never ever engage in corruption?

A –  It is very important to see people who give bribes (for small/individual corruption) as victims and not culprits.. I think most of the us will prefer not giving bribe if work can be done without it. Big corporate and large scale corruption is another matter altogether. They use corruption for their own advantage, while the common man mostly has to shelve money to get something which is his/her right, like getting the passport, or a birth or marriage certificate, etc.

People supported in their own unique ways

People supported in their own unique ways

Q –  It’s a part of our mindset. Its more of a psychology thing. It can be reduced, but never totally eradicated.

A – Yes, it is a part of mindset and can’t be totally eradicated. But it can be reduced from 90% to say 10-20%.. And to do so, it means people will have to be disciplined (not jumping red lights, wearing helmets, following rules, etc) and might have to suffer some hardships or harassments in the short term. But we need to take these in our strides for long term benefits.

Q – The only factor that prevents corruption is fear. Until that is very strong, it cannot stop. My only wish is Jan lok pal bill will instill the fear in the hearts of corrupt people, of strict punishment. If not then I think it wont prove worthy..

A –  I agree. Corruption is a high profit and low risk business now… A strong law will make it low profit high risk business… If this happens most people will automatically become non-corrupt… It’s simple human psychology to not indulge in high risk activities. See what happened in Hong Kong..

Q –  Its a vicious circle. Who will make the law ? What if the lawmakers are themselves corrupt ? What if the Jan Lok Pal Bill committee members are themselves corrupt ? Who will preside over them ? What if they are corrupt too ?

A -The government / parliament has to make the law.. I agree the lawmakers are themselves corrupt and hence they will make law only under public pressure.. They will make it only if they know that people will not vote for them if they don’t make this law… We saw a glimpse of that in the current protests… and thats why keeping public pressure is VERY important… Infact I would say that, Public Pressure is not only important but also necessary in a democracy…

Ganesha Chaturthi idol like Anna

Ganesha Chaturthi idol like Anna

Q – Can a single law stop corruption?

A – The answer is YES and NO. A single law can act as a strong deterrent for people who want to indulge in corrupt activities. It can reduce the corruption levels considerably by turning corruption into a low profit high risk business, but it can’t eradicate corruption totally, for sure. We need to work on three areas in parallel if we want to reduce corruption –

1. Punishment for corrupt – Jan Lokpal Bill will serve this purpose.

2. Education : Moral and Legal – We need to spread moral awareness among our youth, preferably from the school level, about why is it bad to indulge in corruption, and how it can harm ourselves, the society and the country in the long term. We need to bring up our children in an environment of high moral standards.

3. Constant modifications of laws and processes – We are in a democracy, and we can always made amendments to laws, systems and processes if we feel the need to. There should be constant monitoring of laws and systems already in place, and constant modifications to them must be suggested and implemented to reduce the possibility of anybody indulging in corruption. Examples are putting CVC and CBI under Lokpal, implementing Citizen’s Charter, etc

Q – These methods of protests are undemocratic?

A – Actually, this was the biggest win of the democratic process!! What we saw was parliament doing what the public wants.. that is what democracy is all about. A little public pressure is always required for a democracy to work properly. But it’s just half the battle won, if the government backtracks on this commitment, this movement will spread across every nook and corner of the country and they won’t get any votes in 2014… What was heartening was seeing even the opposition engaging in proper debates and not just adjournment drama as even they have a responsibility in a democracy.. and the failure of the opposition was the reason in the first place why someone like Anna got such huge following from the people… If the protests by the people made the government take corruption seriously and even made the opposition work sincerely, how can this be against democracy!!

Q – Are we expecting a ”Nayak” movie scenario where thousands of government and corrupt people would be affected?? Can we expect govt. services to be reliable and affordable rather than private sectors? Can we see common man benefitting and in what areas??

A – Considering the levels at which corruption has seeped into our babudom, it won’t be a surprise if a large number of officials are suspended or penalized after Lokpal becomes official. But it would be foolish to believe that change will happen overnight and corruption will disappear. Even after Lokpal Bill, it will take a long time (in years) to eradicate the cancer of corruption from our society. Even Lokpal will have its loopholes and limitations which would need to plugged by further amendments to the law as and when required. Expecting government services to be better than private sector is another matter as a lot more than corruption need to be tamed for that. Government companies need to be run by CEOs in a professional manner rather than politicians and babus for that to happen. The common man will certainly benefit, and in every area, directly or indirectly, as he won’t have to shell out money as bribes, and secondly, his tax money will be properly used in public services which will come to benefit him sooner or later.

Why was the government caught unaware by the huge public support for India Against Corruption?

There is no hiding the fact that corruption is prevalent everywhere in India, with babus, bureaucrats and politicians sitting at the top of the list of ‘most corrupt people‘. Corruption has become the elephant in the room, which everybody knows you have to face at every walk of life, but nobody wants to discuss it or stand for a solution. We have to pay bribes to get your birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate and everything that comes in between.

New Malls, New Brands for a New Middle Class

New Malls, New Brands for a New Middle Class

I guess corruption seeped into our social fabric during the pre-1991 era when Nehruvian methods were followed and every big industry was a public sector company. State Bank of India, Bhel, LIC, BSNL, Indian Oil, NTPC and ONGC became the companies where everybody wanted a job, for it provided job security and ‘under the table‘ earning options too. People working in these companies formed the Indian middle class during the pre-liberalization era.

