Saturday, August 04, 2012

Anna's meanderings

Has Anna Hazare lost his way? This is the question that haunts the agitated minds of thousands of Indians who hoped that at last there would be an end to omnipresent corruption. His serial Satyagrahas are attracting less and less number of people.It is a mockery of Satyagraha's sanctity if you go fast because the government of the day is not listening to you and you terminate the fast for the same reason.There is no doubt that people are getting disillusioned.

Anna Hazare, or more precisely some members who have his ear, desires to enter electoral politics. This strategic change is beset with too many risks. Unwritten rules of "Indian democracy" do not favour the likes of Anna. In our elections, a corrupt candidate can be defeated only by a more corrupt candidate. Seeds of failure are embedded in Anna's candidates if they are what they claim to be (that is honest and incorruptible). Anna or whoever claims to speak on his behalf seems to believe that rules of our democratic game can be changed. I hope they are right, but fear that they are wrong. Corruption is too entrenched in our electoral system to be cleansed from within.

Anna should continue his non-electoral movement and should not take the risk of undoing whatever he has accomplished so far. He should be more focussed in his crusade against corruption. If in the process, corruption is reduced (eradication is impossible) by any meaningful measure, the country would remain indebted to Anna for ever.

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