Jan Lokpal Bill Struggle: Is it just a ‘Protest’ or a ‘Revolution’ in the making?

Having observed the Jan Lokpal bill protest from the very start and having seen the absurd way in which the Government of India, major political parties and consequently Anna Hazare and the India Against Corruption team are behaving I am forced to think that the on-going movement is no longer a simple protest. Some of the demands Anna Hazare and his team have made blatantly ignore the parliamentary process, however, in my view such moves are required. Which makes me think, is this just a protest or is it the beginning of a revolution?

Without the stubborn attitude, can an effective Lokpal bill pass? I would say No! It is also important to keep in mind that, as a member of parliament signing on an anti-corruption bill will be equivalent to signing your own arrest warrant. That’s the level of corrupt politicians we have. The Lokpal bill was first drafted in 1968 and since has been revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998 and 2001 and is still to be passed. So the drastic measures taken by Anna Hazare should not come as a surprise, and, at the least have my support. So is this really the beginning of a revolution?

May be! Due to government’s lack of seriousness, Anna Hazare and the India Against Corruption team started a protest. What started as a small campaign has won the support of the previously unconcerned educated class and now has support from almost all parts of the society. This is a classic symptom of a revolution when compared to Protest, it comes from the educated class of people and finds widespread support from everyone else. I am not an expert but the French, Russian & Iranian Revolution had similar widespread support and while there were different reasons in each case, it was the boiled up frustration that led to those revolutions.

However, there are two reasons why I might put this as a protest, for now. First, despite the stubbornness shown by the civic society leaders they have also shown support to the parliamentary process. This is despite the immature attitude of the ruling alliance. Second, as Indians we are very tolerant. We can easily ignore 100 mistakes and probably more.

The question is, can this turn into a revolution? I think, it might!

There are socioeconomic issues i.e. Farmers suicide, Land acquisition, Reservation, Naxalite Protests et al, in India. Government’s lethargy, cold shouldering attitude, on-going multi-million rupee scams and lack of leadership might convert this bunch of protests in a revolution. I mean, think of it, even the peaceful and non-violent Anna Hazare has grown stubborn and adopted a hard-line on some of his requests. The tolerant people are now getting restless, the white-collar educated group are taking notice. Even the Bollywood oriented people hiding under the ‘this is so embarrassing’ curtain have begun to take notice and voice their support.

The way people think is changing and that’s the first step. People are getting impatient, it’s a protest now but if it is not handled properly it will quickly turn into something bigger. As of now apart from Naxalites none of the other protesters have taken up arms. The government needs to act in the right direction, even if it is against the existing set of rules. Delaying decision by saying that 'this is the way a democracy work' or 'parliamentary process takes time' is no longer being accepted. Everyone know, where there is a will there is a way the quicker the government takes note of it the better it.

Systematic reforms are better & peaceful and should be preferred. A revolution might bring a larger change quicker but is a lot more disruptive. Given an option I would not support a revolution, having said that, if political reforms are not achieved it might be the only option.

Great Indian Tamasha – Now even Gandhian methods are being rejected

“Jack”, “Laggha”, “Jugad”, “Setting” the sophisticated way in which as Indians we refer to corruption. So what jugad did the politicians do this time? Anna Hazare, a man on a mission, wants to exercise his democratic right to protest, by going on an indefinite fast against the shameful attempts to replace the Jan Lokpal Bill with an ineffective Lokpal bill drafted by politicians. Politicians are scared, they know the public is with Anna or atleast against the politicians. So they come up with a jugad, they permitted Anna Hazare to fast for a grand durations of 3 days and also expected him to sign a bond ensuring the protest will be stopped after that. “Non-sense” personified isn’t it! I wonder if the folks from the British Raj actually thought of this when Mahatma Gandhi use to go on a fast.

Just to make it clear, the government is wrong on this occasion. The Constitution of India provides every citizen of the country a fundamental right to protest against the government policies. It is unconstitutional for the administration to proscribe the method of protest when it is absolutely peaceful and put severe conditions which make the said right meaningless.

Anyways, Anna rejects the offer and the Great Indian Tamasha followed. Anna and his team were arrested and then not arrested, but put into 7 days judicial custody but then were asked to leave the same day and then Anna decided not to leave the judicial custody because the ground where he was permitted to protest was not ready. People all around India Protested, which is great! And the ruling UPA government was caught in a sticky situation. Promptly, Sonia Gandhi took sick leave and the so called people’s choice for next Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi has gone invisible, no leadership shown, I wonder what he is doing?

As the dust settles, the police and politicians recognise that the opposition parties are now united and thats always a bad sign! So they budge down to the request and grant Anna the permission to fast for 15 days, I am still confused, why the 15 days limit. Honestly, why is this Jan Lokpal bill such a pain and why the government is so undemocratic in dealing with an issue that majority of the Indian citizens are ready to protest for! It not a joke, people are serious, voluntary fasting, candle light marches and buzz online is seriously high.

The government and the bureaucracy are finding ways to save their own, the system is corrupt and clearing it up will open a can of worm. Corruptions is unfortunately institutionalised in India, candidates pay to join the bureaucracy because they know they can easily make, may be, 10 times the amount by taking bribes. Elected leaders, use bribe, treat and any & every means to extort a vote. Consequently, 162 MPs elected in 2009 have criminal cases pending against them. Out of these, there are 76 MPs having serious charges against them. A common citizens cannot fight the system, they are busy running the daily roti, kapda, makan oriented rat race. So it takes a mass citizen moment to bring a change, and the government knows this and so it wants to supress it or delay it anything will do!

Passing of the Jan Lokpal bill will be a huge blow to the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, they know the clock is running down on them, the discontent is so widespread that they don’t know how to handle this. I am not sure, how this will end. My fear is it will end badly for the good guys, because the parliament that is responsible to pass this law is filled with corrupt people and no one will sign their own arrest warrant.

The only suggestion, keep in mind who the good guy is and who the bad guys are and what they did. Think about it when you decide to vote next time.