Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
This story would have completely escaped my attention but for a small link I found in the Turkish press to the AP's coverage--but from the second I saw it, I was riveted.
I don't know much about Anna Hazare, but it seems he plans to fast unto death to pressure the government to pass effective anti-corruption legislation. Corruption is a profoundly under-studied and under-appreciated problem, for the reasons I discuss here, and I'm always curious about how to combat it effectively. I wonder both what these protests mean and whether they have any hope of achieving anything?
Novelist Manu Joseph is world-weary and dry about Hazare, suggesting that he's basically a publicity-hound:
The timing of Hazare’s protest, Indian editors know, is dramatic. It is a season of extraordinary revelations. Even the Supreme Court was disgusted enough to ask, employing language that is rare in judicial prose, “What the hell is going on in this country?”.
Hazare, as a relic of Gandhi’s way of life, is in a unique position to capture the mood of the nation.
But what kind of man is he, really? Haima Deshpande, a senior political writer with Open, has met him several times. About 10 years ago, when he went on a fast to protest against corruption in the Maharashtra government, Deshpande covered the event. She was a bit surprised when he said that he wanted to end his fast because journalists from the English media were finding it hard to reach his village.
Well, I wonder. Sometimes a publicity-hound in the right place, at the right time can make a difference.
What does Varun Vijay, our man in Bangalore, make of this?
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
What, like that Tunisian street vendor.
Yeah, I guess, but suicide for publicity always gives me the creeps. And I will dutifully restrain from asking certain persons to self-immolate over earmark reform.
Nov '10
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Claire, your article on corruption makes exactly the point I was trying to make a few weeks ago, but I did a poor job of it. I am involved in a church that does a lot of humanitarian aid work all over the world. One day it struck me that while the church is doing a lot of good, it all seems a waste if we don't address the political situation. But I should have said "address the corruption." That is exactly the point I was trying to make. It seems that, however flawed our system in the US is, it naturally spits out the corrupt, eventually. I think it does so because of the free and open media, freedom of speech, regular elections, and probably more than anything, a culture of distrust of the government. I don't know how you create that environment in other countries. But I am sure our President can figure out a way. "Hey man.....that's not cool, man....."
Jun '10
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Thanks, Claire, interesting. It's also interesting to see someone with Congress Party headgear in the news.
The light of day is the only thing that iteratively bounces a country back into line and into a position that can reflect the will of the people and the values of the people. We in America are the recipients of a tremendous legacy in terms of the 1st Amendment and in terms of people and leaders (generally) who were capable of living up to it.
Except for the unions, we have been lucky also in that we don't have to deal with real threats of violence very often. Other countries live in a sea of swirling tensions that can erupt into violence at any time.
I wish Mr. Hazare luck in his noble endeavor.
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
I dearly wish this point were better appreciated. I think it's too much of an abstraction for people really to get their heads around--"corruption"--it doesn't come with a specific ideology, so it's hard to understand just what the problem is. But you know it when you see it, and I am certain it's a source of incalculable misery.
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Hello Claire,
I have been following this farce by Anna Hazare thoroughly.
I have not written any commentary myself but I can definitely point you to one of the best analysss of it done by Sandhya Jain.
I have not done full research but she is incriminating Rockefeller foundation.
Quote:
"the main object of Anna Hazare’s fast –to elevate a select coterie as national super cop and super judge" ....
"Anna Hazare’s gigantic exercise to delegitimise the elected UPA and elected Members of Parliament, and insist that a self-appointed group of moral guardians shall determine the contours of a proposed national legislation to tackle corruption in government, is an assault on the letter and spirit of the Constitution."
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Just as we had Kremlinology to study Soviet politics during Cold War, we need a separate field of political science to study Indian politics. Because most of what happens in Indian politics seems tragically ludicrous from an American perspective.
Jun '10
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Well, Varun, you make me realize how difficult it is to sort out the sheep from the goats in the political landscape of any country. But, you must admit that the author of the article seems to think that left-wing Americans represent America.
However, I take the broader point about the "international cocktail circuit" having too much influence in India. Actually, that same set has too much influence in American politics, too.
