Sunday, June 12, 2011

Baba's Lost The Plot

After being handed all the opportunities he could wish for on a silver platter by the government in the form of the midnight police raid, the Baba and his followers seem to have completely lost the plot. After being bundled out of Delhi, and refused permission to enter Noida by the Mayavati government, the Baba continued his fast at his ashram in Haridwar, away from the center of action. With the central government refusing to engage him in talks, and with the state BJP government in a fix on how to handle his "fast", there seemed no honourable way out but to be "hospitalized". And with the media now training the spotlight on his dubious multi-thousand crore empire, details of which the Baba refused to give, instead going on a maun vrat, and his ridiculous annoucement of raising a private army raising the hackles of every sane Indian, thankfully, the hijacking of Indian democracy by a maverick yoga teacher seems to have come to a tame end.

For that matter, through this farcical episode, even Anna Hazare's campaign seems to have been suffered a huge jolt. The wisdom of letting a well-meaning but ultimately non-constitutional and unelected individual "authority" dictate terms to the government is something that needs to be seriously debated over!

From an unenviable position, the central government has fought back and turned the tables on their opponents, and once again, the BJP led opposition finds itself clueless on how to gain from this public backlash against opposition, not only letting the government off the hook, but on top of that, literally delivering a crushing blow to the credibility and effectiveness of the very spirited and effective social movement against corruption.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You must be knowing how people get elected in India.If one has money and muscle power then one can get elected even if he/she has criminal background.People with clean image are not getting elected e.g. Arun Bhatia. Despite of having clean image and good qualification he is not getting elected.
Is this democrosy? And how do we expect these people will make stringent laws against corruption if they themselves are involved in it.

Siddhesh said...

I know it's a complicated situation - but two wrongs do not make a right. Yes, we need better laws - but right now, the issue is not with laws, it's with the implementation. Who's to guarantee that the Lokpal won't be so? By putting him on top of the PM and judiciary, aren't we potentially creating a monster who can threaten the very democracy and constitutional authorities it tries to strengthen? And who are Ramdev and Anna Hazare to dictate on behalf of the "civil society"? Why don't they stand for elections and get voted, if they are so sure that they represent the voice of the country?

I am not condoning corruption, and I want to see a clean India too - but I am not convinced that threatening to raise private armies while sitting on a multi-thousand crore empire is the right way to do it!