ANNA THE ROCK STAR

The timing of the show was perfect. Anna Hazare has rocked parliamentary democracy; he has rocked the Constitution; he has rocked the Manmohan Singh government; he is about to rock the judiciary. He paralysed the administration by raising hopes of the burgeoning middle class who are on the streets, expecting corruption to end in 15 minutes by passing the Jan Lokpal Bill as some of the teenage students believe.

To be sure, there is not a single Indian who is not affected by corruption – unless you are Suresh Kalmadi, Ashok Chavan, or Spectrum Raja. In the 1970s, Mrs Indira Gandhi raised the slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eliminate poverty) and electrified the masses; just as ‘Build the Ram temple’ excited a section of the people at the turn of the 1980s. But the temple was not built, nor poverty abolished; neither will corruption be eliminated by a Lokpal Bill. Slogans have the power to change governments, or alter the power equation, which is what is happening right before your eyes.

Poor Manmohan Singh, whose only fault is saying ‘Yes’ to Sonia Gandhi when she was looking for an honest man in the Congress but could not find one except Dr Singh. The incumbent prime minister is undoubtedly guilty of raising the GDP of the country from a low single digit to near-nine per cent, to become the second fastest growing economy of the world! (Many fear this doctor could parody Marie Antoinette to say, If the poor do not have bread, why don’t they eat GDPs?)

You have before Parliament two Lokpal Bills: the so-called civil society one and the authorised version. Lok Jan Lokpal Bill will turn the Constitution topsy-turvy and create a government of Lokpal by Lokpal for Lokpal, answerable to none but every single authority of the land accountable to it! The government version will ensure that anyone making an allegation land in Thihar jail, not temporarily but on a permanent visa, since an individual does not have the wherewithal of an investigating agency or the legal acumen to nail the guilty.

One person arrogating to himself the powers of Parliament and demanding the Constitution be abrogated in favour of a Bill drafted by his cronies is, to say the least, against the grain of democracy. Can a few thousand people be allowed to hijack a democracy of 1.2 billion? In France, in the name of ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’

Robespierre guillotined all his political rivals and finally nemeses caught up with him when he himself was guillotined! Stalin’s Soviet Union and Hitler’s Weimar Republic had their own slogans and tales to horror to tell. All revolutions have eventually ended up in the hands of dictators because the people have mortgaged their intelligence to the leader.

The script of Jan Lokpal Bill is well drafted and played out even better. What the gullible do not realise is that Anna is a mere mascot of vested ideologues awaiting their apocalyptical hour. You have to decide whether you want a gullible democracy or an intelligent democracy. Your decision will determine the future of India.