(Moderator's Note: The author of this response Mr B S Raghavan is one of the well respected and seniormost retired IAS oficers of India. He has worked even with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as Secretary of the National Integration Council, when Pandit Nehru was its Chairman. He is a regular columnist in various media. Srinivasan)
Also see my today's (29/08/2011) Column:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/columns/b-s-raghavan/article2406527.ece
BS Raghavan
On Sun, Aug 28, 2011 at 11:14 PM, Prime Point Srinivasan <prpoint@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi allConfusion to high level of maturityAfter 12 days of fast, Anna Hazare has ended his fast today morning. Last night, both the House of Parliament have endorsed the three conditions of Anna Hazare by thumping of desk and the resolution will be sent to the Standing Committee. Though, there were lot of confusions and chaos till the end, finally, both political parties and Civil Society showed high level of maturity, keeping the nation in mind.Knee jerk reaction of the GovernmentWhen Anna ji started his indefinite fast on 16th August , there were different opinions on the fast. Some of the intellectuals even criticised Anna's Jan Lokpal. The knee jerk reaction of the Government by arresting him created more trouble to the Government and made the Anti-corruption movement more popular. .Youngsters on the streetFor the first time in India, we have seen people coming on the streets for a cause holding national flag and chanting 'Jai Hind' to fight against corruption. Even the jeans -tshirt clad youngsters were on fast, painting their faces and body with tri-colour. Hundreds of youngsters started fasting indefinitely along with Anna Hazare across the nation. Though lakhs of people participated in various rallys and protests, not even a single violence was reported from any part of the country.Media supportRight from the day one of the fast, i.e. 16th August 2011, all the national channels were covering live all the protests and fasts across the nation. The channels echoed the vibrations of Vande - mataram slogans continuously. Even the regional media joined the bad wagon by publishing the photographs and taking the news to the remote corners of the country. Even there were criticisms on the media that they were doing this for TRP ratings. Even if they had done this for rating, they had done for a national cause.The exposures of 2G, CWG, Adarsh scams in the recent months have angered people and made them to line up behind the 74 year old Gandhian Anna Hazare, without any question.Criticisms by intellectualsIntellectuals were screaming that such pressure tactics by Anna ji tantamount to subordinating the supremacy of Parliament. Another group started cynical comments about the protests that nothing could be done. Ruling Congress started throwing mud on Anna ji, as if he was a corrupt person. The more and more the Government was trying to abuse and control the protests, more people came on the street holding tri-colour across the nation. Finally Congress spokesperson had to apologise for abusing Anna Hazare.Parliament kneeling down before publicThis has caught the attention of the whole world. The Government was under tremendous pressure to find a solution. They had to prostrate before the people, leaving behind the argument 'supremacy' of Parliament and agree for conditions given by Anna ji. These three conditions were accepted by both the House of Parliament by thumping of desk. This is the first time in the history of Indian Parliament that a demand made by general public was debated and agreed.What next?Now, Anna ji has ended the fast. Now, it may take three to four months to prepare the bill and introduce in the Budget session of the Parliament.Now many people have raised the doubt, whether the momentum gained would be sustained by the public till the Government passes the Lokpal Bill or whether the Government will use all its 'cunning' and 'cheap' strategies to avoid Lokpal. Definitely, Lokpal bill is going to be highly inconvenient for many of the parties. Some of the regional parties have already reflected their fear in the Lok Sabha debate yesterday.People have won the first round. The battle against corruption is not yet over. It is just the beginning. We have to walk a long distance. There may be more and more hurdles. We need more and more Anna Hazares to fight against corruption through 'ahimsa' methods peacefully.
Gandhian methods still relevantThis 12 days of Satyagraha has proved that 'Gandhian methods' are still relevant event today. We should feel proud that many of us were part of this Satyagraha in one form or other during all these 12 days. We will continue to fight against the corruption peacefully.Jai Hind - VandemataramSrinivasanPrime Point9176650273
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