Hazare's Campaign: Victory for Civil Society; Democracy in Crisis

Anna Hazare's successful conclusion of the 97-hour fast on April 9, which has sent a grim warning to the corrupt of the country, represents a victory for the civil society. It is an effective demonstration or even a volcanic eruption of people's seething anger against politicians. It is an outcome of the failure of democracy to translate people's will into reality.

But this is a question addressed to the reader: 'Do you think this kind of satyagraha will be the ultimate solution to corruption in this country?'

When the democratic set up and all its institutions fail to perform their functions and when power-hungry politicians repeatedly defy morals, civil society has every right to rise in protest.

There have been valid accusations against Anna Hazare and the 200 others who had gone on fast on the corruption issue. They constitute extra constitutional authority, said some. They are blackmailing the government, opined some others. But then it was a question of desperate situations calling for desperate remedies.

There was indeed a risk. Satyagraha as a non-violent weapon had been misused in the past and crafty politicians and scoundrels will not stop short of using any weapon if it suited their purposes.

People's power:
It was good that the show of 'peoples' power' ended well. What if some toward incident like the death of a satyagrahi spiraling out of control and violence spreading to the streets? The movement had engulfed the whole nation. People from Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and other cities had also organized fasts and protests in support of Anna Hazare.

The 73-year old crusader has drawn support from all sections of society including film stars and cricketers, industrialists, Godmen, social activists, journalists, bureaucrats, students and teachers . Yet it can not be said with certainty that all those crying hoarse against corruption had not had a hand in perpetuating the evil. 'All have sinned' declares the Bible. For those familiar with the treatment of the topic in that Book of Books, this dramatization is just a repetition of an ancient certainty. Indeed, there is nothing new under the sun!

It was also possible that parties like the BJP would fish in troubled waters and use the agitation to turn popular opinion against the government. There was a palpable feeling that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh could make opportunistic use of the awakening in its favour.

The television channels and the media in particular gave such excessive coverage and caused such incitement that some commentators were led to wonder whether they are leading a rebellion against the present government. Are they with the people or merely cashing in on popular sentiments?

Lokpal Bill:
The Lokpal Bill has been hanging fire for around 42 years. Obviously, the politicians who are expected to serve the masses ride roughshod over them and there is no mechanism in place to check this atrocity. The self-serving politician has been the villain in the history of this nation and Anna Hazare has rightly pointed out that the politician will be unwilling to submit to an independent agency entrusted with the task of punishing the corrupt.

There are enough laws to control all the corrupt; enough rules to book goons and communal elements; sufficient legal means to put profiteers, black marketers and law breakers behind bars. The simple truth is that the law enforcing authorities can be bought. Those who have the powers are willing to look the other way when their palms are greased. As Hazare rightly put it: 'People have got together to eradicate corruption since they feel MPs and MLAs are elected to serve the people, but they have forgotten this.'

Despite some legitimate misgivings, it is interesting to read about the crusader's future plans: He will set off on nationwide tour to intensify the struggle if the Lokpal Bill is not passed by August 15. He will form a national organization to take up pro-people issues. The next issue on his radar is electoral reforms and decentralization of powers.

Swami Agnivesh, who was closely associated with him during the fast wants him to join the efforts to end the menace of Naxalism.

Corporate Houses:
Our society needs many Anna Hazares' to sensitize society against the evil of casteism and communalism spreading the poison of hatred; to awaken the conscience of traders, businessmen and corporate heads against exploiting the masses; to warn makers of adulterated drugs and foodstuffs that they are nothing short of murderers; educate society against voting criminals and moneybags to power.

Then there is looting by the corporate houses, entertainment industry comprising film stars and cricketers who exploit the sentiments of the growing middle class and get themselves fatter by the day. They absorb the funds that should have gone for the upkeep of the poor. The spectacle of politicians in power gifting away crores from the exchequer to the filthy rich cricketers while ignoring the basic needs of the masses is just one instance of insensitivity which compels the poor to take to the streets.

Civil society has been showing signs of an awakening of late and this is a good sign. Aggrieved sections, prompted by well meaning social activists had led to the formulation of the Right to Information Act 2005, Right to Education Act 2009, and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005. The Right to Food Bill that could provide much relief to millions of the country's poor is another proposal or another promise of the government that is awaiting implementation. Equally significant is the Communal Violence Bill which seeks to check those who incite violence and provide a machinery to rehabilitate victims of such violence and redress their grievances.

Warning:
'It is the people's voice that you (the government) are listening to. If you are still deaf, people will teach you a lesson. I am ready to sacrifice my life for this,' Hazari has told the Press on Friday, a day prior to ending his fast. It would seem that the good people must remain vigilant and united against the evils of the day. 'All that is needed for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing,' so declared Edmund Burke.

Democracy is not the best form of government; as there is no better alternative we need to ensure that those whom we send to the legislators do their work honestly. They are to carry out the will of the people and not 'make hay while the sun shines.' The civil society should keep awake.

Even then, taking into consideration the human nature and the revealed wisdom of the scriptures, especially the Bible, we can not be blind to the fact that we have a battle with the flesh until the end.

Corruption is as old as our world. Listen to this lament from an Old Testament book, (Micah 3: 11) 'Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money.'

As one sage put it: 'Life is a corrupting process from the time a child learns to play his mother off against his father in the politics of when to go to bed; he who fears corruption fears life.'

For those who live their lives in accordance with their faith, the way out of corruption is clear: 'For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.' (Galatians 6: 8) That will take care of individual lives. As for living in the community we have enough instructions on loving our neighbour. Corruption ends the day all hearts undergo the transformation and become new!