What is that it gives Anna Hazare the power to shake a government and bring it down to its knees? Why is that people are flocking behind Anna Hazare and not Manmohan Singh and the government.
This movement is being called the second struggle for independence and Anna Hazare the new Gandhi. Gandhi represented the collective consciousness of a generation fighting for free India and today Anna Hazare has touched the same chord with people who want a nation free from corruption. Great leaders are born, when they become the symbol of a generation. It is this ability to collectively represent a generation that gives them the power to bring the opposition to knees, be it the British government or the government elected by the citizens.
Today Anna Hazare is not just another individual fighting corruption but representative of a billion souls. It is the same guy who pays a bribe for violating a traffic rule who gives Anna the power to fight corruption because deep inside everyone there is an element of honesty and Anna Hazare has been able to connect with it, wake it up and give it a voice to fight.
Anna Hazare today represents the collective consciousness of people and when you try to crush Anna Hazare with all those stupid measures you are trying to crush the conscience of a nation. When you deny Anna Hazare the right to protest you are denying my right to protest, when you are arresting Anna Hazare you are arresting me because today "I am Anna Hazare".
By showing a lack of intent to have a strong Lokpal bill the government has lost a golden opportunity to instill faith among people in the wake of succession of scams that had put the entire country to shame. Its childish attempts to kill this movement have naturally led to a question, unless you are corrupt why are you against a movement fighting corruption. What essentially began as a quest for a strong lokpal bill is slowly turing into a movement against the government and the current political set up, none except the government is to be blamed for this.
I dont think it will be easy to throttle this movement, even if the government succesfully does this, the current regime will not only be considered as the most corrupt but also a tyranical one that scuttled a movement against corruption and further lose the faith of people. The government is succesfully distancing itself from common man, a dangerous precedent is being set.
To all those who murmur why does not Anna Hazzare contest election and bring about change, let you be reminded that the current Prime Minister is not a directly elected representative but a member of Rajya Sabha. It is that difficult for Mr.Singh considered to be the most honest face in the Congress to win an election. So, while politicians are busy with politics let apolitical people without political intentions step forward to steer the nation in the right direction.
The government needs to ask itself how a 73 year old man who was unknown to many till 4 months back has been able to capture the imagination of a nation than a party which has been ruling for more than 50 years and a prime minister who has been representing us for the last seven years. Why is that people are able to associate themself with Anna Hazare and not Manmohan Singh?
If this is a show of media how many issues projected by media have garnered this kind of support? Today Dridashtra is surrounded by Dridashtras to narrate this war against corruption. Why does not Rahul Gandhi who wants to associate with every people's movement come and see who these people coming in thousands to support Anna Hazare are. Personally to me it was a defining moment to see a 70 year old couple come and sit in for the protest, a 80 year old fragile man barely able to walk coming in support of Anna Hazare, children with school bags shouting slogans against corruption.
Read the governments version of Lokpal bill and Team Anna Hazare's version of Lokpal bill and you will know why the nation is behind Anna Hazare http://2rams.posterous.com/lokpal-points-of-contention-between-anna-haza. Anna Hazare has definitely shown more intent than the government in framing a strong law against corruption. If this is the level of intelligence politicians who frame our constitution have, the supremacy of government in lawmaking needs to undergo radical changes. It is time people who are knowledgable and concerned about the country be given a greater role in framing the constitution.
There is currently one man with a mission and a strategy to fight against corruption and the nation is united behind him. Lokpal may not be the solution to end corruption, but so was the salt sathyagraha movement. It is just a step that takes us close towards the end goal. There is only one way out for the government to come out of this mess i.e. to demonstrate something it currently lacks, HONEST intentions.
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