Regarding Hazare, do you think he wants a citizen's group input into drafting legislation? Or is it your suspicion that he wants some extra-governmental panel to have control? Blue-ribbon panels aren't all bad -- though most are window dressing in America -- or sometimes a way of diverting attention. I'm sorry I just need to know more about what exactly Hazare is expecting here: influence or control?
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Yes, her anti-americanism is directed at left-wing americans in that article.
Internationalists are trying to undermine nationalists in every country.
The way I look at this whole Anna Hazare thing:
There is a lot of anti-Congress (major party in ruling coalition UPA) outrage among public over the rampant corruption. Congress dreads whether this popular outrage be utilized by opposition parties to undermine Congress in coming state & central elections. So I suspect all these Congress stooges & hacks (who also maintain enough plausible deniability from Congress to call themselves non-political and true grassroots representatives of masses) astroturfed a fake movement to hijack this anti-Congress sentiment (lest it be taken advantage by opposition political parties) and lead it along a course least harmful to Congress interests.
I might have come off as a conspiracy theorist. But that is exactly how I see this whole thing.
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Hi Larry,
Indian Congress is the great Satan of Indian politics. I am not optimistic of any movement which does not weaken Congress stronghold in a significant way.
Varun
Jun '10
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Much clearer. Thanks, Varun.
I don't think you are conspiracy theorist at all. I love your passion -- it tells me that there is much more to learn before I can sort it all out. Passions coalesce around major fulcrum issues. I trust your instincts because I already know a lot of your values in their reflection in American values: i.e., you think well of Ronald Reagan and Ricochet -- what else could matter?
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
I have been following this farce by Anna Hazare thoroughly.
I have not written any commentary myself but I can definitely point you to one of the best analysss of it done by Sandhya Jain.
Fascinating, especially the comment, "Internationalists are trying to undermine nationalists in every country," which certainly applies to Turkey. Needless to say not a hint of any of the points you make are featured in any Western reporting of this--although so much of the press in India being English-language, only laziness (or lack of time) would keep someone curious from poking around a bit to see what's being said in India.
I know I'd be curious if ever you felt like writing an introduction to Indian politics for Ricochet.
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Mind you, the swipe at "vaccines of unknown quality and of course the detestable GM seeds" doesn't augment her credibility here. Hostility toward vaccines and GM seeds--and particularly the intimation that they represent some sort of Western plot--is not really the mark of clear-headedness.
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
True. I have read more of her articles in the past. Some of her views are pre-capitalist and slightly environmentalist.
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Hi Claire,
None of the points I made appear in any of the mainstream Indian press either. India is not as free as it's assumed to be by many westerners.
Examples:
India Ranks 3rd in Censoring & Removal Requests To Google – A Detailed Look
Indian Government Made 1061 Requests To Google For User Data;
Google Complied to 50% Content Removal Requests from Indian Government
I feel that it takes more than time, active interest and broadband connection to get a handle on political affairs. Often it is very easy to be misled by information overloading.
I have not yet felt strong zeal for writing (at least for mass consumption). I am more eager to become an erudite (influence of Nassim Taleb's books "Fooled by Randomness" and "Black Swan"). Also being a software developer (though a reluctant one) which gets quite demanding occasionally, I found it very difficult and time-consuming to write anything (in addition to keeping myself in sync with all current affairs). So I found twitter most appropriate to exchange and test my ideas and thoughts.
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Hi Claire, Rather than writing anything myself, I decided to act as a gatekeeper and post editorials, I found very insightful on Indian political affairs, on ricochet occasionally. I started with this.
Mar '11
Re: Anna Hazare's Fast for the Lokpal Bill
Quote:
But such generalised invective against the entire political class is both empty and dangerous — our representatives are as we are. Besides, such anti-politics nearly always serves as a cover for politics. As Edmund Burke memorably wrote, this cynicism about politics and, by extension, Parliament only makes you “think ill of that very institution which, do what you will, you must religiously preserve, or you must give over all thoughts of being a free people”.
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