But after the economic reforms of 1991, competition opened up and many foreign companies set up shop in India. It also led to the emergence of the service economy with the booming of the BPO and IT sectors. A lot of youngsters started earning handsome salaries and a chance to travel abroad was no more a luxury. In the last 20 years, this population has become the new middle class. Compared to the previous middle class, these set of people are more young and ambitious, they speak fluent English, buy foreign brands and earn good salaries without any ‘under the table’ options. They work hard in a competitive but (mostly) honest environment to earn their living.

In a way, what happened after the 90s was that the middle class of people working in PSUs were replaced by the middle class of people working in the new service based economy. While the people in governance – the politicians and the babus remained the same. Very clearly, there was (and is) a disconnect between the governed and the government. With Parliament sessions shown live on TV, there are enough reasons for this new middle class to get frustrated with the politicians.

The protesters were mostly from the educated middle class

The protesters were mostly from the educated middle class

So when Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and others started this movement against corruption, they just caught the right nerves of this middle class. They gave the middle class a ray of hope out of the otherwise hopeless situation they felt they were in. And with their youth and the ‘josh‘ (enthusiasm) it brings with it, they joined the movement in thousands and poured on the streets. Suddenly the sleeping, lazy, not caring about the country middle class awakened and to utter surprise of many, protested for a corruption free India.

Due to this disconnect between the government and the people, the government was caught totally unaware that where did this huge support to Anna Hazare came from. This middle class might be only 20-30% (and growing) of our population but even that means tens of crores of people, which is a big enough number for any government to take notice. And going forward, this middle class is only going to increase in number and become very critical to the political fortunes of those in power.

These are my views about why and how the government was caught unaware and committed harakiri by arresting Hazare and later releasing him in panic. And I think this educated and aware middle class will have a huge say in deciding the way our government create policies in the years and decades to come. Our politicians can no longer ignore the educated middle class as they have done for the last 50 years. Because, leave the protests and fasts alone, we are still a democracy, and as many Congress leaders have said in arrogance, “The public can throw them out in the next elections“.

5 Reasons why Anna Resonates with the Masses

In my previous article, I had a doubt about how the public will react to Anna’s second fast unto death. I was more skeptical about the response to his Jail Bharo call. But I am glad all my skepticism has been proved wrong. The public has responded, and how. Tens of thousands of people have come out on the streets in support of Anna Hazare. People have courted arrests in hundreds and in Delhi, police has to convert a stadium into a jail to keep those arrested. There were around 100,000 people marching to India Gate in Delhi and around Azad Maidan in Mumbai. Now can the government arrest them all?

I am really glad that the public has risen to the call given by Anna Hazare. But what is special about Anna Hazare that he has galvanized the whole nation when most of us didn’t know him at all a few months ago. How is one man able to dictate terms to the government? How has he cut across the social and economic divides of the populace which is so deeply entrenched in our society?

History of Work Done

He is an ex-army man who fought in the 1965 Indo-Pak war and later build his village into a model village, self sustained and free of all social ills. People from all over the world have come to see the amazing work he has done. He has not married and devoted his entire life to his village, and later in his fight against corruption. After that he has fought corruption in Maharashtra and he was one of the active crusader behind forcing the Maharashtra government to bring in the Maharashtra RTI act, one of the first in the country. He has given his life for the service of the nation since the last 35-40 years..

Clean Image

He has devoted his life to social activism, mostly in Maharashtra. He developed his village Ralegan Sidhi into a model village which people from all over the world come to see. It is considered a model of self sustainable living and of environmental conservation. The World Bank Group has concluded that the village was transformed from a degraded village in extreme poverty to one of the richest in the country.

More than a lakh people march from India Gate to Ramlila Grounds on 21 Aug

More than a lakh people march from India Gate to Ramlila Grounds on 21 Aug

No Personal Assets or Motives

Anna Hazare lives in a small room attached to a temple in his village since 1975. He has no assets and has a bank balance of Rs 67,000. Whatever land he has is being used for development purposes for his village. His only source of income is the pension which he gets from the Army. He has devoted his life for the betterment of his village, and after that fighting against corruption. He has never done anything for his personal motives.

Gandhian Principles

What is most heartening is to see Anna Hazare following Gandhian principles and using the same methods of fasting and Satyagraha for his cause. In a generation which has come to doubt Gandhi and the relevance of his principles in modern times, this was ample proof of the relevance of his methods irrespective of time and generations. He has called to our souls in the same peaceful manner that Gandhiji did.

Given Hope to Millions of Frustrated Indians

More than anything else, the one reason why Anna has resonated with the masses is because he has given hope to millions of frustrated Indians. Everybody knows there is corruption in every nook and corner of the country. But the BIGGEST problem is that nobody can do anything about it. Everybody is helpless in the regard that there is nobody to complaint, and even if they complaint, they end up being harassed by the same people. Anna has given people hope and shown them a way which might lead to a corruption free India. That is why he caught the government totally unaware!!

It won’t be wrong to say that Anna Hazare has come as the Messenger of Hope in the current state of our country. He has managed to turn all the cynicism and pessimism into an enthusiastic and optimistic revolution by the people of India.