Baba, Anna and the State: Better Late than Never ?
All things considered, one has to concede that the Government did the right thing in paying Baba
Ramdeo the mid-night call and packing him off to Haridwar where he belongs—if at all he belongs
anywhere! Admittedly, the operation was crude and rough-shod; the Baba had to embarrass himself
with women’s garments and seek shelter among them and his cronies (the so called civil society!) had to
run helter-skelter till they reached the Delhi railway station/s. But the Delhi police is always allowed a bit
of high-handedness. The media and the desperate opposition may project this as “attack on democracy”
and try to compare it with the infamous “Emergency” of 1975-77. But fighters of that emergency like me
know that the Baba does not care two hoots for democracy.
Yes, we know that Corruption in high places has gone out of hand and is a gangrene on the body-politic
and things are getting worse by the day. A war or corruption is the need of the hour and we might have
woken up unpardonably late! But, nevertheless, the rules of this war should be properly framed and
the credentials of self-appointed upstarts like the Baba have to be beyond doubt. Some are born moral,
some become moral through experience, morality is thrust upon some and some thrust themselves
upon morality. While Anna can be safely put in the second category the Baba’s place is permanently
booked in the fourth category! Leave aside his opportunism in cornering a wimpish State immediately
after it had given in to the demand for appointment of the Lokpal; but how can an obscurantist upstart,
who by his own admission, has set aside over a thousand crore Rs –allegedly to finance the war on
corruption—don the cloak of morality ! Our people are gullible by nature and saffron never fails to
click—Bal Thakeray being another example but it is an age-old experience that saffron always hides
more than it reveals!
Further, no spiritual guru has been known to be democratic. The domain of spiritualism is anarchic at
best and all gurus are dictators accepted by their cronies. It would be more to the point to call them
fanatics of their own guru and not civil society. With our population and its typicalities any spiritual Tom,
Dick and Harry can collect a few thousand followers anywhere in the country—at times even outside it!
That is the irony of the war against corruption. It needs to be launched and lead by knowledgeable
people with impeccable secular and democratic credentials and a clean public record. It’s not enough
just to be well meaning like Anna or have a devoted following and money (also muscle?) power like
the Baba. The system can be rid of its short comings only by those who understand how systems are
created and who, by a keen scrutiny of the system, can make specific suggestions towards plugging
the loop holes. Anna, with all respect, is no Gandhi ! Gandhi was a Bar-at-Law; had fought an inhuman
system like apartheid and knew where exactly to hit and how to hit. Yet it took him three decades to
achieve partitioned independence. Still, Gandhi had little or no idea of how a modern civil society
should be run! If we follow Anna we will land into the dull Gandhian society where hardly anything can
ever happen; and the Baba will take us back to the middle ages—both are instances of the remedy being
more damaging than the malady.
To put it candidly, the ball is in our court; we the intelligentsia have brought the misfortune upon
ourselves. It is for us—professionals, thinkers, researchers, media persons, writers, artists to undertake
what we have shunned all the post-independence years. We pampered ourselves that it was enough to
do one’s own job well; we unanimously sulked into oblivion when we realized that we had limited or no
chance in election politics and left the running of the nation to the types we have now got at the helm.
Probably few of us may know it but our system, if we go by the letter, is not that bad. All laws to prevent
corruption are present; but they are sidelined, bent, ignored and , if that is not enough, blatantly
violated by those in office. And shorter the term of office, more the violation. We need to launch a
national network of those who will study the systemic failure in the profession they belong, create a
compendium of remedies at various levels, prioritise them into a short-list and then confront the State
with a concrete agenda. If we continue to baulk and sulk and withdraw deeper into our small world not
only shallwe be failing in the duty of democratic citizenry but might be digging our own grave/s.
Any takers ?
