By Chitranjan Sawant
If you come across a cobra and a corrupt politician, kill the corrupt man first and cobra next. Never mind if the cobra bites you in the meantime because it is less poisonous than the corrupt politician. The corrupt politicians have been biting Bharat for the last 64 years without a break and the poison that permeated in the nation's body has caused perpetual retardation. The national progress is at a standstill and the neighbouring nations have been moving forward at a steady pace. It is unfortunate but disgraceful. The responsibility for this lack of progress lies at the door of leaders of the Congress party because they have been ruling the country for more than forty years out of sixty four years that India has been independent.
I AM ANNA
Now in 2011 comes a man from a village in Maharashtra who awakens the nation and says that it is our Dharma to eradicate corruption. He has attracted the attention of not only Indians but also foreigners. No wonder a group of American tourists visited the Ramlila Maidan, waved the Indian national flag and expressed solidarity with the Anna movement for cleansing politics of corruption and promoting democracy. Tens of thousands of Indian men, women, children, artisans, farmers and students of all age groups have joined Anna Hazare to cleanse the Indian society of corruption. It is a powerful movement that is absolutely apolitical. The movement has support of people of all walks of life who are votaries of all major and minor faiths of the world and they are all non-violent; absolutely peaceful.
AHIMSA or absence of violent means to achieve the end, is the basic Mantra of this mass movement of Anna Hazare. All peaceful protesters are are wearing Gandhi caps or carrying a sash across shoulders that has words written on it "I am ANNA HAZARE". Every individual protestor calls himself Anna Hazare. It is a unique feature of this peaceful protest. The whole world recognises the Rights of free thought and expression. Suppressing this freedom of Expression would amount to violation of Human Rights. The Government of India does not want to be accused of this violation a second time. The whole free world took the Indian law enforcing agencies and their political masters to task for beating with long batons women and children attending Yoga camp of Swami RamdevJi, the Yoga Guru.
Anna Hazare is a different man and a stable personality who has experience of leading many peaceful Satyagrah in his home state, Maharashtra. It is surprising that a school dropout who became a soldier driver of army trucks is today the uncrowned king of this large scale peaceful protest movement to wipe out corruption and bring black money that belonged to India back to India. Indeed no one can find fault with the noble mission of Anna Hazare.
It is his innocent and child-like smile that draws strangers close to him. He smiles even in adverse circumstances. He smiles when he fasts. He smiles when the jail authorities denied him water for a bath since he stayed on in the administrative building of the jail even after his official release. Anna Hazare does not raise the pitch of his voice even when the group discussion degenerates into a slanging match. Anna Hazare is as cool as a cucumber, calm as the sea-surface in non-tsunami nights and focussed as a camera lens. He knows what to do, when to do and how to do. Indeed the secret of his success in all his projects lies in his planning, preparation and execution from A to Z. Further, Anna chooses his colleagues well and never lets a selfish person take undue advantage of his nearness to Anna Hazare.
NEVER SAY DIE
Anna may fail but he never falters. He has his eyes focussed on the goal and does not deviate. Worldly temptations are meaningless to a man who has acquired no family, no wife, no children, no property. He is a SANYASI. In the Hindu Varnashram system, an individual takes Sanyas and renounces the mundane world. A Sanyasi does not live with his erstwhile family but in an Ashram or a hermitage. He treats the whole world as his own family as per the Vedic mandate VASUDHAIV KUTUMBKAM.
It is hoped that there will be no confrontation between Anna Hazare and the government of India. That means use of force by the govt and anti-publicity for Bharat in the entire world. Now the world media is taking interest in the Anna generated People’s Movement for having a LOKPAL who would oversee the official work of all govt departments, all govt servants, even the highest of the high and thus leave no room for corruption. Since the govt is also committed to the establishment of the institution of a strong Lokpal, there is a meeting point for the two sides and this scope for dialogue should be made use of.
When corruption is got rid of, the people of Bharat will heave a sigh of relief. The demon of corruption and thereby generation of black money and consequent of stashing ill gotten wealth in foreign banks made our motherland poorest of the poor. Dharma,that is the Manu Smriti guide on living a life of Righteousness was abandoned. Now with the elimination of the demon of corruption, the common man will improve his standard of living. His lifestyle will be in conformity with the norms laid down by the greatest lawgiver, Manu Maharaj. If and when Dharma holds sway, the social order moves on smoothly and Happiness prevails.
