Seize the Moment-History in the Making

SEIZE THE MOMENT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE

Anna Hazare’s Crusade against Corruption unfolds the simmering discontent amongst the People

While it is a little too early to declare that  the present moment in the history of India  is a turning point , there seems to be no doubt that we , as a nation , are certainly at the cross roads and unless we seize the moment with broad understanding and uncanny wisdom , we may perhaps miss the opportunity that has come our way to bring about much needed  changes to improve upon the existing system of governance with a view to strike at the very source that generates corruption and serves as sweet heaven for evils like casteism, criminalization of politics.

 Peaceful, typically in Gandhian style, the massive support from almost all walks of life all over the country, to the second round of agitation, spearheaded by Anna Hazare, has been simply mind boggling .None expected it, and the worst, the Government failed to assess its magnitude and acted with misplaced confidence that they would scuttle it. That did not happen. The Government could not see the writing on the wall  and had to climb down, in full view of the world, paying heavily in terms of their image  which,  in any case ,  has never  been good and high , as the entire elected class , rightly or wrongly , has been  perceived to be corrupt and arrogant. Like in any other walk of life , the class of politicians too has the mix of good and bad. However, in general perception, the entire class stands  tarnished in black. That perhaps accounts for the reason that they are not trusted to be right even where they are right. It is also for this reason that the support to the team Anna has only  been swelling all over the country with each passing day.   

This agitation led by Anna team is unique  in many ways . While there have been innumerable agitations and movements in the country after Independence ,  those  were   spearheaded  either by  the political parties or by the trade unions. It  is for the first time that an agitation has been kick started by  non-political forces which have rallied round Anna Hazare who began it with his hunger strike against the rising phantom of corruption in the country. And now the agitation has  entered  the second phase with Anna Hazare sitting  on hunger strike from August 16^th 2011,  to press for  a strong Lokpal Bill and rejecting the one introduced by the Government in the Parliament.

Incidentally , while the on going agitation is   ignited by the apparent logjam between the Government and the team Anna representing civil society on the issue of Lokpal Bill, according to a hurried  survey,  around seventy percent of the people participating in the agitation with unprecedented  enthusiasm,  are not aware what lokpal Bill  is all about.  However, be that so , the  spontaneous  massive  support  for Anna Hazare  reflects people’s uneasiness at the growing phantom of  corruption and that is all that they know .  They are  in no mood to tolerate it any longer. Their out cry “ Quit India’,  as seen on the television  amongst hundreds of  innovative slogans,  is symbolic of their rising anger against all pervasive corruption in  the country and takes the agitation to the level which is reminiscent of movements during the days of Freedom Struggle.  

 Unfortunately, the Government , which, in the last six  decades, has become accustomed to handling the agitations by political parties and trade unions , instinctively took this also as the one coming from  a trade union  and confronted it with the same methods and tactics only to be   caught on the wrong foot. Perhaps, they were emboldened by the success of the  mid night action by the police against the agitation of Baba Ramdev , forgetting that it left the entire country aghast and angry, ironically not so much  because of their support for the Baba but because it reminded them of the  unpleasant past.    

But what is agitating my mind is the speed at which the agitation is gathering momentum without the base fully created to take it forward as crusade with clear cut direction . It is easily said than done as “Quit India Movement”. Who to quit India?  Corruption? Unlike  British Imperialists, it is not a  personality or an entity that can easily be  identified  and can be asked to quit or  pushed out . It cannot quit the country like the British rulers did  on  the historic  midnight as the clock struck 12,   saying goodbye to India and Indians  gracefully. Can we expect the same thing to happen  in the case of corruption? At best , it can be the beginning of the protracted battle to combat the ills that plague our democracy.

Corruption is like termite that eats up the vitals rending the whole body unuseworthy. Though it is seen at time as a patch on a  surface, its destructive impact spreads all around  hidden beneath the whole of it, making it almost impossible to locate the area and ascertain the extent of damage.  To put a more apt analogy, it is like  a disease that gets chronic by the years engulfing one organ after the other . It is a  disease that cannot be  cured without  proper diagnosis and  sustained treatment  with appropriate doses of right medicines.  It is not something that can be eradicated or even  contained  by pest control methods. You  kill  hundreds of cockroaches that creep on the floor of your kitchen and another hundreds will come up, unless you strike at the source of their creation.   Have we done it ? Or , are we doing it?  If we do not do it , if we do not  work it out  as a proper  package of strategy to attack at the source of the problem, it will end up as  a cry in the wilderness. 

Let that not be allowed to  happen. All of us, wiping out the lines of differences between the Government, political parties and civil societies, should join hands and give meaning to the rising spirit of upsurge. Let us come out of the psyche of a trade union approach to agitations where there are two sides , where demands are exaggerated to secure maximum gains at the negotiating tables and the other side acts miserly only to concede which  it is forced to do.  Let there not be the two sides of the table  to discuss the Lokpal Bill, assuming that it will be  panacea for all the ills of the society. But let us not refuse to take it up as the first vital step provided it is a well conceived body created to function within the frame work of the Constitution. Let us not assume that God almighty will come down to take charge as the Lokpal and set everybody right. That will be too much to expect from a Lokpal . After all, he/she too will be from amongst us, good and bad , to the extent we  as a nation are. 

 Let us understand the implications of some of the basic issues which distinguishes Government Lokpal Bill with the  draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill of the Civil Society. If needs be, such issues of vital differences can be thrown up for deep consideration of a body of experts  drawn from varied sectors and sections , fully conversant with the system of governance as provided by the Constitution of India that we wrote ourselves. Let us not forget that most of the ills, including the rampant corruption in every walk of life , is the by product of the system that we have adopted, and that  the existing system, far from eliminating the traditionally exiting ills , has only been fanning the fire. Let us start with through analysis of corruption as menace and then find ways to combat it with hopes of hundred percent success.  Let not the energy of angry millions go waste.  Let us Seize the moment, before it is too late.          

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