Not just Anna, we too failed

Not just Anna, we too failed

Anna Hazare has disbanded his team ‘to work for a political alternative.’ The exasperated old man has finally realised the futility of Anshan politics. What someone said towards the end of Anna’s fast at Jantar Mantar — ‘We are left with just two options. Either sit on Anshan for years, which will have little impact on the government or start a political revolution’ — is an honest acceptance of the movement’s failure. A movement that initially succeeded in grabbing the attention of almost 1.2 billion people eventually failed to create a lasting impact on the corrupt and thick-skinned political class. In the backdrop of the 18-month anti-corruption crusade ending on such a disappointing note, cynics may be tempted to describe it as Anna’s personal failure. Certainly Anna is to be blamed for the overkill. Team Anna misread the overwhelming middle-class sympathy wave as mass mobilisation. The public hysteria ultimately proved to be a momentary sentiment. The group of self-serving people around Anna failed to transform raw sentiments into a grassroots movement. Many are disappointed that the movement crashed at the same blistering speed at which it generated hope and goodwill. In a country as diverse as India, a few civil society groups minus any grassroots support may occasionally succeed in capturing the people’s imagination. However, a mass mobilisation is prerequisite to kick-start a real revolution. But Anna’s anti-corruption movement was a media creation, which is why Team Anna members were frustrated by the absence of any media enthusiasm this time around. The ratings-driven media developed a fatigue for its own overplayed lines; after all there is a limit to how many times a ‘fast unto death’ story can be repeated. Team Anna may have accused the media for killing the story due to corporate interests. But the fact is that Team Anna overplayed its fast politics. Having said that, whatever the reasons for Anna’s failures, he is not the only failure. It indicates the inability of the system to reform; this corrupt system has moved beyond the point of redemption. And in all respects, the failure of the anti-corruption crusade is the overall failure of the society. The system can be resurrected only if the society has the will to change. Politicians are the most despised tribe, but to repeat a cliched question, who elects the corrupt politician in election after election? Having failed to create any positive impact, Anna, in his typical naivete, dreams of creating an ‘alternative’ to the corrupt political system. Totally unwilling to learn the hard lessons and still living in a imaginary world, Anna has asked ‘all the six lakh gram sabhas in the country to pass a resolution that they will support the alternative and will vote for the party that will provide this alternative.’ The best chance for the anti-corruption crusade to achieve its desired goal was through mass mobilisation and remaining thoroughly an apolitical movement. His ‘I am above politics’ posture is what enabled Anna Hazare exert a degree of moral pressure. When he could not reform the system while remaining above the system how will he be able to change the corrupt system once he becomes a part of it? In this acrimonious politics bereft of all values, the hardboiled politicians will demolish him to such an extent that his campaign howsoever sincere will fail to make any impact in the corrupt electoral process. Anna’s intentions might be true but his understanding of the problem seems to be faulty. Corruption is not a political problem that can be dealt with the creation of alternatives. Corruption is a social evil that can only be tackled through a social transformation. Social revolution needs persistence and perseverance. But Anna seems to be in a terrible hurry. He seems to have lost the patience after two or three half efforts, wherein the patience of a lifetime was required.