‘We are 105’

A moving scene in the Mahabharata is as follows. Duryoudhana and his cohorts are under attack from the Gandharvas. After banishing the Pandavas to an 12-year old exile, Duryoudhana is visiting the forests where the Pandavas are residing, to show off his wealth and heap misery on his depraved cousins. During his party, he draws the ire of the Gandharva king Chitrasena, who attacks and arrests Duryodhana. This pleases Bhima and the other Pandavas, except Yudhisthira, who asks his brothers to fight the Gandharvas and rescue Duryodhana.

Bhima is enraged. ‘Free Duryodhana of misery? The villain responsible for our sufferings?’

‘He is one of our own,’ Yudhisthira says. ‘We have our differences, but facing the outside world we are together. They (the 100 kauravas) and we Pandavas (five) might be at loggerheads, but while facing the World we are 105.’

Bhima, having long resigned to the impracticalities of his elder brother, rescues a deeply embarrassed Duryoudhana.

I was recently reminded of this story by LK Advani’s defense of the political class of India, currently under fire from Anna Hazare:

“Advani had said hours earlier on his blog: “I am of the view that those who revel in spreading a general climate of disdain about politics and politicians are doing a gross disservice to democracy. Despite the shortcomings of Indian democracy, we still have conscientious and upright politicians in the country and it is they who still give people optimism and confidence for the future.” “

Advani is thus defending the indefensible, luminaries across parties that he has bitterly opposed: Mayawati, Lalu Yadav, Karunanidhi and the several children he has fathered from three wives, Ashok Chavan, Sharad Pawar, etc. Politicians join rank when under fire, and Mr. Advani’s tirade proves this again. (Parliamentarians also unite when promoting their own interests, a trivial example being the unanimous approval of hiking their own salaries).

Writing in the Open magazine, Manu Joseph is aware of the likely scenario, the political parties to come together to protect their interests:

“Those who believe that Jan Lokpal is practical are most likely to point to the success of another powerful independent body—the Election Commission. But then the reasonable success of the Election Commission is largely due to the fact that all rival political forces have a common interest in the functioning of the Commission. The body, in principle, offers a level playing field. But in the case of an anti-corruption body, it is in the common interest of all corrupt political players, across party lines, to come together as a cartel to thwart its functioning. The very reason why existing bodies drafted with good intentions, like the Central Vigilance Commission (created by another Gandhian), have become ineffective.”