The cynic shall speak now.
I wouldn’t lie, I was a bit scared to open my cynical mouth earlier. Didn’t want to be the spoil sport amidst this “me too can do Egypt” euphoria over the last 4 days, just in case, I mean just in case something good came out of it. But now that the farce is out in the open, now that my very soul is disturbed with images of aspiring political candidates Baba Ramdev and Swami Agnivesh in saffron sitting with Anna Hazaare I am mad as hell.
“Fast unto death” so to speak! This was all such a gimmick. Really, nothing, absolutely nothing substantial has come out of the last 4 days of drama. It was more like a filler from the World Cup to the IPL. And public memory is so short that they’ll smoothly move on to something else, IPL for now. Presently, junta have been given to believe that a lot has been achieved. Reports of celebrations and rejoicing are coming from Jantar Mantar and Hazaare’s village even as I write this. What exactly are we celebrating here?
All that we have got here is a mere promise of a promise. Mere high hopes. Something we have been living upon for more than the last 60 years.“There WILL be a bill, corrupt WILL be punished.” You know what, there is nothing more sexy than the future that we will never get to see. And we suck up every time.
What has really happened here is that one Anna Hazaare made tall claims and then sold himself out to trivial achievements, attained God hood and blind followers.
Friend on Facebook argued with me in favour of Hazaare, he said,
“Anna could not possible be on a hunger strike until the bill is passed – that is not rational. Nobody can do that and it’s not fair on our part to expect him to do that. IAC (India Against Corruption) had to keep their demands simple so that the govt could agree to them quickly (within a matter of days). Hunger strike is not a joke – it cannot continue for months. It is up to all of us to follow this bill until it becomes an Act. If the GoI drags its heels in tabling this bill in LS, the agitiation must begin again. If LS does not pass it, the agitation must start again. I’m sure IAC will take the lead, but when they restart the agitation they will need our support.”
I replied,
A lot of what you are saying here is high hopes and I don’t blame you for being optimist, just as you cannot blame me for being pessimist. Time will tell how much of this will actually be done. How much responsibility will be shouldered by Anna Hazaare. Public memory is too short so no body here will follow up. Cynics would not be convinced unless we are proven wrong. All we can do is wait and see where does Anna Hazaare go from here and may be by the end of the monsoon session of Parliament I will tell you, “I told you so” or vice versa.
Why Mr. Hazaare did you make such a unrealistic, tall claim of “fast unto death?” Exactly what were you thinking? You knew you didn’t mean it, right. You know that you were just lying to give some kind of shock, to create drama, to grab sudden attention.
But junta were stupid. They were in the state of “we too can do Egypt” and joined the euphoria, because well, it was just that, an euphoria. You don’t think through much during these times. You don’t take a moment to think about the process that is required for a bill to become a law in the country. The several steps, months, years, debates, discussions, drafts that goes into it. Did people really think Hazaare was going to be on fast till all this was over? Till the issue came to its logical end? Did anybody wonder who are the people behind this campaign, where is the money coming from, what could possibly be the hidden agendas? Actually people weren’t thinking. People brainwashed with too much goodness stop thinking. Its like having blind faith in a religion. You stop questioning.
You dear Junta are too naive if you thought this massive media attention was possible overnight without funds and support from well organized groups:
- On 3rd April early morning, millions of pamphlets were distributed all over the city of Delhi, and am guessing all over India. At 11 am I was driving back from Saket to Dwarka and I saw fliers in front of every door step, on the street, on the parks, scattered all over. Who do you think paid for this?
- On day 1 itself the topics #lokpal #annahazaare #jantarmantar were trending on Twitter, you think that is possible without a well thought of communication strategy? Who ensured this?
- They had set up the system of ‘Missed Call for live Updates‘ who paid for this technology?
- There were sponsored pages on FB for the cause. Who sponsored these pages?
Why Mr. Hazaare are you sold out?
