Let us concentrate on the villains first. In Gandhi’s time, there were the British. Anna today fiddles with indigenous men, who are born out of this country’s very soil and act as its protectors. The British were imperialists, they did not rule our country, they ran it, for them India was a business, and they , for most part of their tenure proved to be good businessmen. Our netas come down from a different genre. Unlike the British, they regard serving the nation as their duty , pledge for upholding the constitution, but when it comes to deeds, they keep it simple, rape the nation .
So when it came to waking the country, Gandhi had a tough job, because he was fighting shrewd tacticians, who, incidentally at that time were best at their jobs, and secondly Gandhi had to arouse a nation which after years of incessant harassment laid numb. Adding to the worries , was the neo rich class, which was largely divided , and too possessive about its stand. Anna got, what Gandhi would have strongly wished for- a healthy environment. He got a vibrant and educated middle class which at Gandhi’s time was extinct.
The populace during Gandhi’s time, albeit ultimately supporting him, were habitual of seeing their nation chained. They never had IITs,IIMs,a booming economy, and a self belief that Anna saw in today’s generation, thus compelling Gandhi for intense introspection and spiritual thesis before arriving at a doctrine. So Gandhi with an impoverished India by his side went on to fight some shrewd strategists, and , it is alleged that on similar lines, Anna with a resurgent youth, raised the baton against the Khadi clad men, who mostly are devoid of formal education, let alone being strategists.
The aforementioned allegation is what I stoutly refrain from accepting. Gandhi, in all his movements simply broke the law. He did this to expose the autocratic environment the people lived under. His unlawfulness was symbolic of the fact that ‘ enough is enough’ and that the tide had risen to unmanageable levels. Along side he told Indians , not to accept the fear, but to face it with all the gusto one could muster. He attempted all this non-violently because he was pragmatic enough to understand that any other path in this poverty struck and diverse nation can never lead to a united and a free nation. His hunger strikes, interestingly, were for his own purpose,. Those were his spiritual takes, his introspective journey, to solve the dilemma , if ever, he was in.
Hunger strike is an arch weaponary in the kitty of Team Anna. But in the midst of all the chaos, we tend to overlook a gift that Gandhi, in due course of time has given to Anna, and which has he3lped in making these hunger strikes what they are-heroic.That gift is a democratic and free India. The freedom of speech, an independent media, a self dependent block of the population, and a good education has made this hunger strike a battle of good over the ugly.
When Gandhi faught and broke the laws, there were no rights, no constitution, no democratic institutions that upheld the sovereignty of the Indians., so Gandhi had no other choice. But today when we have achieved what Gandhi had dreamt of , then a hunger strike , though may seem fascinating by analyzing the corruption levels, ultimately ends up keeping the country’s republican structure at ransom.
Anna’s methodology tends to undermine the governance and politics of the country when the real problem lies in the aforementioned politicians who harass and rape our motherland. It should be kept in mind that the real victory is not achieved by proving a point at Jantar Mantar, but by respecting the constitution, following the ethos of democratic process,thus strengthening the institutions of this country, institutions, due to which for the past 60+ years we have boasted to be the largest electorate in the world.
Having said that the people’s anger is totally justified. But then we should remember that the the anger which has made us responsible citizens would easily have been an illegal action in any undemocratic environment. It’s the freedom given to us that has made us think so vocally about our country. Of course these are beautiful times when so much young blood is there for the country, but then trying to make things work on the grounds of a strike which is becoming synonymous with “my way or the highway” is pushing things too far.
Instead we should try to bring change in ways some people thought we would when they framed our constitution, when they conferred it a republic. It should be remembered that by-passing is no solution but strengthening our nation is one. We should try to analyze our democratic set up, participate in governance, reform various sectors ,and try to make parliamentary institutions citizen-friendly and transparent, which from times immemorial have been used against us, and these can be achieved when we shed the robe of observers and become participants. That way we might be similar to what Gandhi would have been today , otherwise in his very own words, “an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind”.
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