Firstly, I must admit that, though the idea of ‘India Against Corruption ‘ did appeal to me, I was never comfortable with the idea of fasting unto death to challenge a pillar of democracy . The idea that ‘people’s power is supreme’ can be absurd at times. Today, it is the parliament under fire, tomorrow a judicial court may be expected to act in consonance with the popular sentiments while trying a particular accused.
I still feel that, a very bad precedent has been set. In a country of over one billion people any popular leader can mobilize 20-25 lakhs of people in his/her support to threaten the very existence of an institution provided for under the constitution.
Now, let us see how it all panned out. I am not calling it Anna Hazare Movement to begin with as he actively joined the movement somewhere in mid course, rather than initiate the movement. I have to mention that I don’t mean to discredit Anna Hazare , since we have reached a stage where unless one is eulogising the great ‘gandhian’ you are accused of being a traitor and a congress stooge.
It all started with Shri Santosh Hegde , Lokayukta of karnataka, sometime in mid 2010. In my humble opinion, Justice Santosh Hegde, though not so flamboyant, was to Lokayukta was TN Seshan was to Election Commission. A post which had been in existence since 1985, was suddenly in News Headlines. He made a pedestrian appointment look like a high profile one. He was one of the founders of the Indian against Corruption Group. There is a recording of minutes of a meeting of India Against Corruption (IAC ) available here
The following met at IIC on 10th August 2010 to discuss the deficiencies in present anti-corruption systems in our country and what steps need to be taken to address these deficiencies.
1. Justice Santosh Hegde, Karnataka Lokayukta
2. Mr J M Lyngdoh, former Chief Election Commissioner
3. Mr P Shankar, former Central Vigilance Commissioner
4. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, Supreme Court
5. Mr Kamal Jaswal, Director Common Cause
6. Mr Shekhar Singh, Eminent social activist
7. Mr Nikhil Dey, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangthan
8. Mr Arvind Kejriwal, Social activist
9. Mr Sarvesh Sharma, Common Cause
10. Mr Suhas Borkar, social activist and media personality
The basic Ingredients of the present Jan Lokpal Bill my be found in these minutes
This is the time Arvind Kejriwal , as an RTI activist was actively lobbying for appointment of Kiran Bedi for the post of Chief Information Commissioner ( CIC), along with baba ramdev, Anna Hazare and Amir Khan.
At this point of time three significant developments took place , resulting in a rainbow coalition on an anti-corruption platform.
1. A retired beuracrat , AN Tiwari was appointed to the post of CIC, on 29 Sep 2010. This did not go well with RTI activists. “It is a very unfortunate decision by the government. ” Arvind Kejriwal said.
2. CWG Scam and 2G Scam along with Nira radia tapes, shocked the nation and corruption became ‘The Issue’.
3. Prashant Bhushan’s Centre for Public Interest Litigation had moved a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored investigation into the 2G spectrum scam by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The focus of Arvind Kejriwal-Kiran Bedi team shifted from RTI to anti corruption. Shantibhushan and Prashant bhushan joined them. Then Anna Hazare was brought in to provide a credible face to the movement.
The main players who were active through out the period were Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, and Shanti Bhushan, and Prashant Bhushan; with the saffron brigade or otherwise. Sri Sri Ravishankar, Santosh Hegde, Swami Agnivesh, Aruna Roy, Shekar Singh, Medha Patkar and Baba Ramdev were sometimes in the core group and sometimes in the fringes.
Events panned about roughly, in 3 Phases, period from Nov 10 to Feb 11, Apr 11 Fast and Aug 11 Fast.
Phase 1
On 14 Nov 2010 and again on 27 Feb 2011 there were rallies organized under the banner of Bharat Swabhiman Andolan by Baba Ramdev, and supported by Swami Agnivesh, Kiran bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, and Anna Hazare among others. it was a saffron show mostly ignored by the media barring channels like Sansker and Aastha. The youtube link
This was also when the movement was spread through social networking sites on internet. Netizens started ‘liking’ IAC on fb, gave missed calls to prescribed numbers to show solidarity and started sporting IAC badge on fb profile.
30 Jan 2011, 63rd Martyr’s day saw marches organized, in over 60 Indian States and abroad under a simple banner “INDIA AGAINST CORRUPTION” as can be seen from the image below (right), 30 Jan event saw sober people on the stage and in the crowd, and nothing really came of it. A youtube link
War Against Corruption Rally (Shankhnad) Part-08 on 27 Feb 11at Ramlilla Ground, Delhi by Bharat Swabhiman attended by laks of people (and lakhs of people were stopped out side delhi border and not allowed to enter into delhi) and addressed by Dr. Kiran Bedi, Anna Hazare, Vishwa Bandhu Gupta former Additional Comm. of Incom Tax, GR Khairnar, Molana Nisar Ahmed Husaini, Ram Jeth Malani, Arvind Kejriwal RTI Activist, Acharaya Giriraj Kishore, Swami Agnivesh, Govinda Acharaya, Acharaya Balkrishan, Baba Ram Dev, Dr. Suman, Molana Mukti Samun Kashmi, Om Parkash Singhal, Dr. Subramanium Swami, Mulana Maksud Hasan Kazmi, etc..
Phase 2
The Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the movement was led by Shri Anna Hazare. The Movement carefully avoided the rightist tag. This time the media latched on to the happenings and the momentum was much more than anybody had expected. Barring the only faux pas on the part of Anna Hazare ,when he praised Narendra Modi, the team manged to present a secular image. Anna Hazare learnt that , if you want support from the main stream media, you had to play by their rules.
By this time, the movement attracted a number of people wanting a piggy back ride to push their own agendas. There was also some members, originally part of the team, distancing themselves now.
What was just a cerebral activity, now found a heart in the form of Anna Hazare and the arms and legs in the large volunteer force across the country.
Phase 3
Once they got media attention, they perfected the art of ‘reality show’ with expert media management, providing a 24×7 show. Bharatmata gave way to a huge profile of Mahatma Gandhi in the backdrop, Independence day celebrations spilled over to the rest of the month with large tricolor flags everywhere and the perfect package was ready for the ‘second freedom struggle’.
The most difficult part ;what are the key takeaways from the whole story?
1. Baba Ramdev has proved to be a better crowd puller than Shri Anna Hazare, but without the media support, possibly because of the rightist image, the events did not provide much help to the cause.
2. Anna Hazare’s clean, Gandhian Image appealed to people across the political and social spectrum all over the country.
3. Intelligentsia like lawyers, judges, and bureaucrats can give wonderful solutions on paper , but the masses support great individuals (who appeal to them as trustworthy) , not great documents.
4. Most people don’t care for an abstract idea like the supremacy of the constitution.
4. Most people don’t care for an abstract idea like the supremacy of the constitution.