Am not saying you should have necessarily died fasting. But I can’t help remembering the film, ‘Guide’ here. When people put faith in you, when they think your fasting is going to achieve something great you just don’t give it up because you feel hungry. You don’t say ‘fast unto death’ and then give up on day 4 for trivial success. Did you think you have won the battle against corruption? 4 days of fast at Jantar Mantar, candle light vigil at India Gate, all are such usual drill, all so predictable, so short lived, so futile. 4 days of euphoria with no outcome.
So my question to you Mr. Hazaare is, instead of unrealistic claim of fast unto death could you have not said something more realistic like a “sit in dharna” till the bill actually becomes law. That was more feasible. But harder to achieve. Imagine, months of sitting at Jantar Mantar in this approaching heat, who am I kidding?
Let me introduce you Mr. Hazaare to a certain Irom Sharmila from the state of Manipur, which by the way is an Indian state:
She has been on fast for 10 years now. You must be thinking how is that biologically possible. Well this is what happens. She goes on a fast, cops arrest her on attempted suicide charges and start to force feed her through nose. They release her on recovery and she goes back to fasting. They arrest her back. Repeat this for 10 years. Sharmila doesn’t have a Face Book page. There was and never will be an euphoria around her, because she didn’t suddenly out of the blue started mass publicity for herself, no mass distribution of fliers no massive funds. We came to know about her by word of mouth after she had already been on to her mission for years. And now 10 years have passed.
You Mr. Hazaare gave 4 days. It was all very strategically planned wasn’t it? You knew you’d sell out soon they will give you a trivial promise, like a toy to a cry baby.
Meanwhile you dear junta who are so up in arm against corruption, how corruption free you yourself are?
I can bet my life that not a single person who spoke against corruption in the last 4 days are free from corruption themselves. Each one of them wouldn’t hesitate before pushing that 100 in a cops hand when caught jumping the signal, not a single parent would get their children admitted to schools of their choice without paying a bribe. You all will continue to get that ration card made or that gas connection done through corrupt means. In this city 99% of the drivers have got their driving licenses using corrupt means. Not a single person would think twice before submitting a fake rent receipt and medical bills while filing their tax returns.
You know dear friends, its not just a telecom scam that is called ‘corruption’. We all are corrupt to our very core and no law will ever be able to address our own style of corruption. Let me give you the bad news. We DO NOT need the lokpal bill to banish corruption from our lives, for that we need inner strength and the will to fight and not take the easy way out by paying a bribe. Do you have that?
And one final question to the mainstream media and some more eminent writers – Why are you so late in coming up with these criticism? Were you also afraid to open your cynical mouth, like me?
Before I end this rant, here is a golden quote by GB Stern:
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.
This is my Mind 
21fools
April 9, 2011
a couple of days ago, i was traveling in a normal Indian railways ka train.. at a very small little station, a random guy was shouting at the top of his voice at another guy, but what he was speaking made little sense..yet a 50-60 people were surrounding him..watching the tamasha..
This little incident somehow defines india for me..
and well jantar mantar wasnt anyless than peepli … we can make as many movies we want to ..but we indians were unique and we will always be unique..:P
appu1989
April 11, 2011
Few Indians are unique in the way that they can not see any thing positive. What They get, They do not want and what they want, even they do not know. Instead of calling Junta Stupid, sitting on computer and cribbing endlessly, they should do something. If Anna is not doing right, do something yourself and then tell people. I believe either you are a Govt servant or local politician, who is getting frustrated. dear friend India will not stop to your so called wisdom.
Sanjukta
April 11, 2011
@Appu
“Govt servant or local politician”
Neither. I am just a good writer with a strong opinion 🙂
Alpna Manchanda
April 9, 2011
Brilliantly expressed and I so agree with you. BUT – this Anna Hazare story has given so much hope to countless Indians. And so we can conclude that some good did come out of this whole charade.
Ruhi Sonal
April 9, 2011
I agree with you 100%… I was also wondering how come the thing became so big all of a sudden… it had been planned a month in advance, but still… the funds and all… it was a big lurking question. At the same time, my criticism goes further than the glorified stunt… I do not agree with the entire idea of doing away with the entire democratic process and going for nominated rather than elected leaders/committee members. The media has cooperated, yet i wouldn’t say that the debate was one-sided.
