Sunday, June 5, 2011

Indian Monsoon aka Let There be a Million Mutinies Now!




Congress is probably facing the worst crisis since Independence. The monster of corruption has come to haunt them and now they have backed themselves into a corner out of which there are no good exits. In the end, they had sixty years to do something about it and they have systematically erected more and more measures to protect the guilty and keep the status quo. Just as the revolution came to the Middle East via the Arab Spring, it was inevitable that the common man of India will wake up one day a give a jolt to the ruling class. Can we call this the Indian Monsoon?

Clearly our politicians of all hues have failed us miserably. We have seen the traditional opposition come to power and in some ways perform even worse than the usual suspects – the Congress. They had their chances in 1977, 1989 and again in 1999 at the central level and many times over at the state level. Every time they could not get their act together. The looting continues unabated and unabashedly. Almost every politician worth his or her salt is a millionaire if not better. Most people who get into politics do so with the sole intention of lining their pockets, ideologies being just for public posturing. What’s has really hurt India is the unholy nexus of politicians, bureaucracy, judiciary, business and the media. Each one of these is a special interest group and they have every reason to maintain the status quo while the silent majority suffers.

There are several objections to the current movement that range from reasonable to ridiculous. I will try to address one by one.

• It is an anti parliamentary movement; it will damage the very foundation of our democracy.

After six decades of democracy the time has come to question whether the system is in need of some improvement. Any system is good only as long as it serves the people. There is nothing sacrosanct about the parliamentary system. If anything, it has succeeded in protecting the guilty and those entrenched in power have made every effort to keep the status quo. None of the political parties have any incentive whatsoever to disturb the applecart. The only difference between the parties seems to be that of public posturing on social issues. The Facebook and Twitter generation expects to participate more in the political process. Perhaps the days of parliamentary democracy are coming to an end.

• Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev are wading into areas in which they have no expertise.

Writing in a Times of India blog, CP Surendran calls these leaders simpletons and declares them unworthy of our attention. He says the “cattle brigade” has made them too powerful to be ignored by the Congress government. What he fails to mention is that it is the same “cattle brigade” that elected the Congress government in the first place.

Our intellectuals have failed to either lead or applaud a leader who has taken a bold step against the corrupt system. To challenge the establishment, one needs moral courage and that is sorely lacking among our political or intellectual leaders. Hazare and Ramdev have shown moral uprightness that is a rare quantity in India. They have all the power to make people listen, and so now they are taking charge. It is just a desperate tactic on the part of the intellectuals now to wake up and challenge the anti corruption movement. The intellectuals have simply missed their chance to make a difference and have zero credibility with the society.

In case if anyone needs a reminder, we have many cozy political dynasties ruling the country. Sonia Gandhi had zero governing skills and yet got to hold the reigns of power without any accountability whatsoever. It is hypocritical to question the capabilities of the leadership of anti corruption movement. If anything, they have demonstrated a moral uprightness that’s missing even among the media persons lately.

• This movement will lead to authoritarianism

The daemon of corruption is so deep rooted and pervasive in India that there is almost no transaction that takes place without someone getting bribed one way or the other. The insidious nature of corruption is such that a large segment of the population is going without access to basic necessities such as water, electricity, education or healthcare. The loss opportunities and quality of life suffered by the silent majority is beyond measure. Such a state of affairs needs urgent and revolutionary measures. While I don’t support death penalty for the corrupt, these details can be worked out when the final bill is getting readied. The same popular anger against the injustice of corruption can also work against the movement if it turns authoritarian.

• This movement is tainted because of the support of RSS and the likes of Sadhvi Rithambara

So what? Since when did it become illegitimate for RSS to support a worthy cause? Any and every support must be welcome for an anti corruption movement. It is not a fault of leaders that these organizations and people have decided to support the movement.

• A lot of intellectuals are opposed to it

This is just a self serving argument by the intelligentsia. They were caught flatfooted by this phenomenon. Now that it is showing signs of turning into something really big, they want to discredit it, disown it, halt it so that a genuine people’s movement in which they had no part to play does not render them completely irrelevant. Corruption, which affects everyone is not a sexy issue for them. If you notice, none of the leading lights against corruption can be described as armchair philosophers: Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, T N Sheshan, Baba Ramdev or Arvind Kejriwal. They have all been in the trenches and actually done something good.

