Now that the Anna tsunami has subsided and Anna has gone home to his village for a rousing welcome, it is a pleasure to watch the reactions of kings and cabbages.
Many have compared this movement with the JP movement in 1975.
I am lucky to have watched both as a spectator. And most readers of this blog have missed the earlier one, for sure.
There is absolutely no comparison between the two.
For one thing, as Thurber's Mathews put it crisply: "The setup is different today".
I can contrast the two generations this way:
The intake at all IITs put together was like 1000 then. Now it is about ten times more and no takers for some. All this explosion of population is among the youth. So, India is roughly that much younger now.
It was the youth who filled the prisons then and it is the youth that were waving flags now. But now they have 100 channel color TVs sprinkled with 24/7 newscasts, Internet, Cell Phones, Automobiles and...Money, none of which was there then.
Anna is no JP but for his grit.
And Indiraji was ten times more adamant and powerful than her (D-i-L + her PM).
And, the issues are different. Then it was the autocratic attitude of Indirajee. Now it is the mammoth corruption and indulgence of it from, as our policewoman says, PM to patwari.
JP was a leader...Anna is a symbol.
When everything is said, what happened at Ramila recently is a flash in the pan. I doubt if any other issue would get this response.
When Indirajee imposed her emergency, the nation fell silent for about 2 years till they got a chance to vote.
When Anna launched his movement and got overwhelming youthful response, the politicians in power were caught with their pants and panties down in a fortnight...the result was a squealing Parliament...I beg your pardon.
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Excerpts from DC of yesterday:
1. The Policewoman:
"I remember how till April this year, when Anna began his fast at Jantar Mantar, we ran from pillar to post meeting a cross-section of political leaders, and even the Prime Minister, stressing on the need for an effective and strong Jan Lokpal Bill. But no one listened to us.
I feel the seventh day and the 11th day of Anna's fast in August were the most crucial. On the seventh day, the crowd started getting restive seeing the police buildup. This is where my association with the police helped. I told the police they should simply follow the law and not their political masters. I strongly feel that the saddest day of my life was the day when I had to do the 'political ghoongat act'. I was sad to to see a frail Anna on the 11th day of his fast with no help coming from any quarter. The government was only interested in seeing how long the protest would last and to keep an eye on the head count there...."
gps: Bravo! What you say has the ring of truth.
2. The Politburo Member:
"...But here we must not ignore the fact that the agitation was largely supported by the middle class, and not by all sections of the society particularly the poor...
...We also did not see Muslims and other minorities coming out in support of the agitation.
Nor did the movement see dalits or other weaker sections participating in the protests...
...There is an urgent need for electoral reforms..."
gps: Yesterday "I had a dream"...that this Politburo Member was going on a fast unto death at Ramlila with all his supporters he mentioned above.
His Agenda was: "Electoral Reforms".
What a sweet dream!!!
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Tom & Jerry
From today's DC:
"It is usually the Anti-Corruption Bureau which keeps a tab on corrupt officials but it came to light recently that their office in Nellore too was under constant vigil.
An ACB official said that it was suspected that some departments, where corruption was a routine affair, might be keeping a tab on their movements to escape before raids.
'We know that some locals have been hired by parties with vested interests to alert them about our movements. In turn, we have told the local youths that we will pay Rs 1,000 if they gather information about the persons observing us,' the official said...The official added that it was a common practice for corrupt officials to hire outsiders to alert them whenever new faces approached their offices'..."
gps: This reminds me of the alleged practice of the Jumbo first years at KGP to keep lookouts and inform them if the teacher is carrying a bundle of 300 question papersfor a 'surprise test'.
Some teachers used to walk in breezily with a file, and after 10 minutes their attendant used to carry the bundle of QPs.
'To wit and to outwit' was the name of the game!
P.S. I never took a class test, nor even attendance, in Jumbo Classes.
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