The cause wass noble, but there’s lots more to be done, and hopefully in a more democratic way.
I thought I was the only one in doubt… glad to have read your post.
you may like to go through my criticism: http://ruhisonal.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/fight-against-corruption-move-towards-order-or-anarchy/
Sanjukta
April 9, 2011
@Ruhi,
Its late now, spent the whole day doing this, but will read your post tomorrow. And I think all cynics were keeping mum because of the same reason, we thought we were the only one. The best post on this topic is on Kaafila and even that was posted this morning.
Guru
April 10, 2011
Couldn’t agree more. its like you spoke my mind. but we can’t express this in public with out getting stoned. at time Indians get very emotional and forget to think rationally.
fast unto death is a failed method (gone are those days with Gandhi- i have some issues with Gandhi too – thats a different story) and childish, just like sulking kid seeking for parents attention. here they act like they give a damn about it & actually they don’t.
anyway its very thought provoking. keep up the good work.
Sirisha Peri
April 10, 2011
Sanjukta, a very apt post and I had the same thoughts too. Also it’s worth stating the lure of this protest–“Fasting unto death”. Are we sure our voices wouldn’t be heard or is it just me who thinks that this is an act of pure blackmailin…g? It was well organized-trending on twitter, FB support through picbadges of Anna Hazare and ‘Fight against corruption’. Was a bit weird to see many of my friends blindly extending their support to this cause. They were never known to care for corruption and had made peace with all the governance issues. Suddenly they are all over FB whether they believe in it or not. I especially liked your mention of Irom Sharmila Chanu. She is unparalled and why, her comparison with Anna Hazare looks futile-they stand on a different plane which restricts their comparison!See More
Ek Hindusanti
April 10, 2011
Sanjukta, You may have a point but what you yourself had done ever to curb corruption or any other anti social move. Do you ever dare enough to shout on any senior police officer, but kiran bedi pick up PM’s vehicle. Anna dare to protest against those senior officers as well as the then power Minister C.Bhujbal. It is very easy to sit at home and comment on anyone like this, but to have lot courage to go and speak against a govt. , infact a corrupt govt. who can go to any extent. Why u try to compare those two social workers but not shows their intentions. Can you say with proof, Anna for so many years, make large chunk of money. He live in mandir, and just work for villagers and society for so many years. How many times you had ever visited any village.
Moreover people like kiran bedi, Arvind kejriwal, Swami Ramdev doesn’t require your certificate
Sanjukta
April 10, 2011
@Ek
Your comments are very childish still I try to address your point. This is not about me so I won’t even react to how much courage I have. This is also not about Anna as a person. No body is doubting his Gandhian lifestyle or principles. I doubt whether this was at all his ideas in the first place, it is possible that he is just the token face of the campaign and not the force of the campaign. I am still confused which political party might be gaining from this but I don’t rule out the possibility that it was all planned by ruling party just to come into the limelight as the government which responded to the people’s call. So you see there could be many hidden agendas here. The problem here is that we are disappointed to see Anna settle down at so little. The outcome of the 4 days of fasting is a mere eye wash. Anna goes home a hero, junta takes home a dream that isn’t going to be fulfilled and the politicians continue with corruption.
Ruhi Sonal
April 12, 2011
It is UPA… I don’t have proof but we are suddenly blessed with a sensitive government which has listened to peoples’ demand and will very soon have taken “action” against corruption by fast tracking the Lokpal Bill. The funny thing: 5,00,000 people participated in the protest demonstrations (I think I saw this figure on wah sarkar), which is less than 0.05% of India’s population. Not so much of an electoral threat was it? We all know the middle class doesnt vote.
Pooja
April 10, 2011
Hello fellow cynic.
Here’s another link: http://www.countermedia.in/?p=663
Agnivo
April 10, 2011
What a brilliant take on the tamasha that unfolded infront of the nation powered by the media. And certainly there was a thorough planning before it was all carried out. Please do visit my blog and read my take on the same http://xpresso.in/2011/04/09/corruption-is-dead-long-live-corruption/
E Pradeep
April 10, 2011
The agitation is not yet over; we now have timelines for preparing the draft of the bill and even passing it in Parliament; otherwise there will be another hunger strike!!! So, now somebody will monitor each and every step of the Parliament and threaten them (actually us) with self-suffering.