Why this movement is important?

If you were to ask Indians about corruption, you will probably find that there is an almost a universal agreement that they oppose it. And yet, a big majority of the same people would go ahead and pay a bribe at the drop of a hat. How does one explain this dichotomy? I believe it is a feeling of helplessness that strangles us all when faced with a corrupt babu (government employee). There is also a culture of respecting the authority even if they don’t deserve it. Even though both I and my neighbor oppose corruption, we will not help each other when faced with it. The oppressors have taken advantage of this disunity of the victims and the righteous. They use laws, musclemen or plain harassment by not providing a legitimate service to browbeat the common man. The lay person had no means of communicating his or her grievance and follow up on it to its conclusion.

Well, not any more. The Facebook and Twitter have given a voice to the silent majority. People can now organize in the cyberspace and put into action in real world. People of the world have decided to take matters in their own hands and it is about time!

No one likes to be victimized. However, we need a role model and encouragement to stand up for what is right. Once such an environment is created, it will have a snowball effect on the entire society. There is a rebel in each of us who just needs a little coaxing to come out and fight the wholesale injustice by the establishments. Let there be a million mutinies now!

10 comments:

shoptorshi said...

Ravi, this is a fantastic post. You are correct in saying that many of us would like to participate and bring about change but the million dollar question is: HOW?? How many amongst us (the salaried class) will be willing to and be able to spare time and effort for such a kind of massive process? Any thoughts?

sandeep said...

this is superb ! may i share it over FB ?

Ravi Kulkarni said...

Shoptorshi,

That's a very good question. I have always faced the same issue myself. When I was younger I tried this approach many times with much success. When you show some spine, the babus begin get worried because any kind of complaints or paper trail is really worry-some for them. So they try to dispatch you by doing your work.

My point in the blog is that when faced with corruption we need to have some confidence in the system that it ultimately works. More the people protest, more others will gain confidence. Facebook and other social media are excellent for this purpose. Share your story, encourage others and it will grow as a movement. I know individually it is hard. Thanks for your question.

VinodKulkarni@Google said...

Ravi its amazing post. Hey shoptorshi, why can't we gather somewhere and spread the message of how corruptions is eating India and lets gather somewhere to discuss on this. Whoever comments on this lets meet and talk on this

Raj said...

Now that they have started attacking Anna Hazare and declared to go ahead with Lokpal Bill without any teeth, the movement is bound to spread even more.

Jethmalani rightly said 'The prime minister have lost control over all situations and all people'. Selected few selfstyled ministers have taken control and they are proven gravely mistaken in making a sane and sensible line of action.

Milind said...

good post Ravi...just 1-2 points of disagreement..1. Not all opposition by intellectuals is driven by envy etc (although some may be). Two substantive critiques that I read were by pratap Bhanu Mehta and Prof. Mrudula Mookherji..both are very thoughtful & mature responses/critiques which while criticizing do not reduce the level of debate to a diatribe..

As for the RSS factor...JP during the emergency involved the Jana Sangh, giving them a political legitimacy they had lacked after Gandhis assasination..the rest..ram janmabhhomi rath yatra, ayodhya demolition, 1993 bombay riots..right upto Gujrat gencide 2002..It is possible that many in the RSS are free of the taint of financial corruption..but there is such a thing as ideological corruption..which in their case would be their unrelenting hatered of Muslims..We must never forget that even during the Nazi era..much of the youth that participated in the anti-jew sentiment was motivated by the thought of ridding germany of the "dirty jew"..Golwalkar and Hedgewars vision which has been internalized by the RSS was inspiried by the Nazi ideology..only it was about cleaning india off the Muslims...

Milind said...

good post ravi

Ravi Kulkarni said...

Dear Milind,

I wrote this blog after reading Pratap Bhanu Mehta's column in Indian Express.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/playing-fast-and-loose/798740/0

I haven't read one by Mridula Mookherji yet. Do you have a link?

