Since August 16, all news channels are in overdrive-mode. Even after almost 18 hours/day of live coverage with as much repetition of news-clips and many regurgitated debate-hours, they do not seem to be satiated enough. Poor TV-viewers have choices of switching between channels but since content and debates are all similar and on the same topic, the choices are only for namesake. What amuses me is that even though these channels publicly compete with each other, when it comes to taking stand, all speak same language and almost in same tone. It feels like in last 48 hours, nothing has happened to this country except Mr. Hazare's detention and jail. Almost all anchors with may be one or two exceptions, persecuted, lampooned and assaulted the Union Govt in tandem and hailed the protesting crowd who came in thousands to support Mr. Hazare. Media adjudged the present Govt to be both guilty and incapable and therefore unfit to run the Govt. just because they fumbled in handling Mr. Hazare's protest. One who just landed here today would think that all the problems that India has today are there simply because India does not have a strong anti-corruption bill. You get a strong Lokpal Bill that satisfies Mr. Hazare's team and voila! all problems of India will be solved! Utopian or simply childish dream?
I think it is neither of them. I think it is desperation of adolescent Indian middle class for whom the protest of Mr. Hazare is an avenue of asserting its existence to the country. Like a school kid demanding for a motorcycle to his parents when he becomes aware that all his peers ride bikes, educated middle class Indians from metros, otherwise busy in their lifestyle squabbles decided to demand participation in Govt. functions, when they realized that political power has gone out of their reach because of their snooty attitude to political business in this country whereas their peers in developed countries actually enjoyed more participation all along. The snooty attitude of educated class was perfectly alright till India became a brand name that started hogging limelight with foreign media. Suddenly brand India is adorable, Indian identity is 'cool' and participating in political activism is 'sexy'! Now they want a share of this brand value which they ignored for many decades after the Independence of India. Sadly politics has gone out of their hand to a new political class who came from much diverse, rural background and filled the vacuum that middle-class elites left in 70's. Poor Anna Hazare! He probably is thinking that he is leading the second freedom movement of India! Present political elites, those who have been enjoying political power almost as inheritance are puzzled; they do not recognize this new enthusiasm, viral energy of protests. They do not understand the reason. I mean why now? Since they do not understand they are unsure about right way to handle this agitation. They have memory of 70s and the effectiveness of handling the political revolt of 70's with iron-fists. But they recognize that this is 21st century and they are not sure if the methods of 70's will be effective today. So they are tentative. This tentativeness is reflected in their fumbling, in arresting Mr. Hazare and then conceding to his demands. But will they be successful to quell this new aspiration of urban middle-class? And bigger question is what will the real India, the India that comprises of poor farmers, poor tribesmen, poor unclassifiable and uneducated Indians who got pushed out of the power equation, for many decades before and after Independence, those who were never connected to 'shining story' of India, those who shining India never cared for, do? Will they continue to live in that other India which only figures in Govt statistics or will they seize the opportunity of another socio-economical correction?
I can't answer and neither the all-knowing, self-righteous, spectacularly shallow (almost to the point of perversion) media channels can answer. That India in fact never existed for them [the India that never contributed to TRP rating]. I however do hope with all earnestness that this politically adolescent educated middleclass of India actually use this opportunity to know their country for real, grow to become true Indian in its real spirit, the spirit that transformed Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to Mahatma Gandhi [just for the record, Gandhiji before taking up the rein of Indian Congress travelled the length and breadth of this country. He believed that a real leader must have first hand, direct knowledge about his/her country]. Otherwise this aspiration will lead to another kind of corruption, corruption that comes from rootlessness,and that will take away the middle-class dignity of being righteous, intellectually, morally.
2 comments:
Nothing wrong about Anna Hazare asking for an anti-corruption bill and after looking at the govt version, it indeed seems that many of Anna's points are valid. Media is known to be TRP minded, kind of used to it now. What feels a bit strange is the mass hysteria.. suddenly everyone thinks corruption must be rooted out and all that - how many of us can claim that we ourselves are clean ? We do pay bribes (even when not really reqd) to get our job done right ? We don't protest even when there is already a consumer forum, there is RTI, there are innumerable laws etc. I don't see most of us going to lokpal to complain against a bribe taking police suddenly, we most probably will pay the bribe to get the job done tomorrow also. A right lokpal bill will be very good indeed, but so many people identifying themselves as anti-corrupts fighting corruption ? Sounds to good to be true :-)
I can't disagree. The agitation appears to be more of an expression of frustration with the Govt's inability to bring down inflation, slow-down of Industry, Govt's confused approach to development and Govt's stuttered response to numerous scams rather than identifying with the cause of Jan Lokpal Bill. The point is though agitation is good but it needs more solidity. A good leadership can shape this spontaneous expression of frustration to nation-transforming movement. Whether that quality of leadership will emerge, though is to be seen.
BTW, Mumbai's dabbawalas for the first time has called strike in their operation as an act of solidarity to Mr. Hazare.
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