Hero worshiping and myth building are historically intrinsic to Indian psyche. And much of the air-thumping in Delhi is part of a pattern. That the people so joyously are soaking themselves in the opium of delusion is also quite normal and those having a taste of history know it well.
Those who suffer from the disease called "short memory" may just recall a "hawai-chappal" and cotton
sari wearing woman in Mamata Banerjee uprooting and trampling over the more than three decades of the Left rule in West Bengal not long ago. She and the people of West Bengal had made history then.
Banerjee took just a little over a couple of years after the Nandigram killings to lay the graveyard of the Left rule led by the CPI (M). She rode on the slogan of "Ma, Mati, Manush". That the urban intelligentsia now seeks to distance themselves from her, who holds on to power with her strength in rural Bengal, is another story.
Arvind Kejriwal, an NGO wallah before April 2011, head-hunted Anna Hazare to give legitimacy to the Jan Lokpal Bill, drafted by him in cohort with the ultra-judiciary activist Prashant Bushan. And the Gandhian did not disappoint the former tax officer and parted ways with him but before that he gifted the self-stated angry man the key to power in Delhi.
Kejriwal is now sworn in as chief minister and among others he has also taken oath not to be vindictive (maen kisi dwesh ke bhavana se kaam nahi karunga). This makes him quite a hypocrite, for he has been trumpeting that he would send the Congress ministers to jail. His sound bytes since December 8 have been sliced with vindictiveness only.
The lens of hypocrisy has not yet been applied on Kejriwal in any serious manner. About a year back, he began admitting with journalists, including this blogger, that Anna Hazare had been managed by the Congress. But for public consumption he has created a facade that he still worships Anna and that those close to the Gandhian have made a wall for him to block him directly connecting with him. He invites the accusation of being a hypocrite for being untruthful about his relations with Anna Hazare.
Neither Anna is Mahatma Gandhi nor Kejriwal is a Nehru, as the social media paid volunteers of Aam Aadi Party would like emotional Delhi'ites to believe.
Those who are blessed with good memory may recall that a couple of days after the people in Delhi had voted, Hazare in his presser reiterated that he had not been convinced by the explanation given by Kejriwal about the funds raised in his name. Anna also maintained that he could be dragged to court because of Kejriwal, who without his authorization sold SIM Card Scheme in his name. That was just four days before the Delhi verdict became known. And Anna had also shot a letter in which he made quite a lot of veiled accusations of financial impropriety to Kejriwal.
So, the man who gives certificate of being corrupt to others has not been able to convince Hazare on funds collected in his name. But Kejriwal, who is apparently that marketing wizard who has sold combs to bald men, has been treated by media with kid-gloves. That would be quite a generous understatement, as media was the biggest campaigner for Kejriwal and his party. In fact, editors of TV channels took pride to spend a few hours at Jantar Mantar during Anna agitation and to share later that they had had feelings of Tahrir Square in the narrow strip on the Parliament street. One of them wrote a book, with judgments that Anna was another Gandhi.
In those days, it was India Against Corruption (IAC) and there was a core committee, which included a lot of men, including Kejriwal. One of them has a few questions but is apparently shy to come into public.
His questions is very simple: Where did the money come from to publish Kejriwal's book "Swaraj".
One more question deserves to be added. And that is this -- if Swaraj was printed to be sold at Rs 25 a copy, with the motive of spreading the idea of self-rule, why is it now priced at Rs 150 (English paper book), Rs 100 (Hindi) and Rs 53 (e-book). So, now the social cause has been overtaken by the idea of commercial profit. And if that's so, it's more important to find out the source of fund used in publishing the book.
But more important is to challenge the ideas to which Kejriwal is sworn to. That a very few have been doing is disturbing.
Let's rewind to October 2011. One fine afternoon, Kejriwal took the microphone at Jantar Mantar and in his trademark fashion asked the crowd to raise their hands if they agreed to his accusations of about 16 Union ministers being corrupt. He was jury, investigating officer and prosecutor too. And what were the evidences Kejriwal submitted to brand 16 ministers corrupt -- Newspaper clippings.
The crowd, consisting of 200 people, raised their hands and these ministers were pronounced corrupt. The idea of debate is not whether they are corrupt or honest but the manner to institutionalize crowd. This is not only dangerous but suggests heavy ideological leaning to Maoist thought processes. Even the Taliban could seek brotherhood from them.
And it's also true that if Maoists opt to fight elections they will win Bastar, which is big enough to be a state, effortlessly.
People in Delhi are eating out of the hands of the handful leaders of AAP. They easily subscribe to their claims of newness in politics and a new approach to governance. Not much of critical faculty appears to have been employed to question these claims.