Regarding RSS' association with anti semitism, I didn't know. However, it is a very old story, and I think we have to move on. The question is what do they do now? I know there are elements of Sangh parivar, such as Bajrang Dal and VHP which are contemptible. Again I don't how much association RSS have with them. It is true that they have a spotty record. But so do Congress party. You may remember the Sikh massacre of 1984. That doesn't mean that you entirely throw out Congress party.

I think we should always debate on the merits of individual cases, rather than taking an ideological stand on everything. Corruption is an important issue and if RSS supports it, that should not taint the movement. I don't support RSS on its fundamentalist agenda. But there are some good things they have done too and that must be respected.

shoptorshi said...

@ Ravi: Thanks for sharing your views. My question however was not a reference about our encounters with Babus on a day-to-day basis. What I wanted to know is how do we (or I) associate ourselves (or myself) with movements like the Anna Hazare led IAC (India Against Corruption)?

Frankly speaking, my knowledge about Indian politics or international economics / economic models or black money etc. is a big ZERO!! In such circumstances then, as an ordinary layman, how do I contribute to a just cause? The most viable option here (for me) will be to show my solidarity with the movement by joining Anna’s or Baba’s mass protest gatherings but will that in itself be really meaningful? I personally don’t think so and the reasons are follows:

1. Movements like IAC demand & consume time wherein such mass gatherings may be called for very frequently. It will not be possible for me to take leave from my office to attend such protests on a frequent basis.
2. The protest gatherings can be crushed by Govt. anytime (as was seen in Baba’s midnight eviction and refusal of location to Anna during his second call) and thus my only way of participating in the movement is jeopardized.
3. The Govt. takes an autocratic stand on the issue displaying apathy, arrogance, aggression (as shown by Kapil Sibal, Pranab & PC in the cases of IAC & Ramdev) and violates all norms of democracy because they are ‘untouchables’ and guaranteed to get away with anything & everything. My little contribution to the movement therefore is useless as the movement itself becomes redundant.

Sharing experiences on social websites is a good idea but it may not be 100% effective. To exemplify, during my college days a friend of mine denied to pay a bribe to a Havaldar of the local police station for issuing a police verification certificate whereas me on the other hand first tried to negotiate the deal for Rs. 50 and eventually ended up paying Rs. 100 only because I didn’t have the courage to say no to a Policeman. So in cases similar to mine, the ‘success stories’ don’t help much due to the lack of ‘spine’. But nevertheless, I totally back your point on sharing real life cases as who knows, someone somewhere might really get encouraged.


@Vinod: We can definitely meet and discuss. It will be good if we can get some expert to talk about this. As I said above, corruption, black money, economics are not my forte. I can only discuss what I read in newspapers or see in TV. Beyond that, if we want to do something concrete then we will need to have an expert who can lead / guide us. I do have the ‘will’ but somebody needs to show the ‘way’.

As a starter, why don’t you and Ravi take the lead and others like me can chip in and form a small group?? Does that make any sense to you??

Ravi Kulkarni said...

Shoptorshi,

Thanks for the clarification. I agree with what you are saying. It is not an easy task and I am certainly not an expert in any of the subjects you mentioned. What is more I don't even reside in India. So you could classify me as an armchair philosopher and you would be right.

I am a diehard optimist. Again I agree with you that the government has a lot more tools for aiding and abetting corruption than a common man has in opposing it. But Corruption at the lowest levels of governance is likely to reduce (and has already reduced) due to transparency, simplification of rules and computerization.

What we can do is to raise our voices wherever we can. I hope the likes of Ramdev will raise the bar further by organizing more practical protests. For example, how about a protest in front of sub-registrar's (real estate registrar) office? This can be done in every city and people encouraged not to pay bribes. It is a novel concept for a lot of people not to pay a bribe in a government office. We can do this too by having facebook groups that focus on specific branch of government, or just a particular office.

In the end, people have to stop cutting corners. We have to become less corrupt ourselves before the corruption in India ceases to be a day today concern. I intend to blog more often on this topic as this subject is very close to my heart. I hope you write on this topic as well. Eventually it will become a potent political issue (if it hasn't happened already) and the the politicians will have to pay some attention to it.