The 24 hr non-stop coverage of the event by the broadcast media has convinced many that people are all on the streets demanding this law; some bright anchors called it a revolution, a historical event and what not, without even attempting an objective look at the entire story but maybe I am demanding so much more from them.
Just wondering what would have happened if an agreement had not happened by April 12th when Anna Hazare threatened a Jail Bharo agitation – Young India (only the youth can make a difference, no one else; just been thrown out of that elite group) filling jails in the country so that 5 persons are given the right to draft a bill.
If we don’t get a new India by August 15 (by when Anna Hazare has threatened to go on fast again if the bill is not passed), think we should sue the media and civil society (will restrict myself to Nobel and Magsaysay winners) for irrational exuberance and threatening to making the country a corruption-free zone.
Sanjukta
April 10, 2011
@Pradeep
Wow your comment left me confused. That is commendable.
About that Jail bharo andolan, my god that was even more ridiculous and pretentious. I mean all kinds of unsocial abuses come to my mind when I see such phoniness. And the agreement was to happen by 12th, was part of the plan, they all knew it. Junta didn’t, its the junta who is taken for a ride.
“irrational exuberance and threatening to making the country a corruption-free zone”
Lol, good sense of humor that 🙂
Kushal Shah
April 10, 2011
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society.
The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute, (inbetweenists like you) will sit at ground gaze at sky and do nothing.
I am not against your write up.Its written beautifuly.But to say that the movement is farce is a far fetched conclusion.
You talk about Sharmila.why dint u bloggers/Media people/Journos champion her cause before?
I bet not many knew about her before this Anna’s campaign?
I am not saying that you are wrong,its just that you have gone overboard with your mumbo jumbo
Sanjukta
April 10, 2011
@Kushal
If you are just asking me, I know about Sharmila. Look up for my profile and work on Google and then you’ll know why and how.
Rest of your comment has no point, so I won’t bother.
RP
April 10, 2011
Wow amazing stupidity. Did you really think he was going to fast until the bill is passed in parliament when Parliament wasn’t due for many days? I think he got exactly what he set out to achieve. He refused informal committee insisting on formal notification, which makes sure that the findings of the committee will be taken seriously and I have absolutely no doubt after all this attention in the media that the bill will be passed in the parliament. Amazing to have so much stupid cynicism in the public that anybody doing anything worthy just try findings faults even if none exist, go on and on blabbering stupidity. I am not being overly optimistic it’s obvious to anyone with brain that something substantiative has happened and we have taken a great step forward where corruption and good governance is the focus of the nation rather than stupid politics or communalism. People who dont see anything good in it need to check their brains. Get out of the gutter and learn to see reality coz u can never dream.
Sanjukta
April 10, 2011
@RP
All the best to you for that great step, will talk after the bill is passed. Hold on to that hope, you need that.
Tom
April 10, 2011
You just spoke my heart out !!!
A point which you forgot to mention. Anna Hazare himself has a case in his name for corruption. Misappropriation of trust funds !!!!
E Pradeep
April 10, 2011
Kushal,
http://epradeep98.blogspot.com/2007/01/lets-not-ignore-irom-sharmila.html
Was written 4 yrs back….Now can we write about we think??
Shreya
April 10, 2011
Loved it! Can’t agree more with you!
eastwords
April 11, 2011
Loved the quote you end with, and the blog!
Someone Sensible
April 11, 2011
I am one of those people who signed online petitions & forwarded emails ( albeit not on facebook or twitter) & have been reading up on this whole thing.
Your article is thought-provoking & i will say i have to agree PARTLY with what ‘Kushal Shah’ has written in that “Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute, ”
But I think in this case you re not ‘in-between’, but rather the pessimist. We need people like you to ensure that public memory is NOT short-lived & the pressure builds up.