Seven hundred liters of water free for each family in Delhi! Yes, you have heard it many times to have become dumb to it by now. Is it a novel idea? No, just look at Tamil Nadu and check with the perfectionists (DMK and AIADMK) of this art. Mr Kejriwal, you are treading on quite a beaten track.
And why should half the population of Delhi, who are quite rich and use 500 liters of water a day to clean their cars, should get it free. And that too when Delhi has no source of water and half the year is at the mercy of Haryana to get it. Why should the people of Uttar Pradesh part with water to let Delhi'ites waste it.
Next -- will regularize unauthorized colonies in six months! Had it been so easy Sheila Dikshit would have done it much earlier. How can you have a regular and legal colony where fire tenders can't enter, where ambulances can't reach in quick time, where there is no space for hospitals, schools and dispensaries and playground, if you think that kids need to play in the evening. Can Kejriwal make people in these colonies demolish their houses to create a minimum 20 per cent free space?
The manifesto that Kejriwal authored is a recipe for misgovernance and irresponsible politics. In fact, the time has come for the Election Commission to ban such freebies, as they are nothing but open bribery to voters.
But, yes, the 15 years long rule of the Congress had been akin to a piece of paper burning slowly. And in the end it was a burnt, black paper, which needed just a shove to turn into ash. That's no more a warning to the Congress and rather it's an affirmation that this party has lost another state to a regional party, as had been the case in Bihar, UP, West Bengal.
The BJP had been dismissive about the AAP and woke up quite late to name Dr Harsh Vardhan as chief ministerial candidate. The party, which had given Delhi its first Aam Aadmi as CM in Saheb Singh Verma, has been too defensive. No game can be won if no risk is taken, that the BJP should know and its Delhi leaders would do a world of good to themselves to start believing that they understand the city better than their colleagues in the Central BJP.
A lot of drama has taken place in Delhi since April 2011 and rightly the city has a lot of theaters near Mandi Chowk, including that of the National School of Drama.
But the biggest challenge that India is now faced is the prospect of the country becoming a nation of litigation and litigants. That the judicial activism has enriched the civilian rights is well-known. But the attempt to establish superiority of judiciary over democracy is a dangerous recipe that the likes of Prashant Bhushan and Kejriwal are proposing.
Ironically, it's democracy that allowed the people living and working out of Ghaziabad in UP to win over Delhi. But the same democracy faces encroachments by a super-judicial bureaucracy, given legitimacy by mob driven leaders.
However, the legal warriors are underestimating the power of democracy. And for that matter the historic Gettysburg speech should be recalled, which gave the concept of democracy, which has only gained in strength all these years.
Amid the raging civil war in the America, it's said that Abraham Lincoln had locked
himself in a library for about three weeks. Emerging out of it, he gave the famous Gettysburg address, which lasted two and a half minutes. There he explained the underlying principle of democracy, that it's "for the people, by the people and of the people".
The power of the people may be underestimated by activists at their own peril, as the blows do come and come very swiftly.
Those who suffer from the disease called "short memory" may just recall a "hawai-chappal" and cotton
Banerjee took just a little over a couple of years after the Nandigram killings to lay the graveyard of the Left rule led by the CPI (M). She rode on the slogan of "Ma, Mati, Manush". That the urban intelligentsia now seeks to distance themselves from her, who holds on to power with her strength in rural Bengal, is another story.
Arvind Kejriwal, an NGO wallah before April 2011, head-hunted Anna Hazare to give legitimacy to the Jan Lokpal Bill, drafted by him in cohort with the ultra-judiciary activist Prashant Bushan. And the Gandhian did not disappoint the former tax officer and parted ways with him but before that he gifted the self-stated angry man the key to power in Delhi.
Kejriwal is now sworn in as chief minister and among others he has also taken oath not to be vindictive (maen kisi dwesh ke bhavana se kaam nahi karunga). This makes him quite a hypocrite, for he has been trumpeting that he would send the Congress ministers to jail. His sound bytes since December 8 have been sliced with vindictiveness only.
Neither Anna is Mahatma Gandhi nor Kejriwal is a Nehru, as the social media paid volunteers of Aam Aadi Party would like emotional Delhi'ites to believe.
Those who are blessed with good memory may recall that a couple of days after the people in Delhi had voted, Hazare in his presser reiterated that he had not been convinced by the explanation given by Kejriwal about the funds raised in his name. Anna also maintained that he could be dragged to court because of Kejriwal, who without his authorization sold SIM Card Scheme in his name. That was just four days before the Delhi verdict became known. And Anna had also shot a letter in which he made quite a lot of veiled accusations of financial impropriety to Kejriwal.
