It all started with a call. I was on the way home in the wee hours of Saturday morning when a friend of mine called me to inform me that she was thinking of joining the Jail Bharo campaign of team Anna and there was this site where we could register for the same.
Now , said friend is a huge advocate of the IAC movement and I am neither a supporter of Anna's movement nor an Anna acolyte/fan. On a personal front ( Which means I'm not trying to force my opinion on others and I'm entitled to have an opinion as I live in a democratic country) I have respect for Anna , respect for the social work that earned him a padma bhushan , but I disagree with his methods and I think he is showing signs of megalomania.
On the other hand though, I agree that the we live in a society where corruption is inevitable and the system in itself along with its cogs and consumers are corrupt. There needs to be a change. A change towards the right path where we have a healthy system , with honest politicos and well oiled governance in place . Therefore I am a supporter of Anna's cause - the need for a New India , a Bright India. But if some one asks me if he is on the right path and if his methods are worthy enough to follow - I would answer with an emphatic 'No'.
Now coming back to JailBharo , I visited the registration site out of curiosity. The enrollments were listed by city and I found that there were 128 enrollments from my hometown and I am sure that the enrollments would swell before the D-Day which is the 30th of December. What has me concerned is that are these 128 aware of the consequences of courting arrest ? I don't think so. We Indians have a tendency to think with our hearts and more often than not , we make decisions spurred by emotions and live to regret it.
I shared my thoughts on a micro blogging site and apparently there were a couple of my fellow Indians who did not see eye to eye with me on the issue. We had a healthy debate and I must say they were polite enough - which took me by surprise. I have heard and seen stories of tweeps who are nasty enough to shred your online profile to pieces on disagreements over such little issues , like a favorite actor or show. These guys were very very polite and we ended the online conversation on an amicable note . During the course of a discussion , a person asked me why I thought that Jail Bharo was unlawful.
In my humble opinion, even though the constitution permits peaceful protest , one would have to break the law to get arrested which to me is a criminal act and blatant disrespect of the constitution. I was told that the protesters would be booked but would be let off by courts . To me it sounds contradicting.On one hand IAC calls the government and system corrupt and on the other hand reassurance is given that the protesters would be treated as per the law and in a just manner. considering the fact the government and its arms ( The Police force for instance) have been depicted as corrupt by the IAC , what is the guarantee that they won't slap a harder IPC section on you or convict you. What is the guarantee that there will be honest policemen who would treat you as you are entitled to . Even if there are a few of them , what is the guarantee that they would be given the freedom to act in a just manner by the corrupt Babus? I voiced the same thoughts to my dear friend over the phone and she chided me of harboring paranoia , of not giving due respect and credit to Anna who was a second Bapu. of course I credit Anna. But for him, Indians would largely be ignorant about lokpal. I also am not discouraging my fellow Indians who follow or want to follow Anna. I am merely expressing my concern towards what seems to me as a flawed method constructed on contradicting assumptions.Is his draft the strongest. I don't think so. I read a draft of Aruna Roy's and to me , it is the one that should be given serious thought and be debated upon.
Is Anna the second Bapu? I don't think so. Bapu might have thought of uplifting Dalits but he did not force vegetarianism on them. Was he stubborn ! hell yes but he did not advocate and stand by the "My way or the High Way policy" . Did he fight against consumption of alcohol? Yes! but he did not flog people who were fond of it. Anna might look benevolent like Bapu , but his methods lean towards extremism.
As of date Anna has stuck to his "My way or high way " policy. As far as I am aware he has not made an attempt to look into the other Lokpal drafts , not even Aruna's. However if Karamchand was alive , he'd have looked into the other drafts and advocated the best option or heck! he might have let the Government pass their bill and would have made observations on the flaws as his great grandson rightly said.
While I don't see Anna as a mentor and I don't agree to his methods, I want a new India too - Here's to new India in 2012 ! Cheers
Now , said friend is a huge advocate of the IAC movement and I am neither a supporter of Anna's movement nor an Anna acolyte/fan. On a personal front ( Which means I'm not trying to force my opinion on others and I'm entitled to have an opinion as I live in a democratic country) I have respect for Anna , respect for the social work that earned him a padma bhushan , but I disagree with his methods and I think he is showing signs of megalomania.
On the other hand though, I agree that the we live in a society where corruption is inevitable and the system in itself along with its cogs and consumers are corrupt. There needs to be a change. A change towards the right path where we have a healthy system , with honest politicos and well oiled governance in place . Therefore I am a supporter of Anna's cause - the need for a New India , a Bright India. But if some one asks me if he is on the right path and if his methods are worthy enough to follow - I would answer with an emphatic 'No'.
Now coming back to JailBharo , I visited the registration site out of curiosity. The enrollments were listed by city and I found that there were 128 enrollments from my hometown and I am sure that the enrollments would swell before the D-Day which is the 30th of December. What has me concerned is that are these 128 aware of the consequences of courting arrest ? I don't think so. We Indians have a tendency to think with our hearts and more often than not , we make decisions spurred by emotions and live to regret it.
I shared my thoughts on a micro blogging site and apparently there were a couple of my fellow Indians who did not see eye to eye with me on the issue. We had a healthy debate and I must say they were polite enough - which took me by surprise. I have heard and seen stories of tweeps who are nasty enough to shred your online profile to pieces on disagreements over such little issues , like a favorite actor or show. These guys were very very polite and we ended the online conversation on an amicable note . During the course of a discussion , a person asked me why I thought that Jail Bharo was unlawful.
In my humble opinion, even though the constitution permits peaceful protest , one would have to break the law to get arrested which to me is a criminal act and blatant disrespect of the constitution. I was told that the protesters would be booked but would be let off by courts . To me it sounds contradicting.On one hand IAC calls the government and system corrupt and on the other hand reassurance is given that the protesters would be treated as per the law and in a just manner. considering the fact the government and its arms ( The Police force for instance) have been depicted as corrupt by the IAC , what is the guarantee that they won't slap a harder IPC section on you or convict you. What is the guarantee that there will be honest policemen who would treat you as you are entitled to . Even if there are a few of them , what is the guarantee that they would be given the freedom to act in a just manner by the corrupt Babus? I voiced the same thoughts to my dear friend over the phone and she chided me of harboring paranoia , of not giving due respect and credit to Anna who was a second Bapu. of course I credit Anna. But for him, Indians would largely be ignorant about lokpal. I also am not discouraging my fellow Indians who follow or want to follow Anna. I am merely expressing my concern towards what seems to me as a flawed method constructed on contradicting assumptions.Is his draft the strongest. I don't think so. I read a draft of Aruna Roy's and to me , it is the one that should be given serious thought and be debated upon.
Is Anna the second Bapu? I don't think so. Bapu might have thought of uplifting Dalits but he did not force vegetarianism on them. Was he stubborn ! hell yes but he did not advocate and stand by the "My way or the High Way policy" . Did he fight against consumption of alcohol? Yes! but he did not flog people who were fond of it. Anna might look benevolent like Bapu , but his methods lean towards extremism.
As of date Anna has stuck to his "My way or high way " policy. As far as I am aware he has not made an attempt to look into the other Lokpal drafts , not even Aruna's. However if Karamchand was alive , he'd have looked into the other drafts and advocated the best option or heck! he might have let the Government pass their bill and would have made observations on the flaws as his great grandson rightly said.
While I don't see Anna as a mentor and I don't agree to his methods, I want a new India too - Here's to new India in 2012 ! Cheers
