The Significance of Anna Hazare

India is at the cross roads. Gandhi and 1947 seems a long way off, a bygone era as the Congress party that was the vehicle of Gandhi mutated to a party that spread corruption. Gandhi for all his faults could never be labeled corrupt, yet the party that he led has taken on that very mantle.

The landslide in corruption really burst like a flood after Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister. Here was a man who was thrust on 1.2 billion people, without a political base and without any mass support. Here was a man appointed to the august post of the Indian Prime minister who could not even win a local body election, let alone a parliamentary seat.

Thrust in the chair he was a willing stooge of the people who made him sit in the chair and result was simply disastrous as cabinet ministers, the custodians of leadership in a democracy led a looting spree that saw the state suffer a loss of billions of dollars. It is the saddest thing going around and that great leader Mahatma Gandhi would be squirming in his after life.

Action always has a reaction and this came in the form of Anna Hazare, an army man who after his release had devoted his life to up liftment of society and eradication of poverty. He started a fast for the passage of an anti corruption bill 4 months back and the government wily nilly agreed to pass the bill. Mind you this bill was hanging fire for 44 years and for Hazare it was no mean achievement. But a rudderless prime minister succumbed to the power brokers and a diluted bill without any teeth was introduced in the look Sabha (parliament).

Hazare has done the predictable and launched a second fast to get the bill passed with more teeth. The government perhaps had no idea of the groundswell of support for Hazare and they started devious tactics to derail Hazare like putting stiff conditions for his fast, arresting him and lodging him in Tihar jail with known criminals. But perhaps the government committed a mistake and soon had no choice but to back track.

Hazare has done Indian tradition of ahimsa and non violence proud by continuing with the fast. The question is not that the government will agree or not, but the fact that the political class is exposed as a group of freebooters and wheeler dealers. A corrupt and moth eaten group. For this alone Hazare will be remembered. The Lok Pal bill will be a reality if not today, maybe tomorrow. Let us salute Anna Hazare and hope that for once the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can break out of the shackles of his power brokers and reach out to the Indian people.