Vinay Hardikar
7 June 2011, Pune.
All things considered, one has to concede that the Government did the right thing in paying Baba
Ramdeo the mid-night call and packing him off to Haridwar where he belongs—if at all he belongs
anywhere! Admittedly, the operation was crude and rough-shod; the Baba had to embarrass himself
with women’s garments and seek shelter among them and his cronies (the so called civil society!) had to
run helter-skelter till they reached the Delhi railway station/s. But the Delhi police is always allowed a bit
of high-handedness. The media and the desperate opposition may project this as “attack on democracy”
and try to compare it with the infamous “Emergency” of 1975-77. But fighters of that emergency like me
know that the Baba does not care two hoots for democracy.
Yes, we know that Corruption in high places has gone out of hand and is a gangrene on the body-politic
and things are getting worse by the day. A war or corruption is the need of the hour and we might have
woken up unpardonably late! But, nevertheless, the rules of this war should be properly framed and
the credentials of self-appointed upstarts like the Baba have to be beyond doubt. Some are born moral,
some become moral through experience, morality is thrust upon some and some thrust themselves
upon morality. While Anna can be safely put in the second category the Baba’s place is permanently
booked in the fourth category! Leave aside his opportunism in cornering a wimpish State immediately
after it had given in to the demand for appointment of the Lokpal; but how can an obscurantist upstart,
who by his own admission, has set aside over a thousand crore Rs –allegedly to finance the war on
corruption—don the cloak of morality ! Our people are gullible by nature and saffron never fails to
click—Bal Thakeray being another example but it is an age-old experience that saffron always hides
more than it reveals!
Further, no spiritual guru has been known to be democratic. The domain of spiritualism is anarchic at
best and all gurus are dictators accepted by their cronies. It would be more to the point to call them
fanatics of their own guru and not civil society. With our population and its typicalities any spiritual Tom,
Dick and Harry can collect a few thousand followers anywhere in the country—at times even outside it!
That is the irony of the war against corruption. It needs to be launched and lead by knowledgeable
people with impeccable secular and democratic credentials and a clean public record. It’s not enough
just to be well meaning like Anna or have a devoted following and money (also muscle?) power like
the Baba. The system can be rid of its short comings only by those who understand how systems are
created and who, by a keen scrutiny of the system, can make specific suggestions towards plugging
the loop holes. Anna, with all respect, is no Gandhi ! Gandhi was a Bar-at-Law; had fought an inhuman
system like apartheid and knew where exactly to hit and how to hit. Yet it took him three decades to
achieve partitioned independence. Still, Gandhi had little or no idea of how a modern civil society
should be run! If we follow Anna we will land into the dull Gandhian society where hardly anything can
ever happen; and the Baba will take us back to the middle ages—both are instances of the remedy being
more damaging than the malady.
To put it candidly, the ball is in our court; we the intelligentsia have brought the misfortune upon
ourselves. It is for us—professionals, thinkers, researchers, media persons, writers, artists to undertake
what we have shunned all the post-independence years. We pampered ourselves that it was enough to
do one’s own job well; we unanimously sulked into oblivion when we realized that we had limited or no
chance in election politics and left the running of the nation to the types we have now got at the helm.
Probably few of us may know it but our system, if we go by the letter, is not that bad. All laws to prevent
corruption are present; but they are sidelined, bent, ignored and , if that is not enough, blatantly
violated by those in office. And shorter the term of office, more the violation. We need to launch a
national network of those who will study the systemic failure in the profession they belong, create a
compendium of remedies at various levels, prioritise them into a short-list and then confront the State
with a concrete agenda. If we continue to baulk and sulk and withdraw deeper into our small world not
only shallwe be failing in the duty of democratic citizenry but might be digging our own grave/s.
Any takers ?
Vinay Hardikar
7 June 2011, Pune.
we have started digging our graves, in total concious ness. we are not helpless, we just dont want to be at wrong place,when we are just starting our professional lives, we have to undergo a corruption therapy once we enter a profession like us...and secure our share(if-i-dont do-sombody-other will)....forget the modern, environmental ideas, we are not ready for anything that need to done to ourselves. we are running in a two mouthed circle...
ReplyDeletesir, can you please upload your interview with Mr Ashok Ranade. I think its a brilliant interview. Kindly upload it.
ReplyDelete