So, the man who gives certificate of being corrupt to others has not been able to convince Hazare on funds collected in his name. But Kejriwal, who is apparently that marketing wizard who has sold combs to bald men, has been treated by media with kid-gloves. That would be quite a generous understatement, as media was the biggest campaigner for Kejriwal and his party. In fact, editors of TV channels took pride to spend a few hours at Jantar Mantar during Anna agitation and to share later that they had had feelings of Tahrir Square in the narrow strip on the Parliament street. One of them wrote a book, with judgments that Anna was another Gandhi.
In those days, it was India Against Corruption (IAC) and there was a core committee, which included a lot of men, including Kejriwal. One of them has a few questions but is apparently shy to come into public.
His questions is very simple: Where did the money come from to publish Kejriwal's book "Swaraj".
One more question deserves to be added. And that is this -- if Swaraj was printed to be sold at Rs 25 a copy, with the motive of spreading the idea of self-rule, why is it now priced at Rs 150 (English paper book), Rs 100 (Hindi) and Rs 53 (e-book). So, now the social cause has been overtaken by the idea of commercial profit. And if that's so, it's more important to find out the source of fund used in publishing the book.
But more important is to challenge the ideas to which Kejriwal is sworn to. That a very few have been doing is disturbing.
Let's rewind to October 2011. One fine afternoon, Kejriwal took the microphone at Jantar Mantar and in his trademark fashion asked the crowd to raise their hands if they agreed to his accusations of about 16 Union ministers being corrupt. He was jury, investigating officer and prosecutor too. And what were the evidences Kejriwal submitted to brand 16 ministers corrupt -- Newspaper clippings.
The crowd, consisting of 200 people, raised their hands and these ministers were pronounced corrupt. The idea of debate is not whether they are corrupt or honest but the manner to institutionalize crowd. This is not only dangerous but suggests heavy ideological leaning to Maoist thought processes. Even the Taliban could seek brotherhood from them.
And it's also true that if Maoists opt to fight elections they will win Bastar, which is big enough to be a state, effortlessly.
People in Delhi are eating out of the hands of the handful leaders of AAP. They easily subscribe to their claims of newness in politics and a new approach to governance. Not much of critical faculty appears to have been employed to question these claims.
Seven hundred liters of water free for each family in Delhi! Yes, you have heard it many times to have become dumb to it by now. Is it a novel idea? No, just look at Tamil Nadu and check with the perfectionists (DMK and AIADMK) of this art. Mr Kejriwal, you are treading on quite a beaten track.
And why should half the population of Delhi, who are quite rich and use 500 liters of water a day to clean their cars, should get it free. And that too when Delhi has no source of water and half the year is at the mercy of Haryana to get it. Why should the people of Uttar Pradesh part with water to let Delhi'ites waste it.
Next -- will regularize unauthorized colonies in six months! Had it been so easy Sheila Dikshit would have done it much earlier. How can you have a regular and legal colony where fire tenders can't enter, where ambulances can't reach in quick time, where there is no space for hospitals, schools and dispensaries and playground, if you think that kids need to play in the evening. Can Kejriwal make people in these colonies demolish their houses to create a minimum 20 per cent free space?
But, yes, the 15 years long rule of the Congress had been akin to a piece of paper burning slowly. And in the end it was a burnt, black paper, which needed just a shove to turn into ash. That's no more a warning to the Congress and rather it's an affirmation that this party has lost another state to a regional party, as had been the case in Bihar, UP, West Bengal.
The BJP had been dismissive about the AAP and woke up quite late to name Dr Harsh Vardhan as chief ministerial candidate. The party, which had given Delhi its first Aam Aadmi as CM in Saheb Singh Verma, has been too defensive. No game can be won if no risk is taken, that the BJP should know and its Delhi leaders would do a world of good to themselves to start believing that they understand the city better than their colleagues in the Central BJP.
A lot of drama has taken place in Delhi since April 2011 and rightly the city has a lot of theaters near Mandi Chowk, including that of the National School of Drama.
But the biggest challenge that India is now faced is the prospect of the country becoming a nation of litigation and litigants. That the judicial activism has enriched the civilian rights is well-known. But the attempt to establish superiority of judiciary over democracy is a dangerous recipe that the likes of Prashant Bhushan and Kejriwal are proposing.
Ironically, it's democracy that allowed the people living and working out of Ghaziabad in UP to win over Delhi. But the same democracy faces encroachments by a super-judicial bureaucracy, given legitimacy by mob driven leaders.
However, the legal warriors are underestimating the power of democracy. And for that matter the historic Gettysburg speech should be recalled, which gave the concept of democracy, which has only gained in strength all these years.
Amid the raging civil war in the America, it's said that Abraham Lincoln had locked
The power of the people may be underestimated by activists at their own peril, as the blows do come and come very swiftly.
1 comment:
AK has requested for 10 days to sort out Delhi issues... but things have been messed up in 15 years, I am willing to give him 15 weeks for resolutions and more!
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