Maybe the whole thing was preplanned. Maybe there is a hidden agenda somewhere. But I (being an optimist) am hoping that this has spiraled beyond what even those who planned it cannot imagine. So maybe the pressure will remain even if it wasn’t “part of the plan”. & So I request you to keep up with voicing your opinions as they are equally important to ensure that this happens.
Peace.
Someone Sensible
April 11, 2011
Ooops! Sorry, I just realised that the quote was by GB stern & from your article & not the other commenter “Kushal Shah”. My bad.
amitbh dutaa
April 11, 2011
It does make sense……………i dont think u r a optimist or pesimist………..u r disclosing a true picture of india……….nothing can be done without shelling out few bucks…….if we can keep fighing for one….this never ends…….we suffer in the end……so this histeria at Jantar Mantar, India Gate against corruption is a small step to befall tall corruption monument……Lets C what comes out…….But, this man Mr. Anna Hazare has done something which no polititian has done…..Lets pray something happens,,,,civilians get power to sue corrupt officials…….Time will bring the change……….Change the Game….Bleed Blue
Prashant
April 11, 2011
finally a voice that reflects reality. Call us sceptical, pessimist or whatever, but Mr Hazare has been on several committees in Maharashtra before – has it rid the state of corruption -yeah right. Also a very misleading art of saying that “youth have woken up and participated” for one – apart from those tweets and hoarse street plays, there were no youths present and those who were had no idea what actually the LOKPAL bill was for? rightly said – if you want to weed out corruption say no to paying bribes – how many can who were present would like to do that? A very good observation about fliers and mass communication. Not surprised if the ruling party itself was involved in this – if you see the tone and marketing they are using “We have taken steps to remove corruption, can anyone in the opposition claim to do that in their states?” Leaving the opposition searching for answers (and perhaps the reason why Mr Hazare was selective in admitting Swani Agnivesh and Baba Ramdev but kept out others. Classic case of hoodwinking and really as you say, the media lapped it up as they had nothing to fill for 4 days between World Cup final and IPL. Jai ho!
Manish D'souza
April 12, 2011
I will just reproduce over here, the comments I had posted in my FB profile….
We already have a constitution in place……… but what do you get ………..thieves, robbers, criminals commiting crimes & cooling walking out or even having a wonderful vacation in prosion…………… The Indian Penal code has not instilled even the faintest fear in criminals minds………Criminals continue committing crimes without any fear of prosecution………
With the Lokpal bill we will have one more act ……….. but who is going to implement it…….. people………… Can’t politicians MANAGE the people who will implement the law ???
Even if a new law is enacted I doubt whether anybody will ever be convicted……. & even if anyone is convicted…….. I doubt if anyone will ever be punished………
Anna might be a very nice person ……. but I always considered these fast unto death as acts that disrupt peace & nothing else….. they seldom achieve anything ………… Many have sat for fast unto death till date ………… with what result……….When a person starts a fast unto death he is very clear about his requirements ………. I will not end the fast untill I get this this & this…..The establishment just tries to guage the support for the movement & then when it is at an advanced stage they will step in & assure of full cooperation……. break the fast unto death ……. The person who is fasting is by now desperate & ready to accept even an assurance…… & nothing happens later……… Very few can have Gandhiji’s determination ………
I feel education, good moral values will probably deter people from corruption & not such bills…………
mitasha
April 14, 2011
hey I am planning to write a comment for last 4/5 days…:)…ultimately manage to move on with my laziness…though that gave me the chance to read all these comments at least…anyhow let me tell you this is a brilliant piece of writing…you indeed a very good writer.
