Lessons from the anti-corruption movement

By Vinay Bhat,

I personally have flip-flopped for long on this issue and there are chances this will happen multiple times over. But, every time I found myself opposing the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement or as the media would want us to call it “Team Anna”, I find myself in extreme discomfort with this position. Every movement has its flaws and while people far more qualified have expressed their reservations with how the IAC has handled the movement, I am more interested at this time in arriving at a conclusion on this issue through more concerted dialogue and understanding between the proponents as well as detractors. My fundamental thesis is that the “other Left” (NCPRI et al), will need to initiate dialogue with the IAC and arrive at some sort of consensus on an Anti-Corruption bill.


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Sure there are Saffron groups supporting the Jan Lokpal bill, and sure the bill itself has very draconian provisions within itself. I agree that the means are as important as the ends, and Gandhians who really respect this sentiment are probably more averse to a movement where Saffron group members can sometimes share the dais with the likes of Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan. This however is the time to bridge the gap. Kejriwal himself in multiple interviews has acknowledged that while the IAC cannot and should not restrict participation, they still have the responsibility to ensure communal hatred is not spread under the garb of anti-corruption. This perhaps is my biggest apprehension of this movement and activists have spoken ad nauseam of how the Jan Sangh came into power after JP’s Nav Nirmaan movement. However, people must be allowed to express themselves, and by this principle if people with fundamentalist values do join in, they must be allowed the same space to air their grievances and frustrations. After all the future of harmony depends on our abilities to identify with each other based on our commonalities and where we agree rather than tugging only at the differences.

People with alternatives to the Jan Lokpal bill must come to the table and initiate dialogue. The onus is on them at this moment. The IAC is at a position of advantage and they have no reason to reach out across the aisle. They have the Government by hook, line and sinker. So, if one is to attack the draconian measures of the Jan Lokpal, they must come at it from a position where they are also willing to compromise on their version and look at eliminating differences one at a time. Arvind Kejriwal and Aruna Roy helped draft the landmark RTI bill, and most importantly both understand problems at the grassroots. Diversity of opinion will only help strengthen the measures. With both sides going about it their own ways and not coming on a common platform, it only alienates the Left further from the imaginations of the influential middle class.

This is the time to start connecting with the middle class on issues related to the marginalized and issues that require their support. Activists keep complaining how the middle class never gets on the streets to protest, and now that they are present on the streets there is no sizable population to connect with them. The elitist class is getting smaller each day as a proportion, and the outburst of anger goes to show how the middle class is next in line for being targets of the elites. Yes, the marginalized have protested for long in greater numbers throughout history and no one has lent an ear. Yes, Irom Sharmilla’s fast continues to go unnoticed by the same middle-class which does not think losses of civil liberties is a form of societal corruption. But, how long are activists going to moan and groan about being unheard or about the hypocrisies of the privileged. At the very least, we cannot blame the IAC for this. They have been successful in mobilizing large sections of the population. Gandhian protests of the past can only hope for the same extent of 24/7 media hysteria that has been displayed this time around. NDTV even provided traffic updates to the Ramlila grounds – media lending logistical support to a mass protest. How should other movements learn from this? It is something that needs more introspection and investigation. Like Arundhati Roy always states, Gandhian protests are about theater and you need an audience. The IAC has a sell-out show.

Having said all this, I for once do not believe that corruption will be weeded away through a bill and it is no silver-bullet. At this risk of repetition of what others have said, corruption is only a symptom and not a disease. But, let’s for moment believe that corruption is “the disease”. There are still far too many things in the structure of Governmental policies that will cause relapses of this very disease. We will be much better positioned focusing on preventative measures rather than curative procedures. As long as the people cannot assert ownership of their own resources and societies, corruption will always exist, and the marginalized will always be looted. An anti-corruption bill is an important curative measure to keep alive a society that is bleeding and dying. So, it is important we can come to reasonable agreements with urgency and move on to the more burning issues – strengthening of democracy, policies that place the marginalized top of mind and put the power back in the hands of the people.

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