there is a petrol pump near by my place, a new one, trying to get regular customers. Every time I go there they asked me how much I want them to write as bill amount (kitne ka bill banaye madam, office se milta hoga na” ), one way it’s good , you can not complain anymore about the drivers for stealing petrol, now white colour corporate people have learnt it…claps please…anyhow moral of the story is somehow this corruption , dishonesty is in our blood now…politicial, govt officials are not coming from other planets…I really do not think any bill can stop corruption untill we stop asking for more and more…but surprisingly I am an optimistic, this euphoria over 4 days kind of made me think may be its still not in our blood, we from our mind still hate dishonesty and corruption, may be people are really not indifferent and isolated and selfish, protesting against something does not make you looser still now , I am happy to see thousands of collage students there…so at the end honestly i do not care if we got a bill but I am sure some people do not think its natural to be corrupted
@ Agnivo I have a small problem with your comments, a mere amount of urban uprooted staying in some metro city middle class people like us does not define the middle class of whole country please…they do vote
I am very bad with quotations…cant remember them exactly but somewhere I read one which is briefly like “optimists think they will go to heaven after death, pessimists think death is end of life…though they both know one day death will come and they fear death”…:)…quiet a irony
Anubhav
April 15, 2011
This post has some great fervour. Congrats Sanjukta for digging deep and trying to understand the heart of the matter!
rohit
May 31, 2011
I read your views in the blog and few of the comments as well. I disagree with most your points but that is the difference an optimist and pessimist will always have. Also at present I am not interested in who did what, whether their steps were justified or not, all I care about is a solution has been proposed and that too from a group of people I (we all) trust and it is promising us a corruption free India. Now all our concern should be how this Jan Lok Pal bill overcomes the deficiency that previous anti-corruption bills had because of which now they are not effective. Also it should be checked that Jan Lok Bill itself does not become a problem in future. Again about your post, I don’t understand why are you questioning the popularity and spread of the event, I think one of the motto was also to make public (who in your terms are “stupid”) talk and know more about corruption and existing anti-corruption system of our country.
rohit
May 31, 2011
I am also strongly against your (more common) view that our system is corrupt because we all are corrupt and to fight corruption we need inner strength. By inner strength you meant not to pay bribes, right. Now I will be a little pessimist and you tell me what kind of impractical ideology is that. How the hell me and you not paying bribes is going to stop others from doing scams. And if you are talking about inner strength in all them then tell me a way to incorporate that.
It is the law that have loop holes that needs to be patched, it is punishment that is there needs to be made severe and money involved must be recovered.
Please think about this, we have been made to believe that nothing can be done because we all ourselves are corrupt. I am not saying it is not required, it is a step but not the only step and also need not be the first step.
Rahul (@getamaze)
August 17, 2011
Guys by replying to this post , the writer of this post has got the attention she was looking for.
For me it doesnt matter how long will it take to pass the bill what matters is , somebody has taken the initiative.Today it is Anna, tomorrow it may be anyody among us, names will change but the vision will remain the same.People like these kind of bloggers instead of contributing would try to get some attention and they succeed when we reply to them. I always ignore these kind of blogs but
today when i read this i felt how stupid people could be ..
Dear blogger i cannot write like you but request you if you can get time please go to any goverment office and without paying bribe get your work done and if you cant than please write a blog in praise of people like Anna or anybody who dare to contribute for all of us.
Loving the Living
August 18, 2011
Absolutely brilliant!!
kukkumol
August 28, 2011
yes it is matter of celebration for INDIA…Anna Jai Ho..Kanoon banne ka rasta saaf hua.. sabhi indians ko dil se savikaar karna chahia our aaj se hi individual selfish lalsa #$%$ kar aam zindigi mein corruptin avaidh lain dain se aapne aap ko door rakheinge.
dhdf
October 3, 2011
shut up
Manoj
October 29, 2011
How many of us are paying our incometax honestly? This is a question all of us should ask ourselves. When a clerk of incometax department asks us Rs. 1000/- or Rs. 500/- as bribe, what most of us are doing – giving him bribe or prefering to pay tax honestly? Then the question is that treatment is required for that clerk or to ………….?
Secondly, whether we need a lokpal. We already have anticurruption bureau, cbi, etc that too with overflooded cases. Or we need something which boost our moral. Many big sharks are already in cage without a lokpal. (Only god knows who is soooooooooooooooooooo weathy to give bribe of Rs. 1,80,00,00,00,00,000/-). In that case too there is a matter to be optimistic – Phone calls are costing around Rs. 0.50 per minute. Without this incident it would have costed us around Rs. 45/- per minute.
So my view is that let the people do what they think correct. If we can give support; it is ok otherwise important thing is that let some lakh people be corrupt but 120 crores must not be corrupt.