The second freedom movement

There are many differences between the current anti-corruption agitation and India’s freedom struggle, at the same time there are certain important similarities. The freedom movement was primarily won by non-violence, yet many many lives were lost. I fervently hope that this movement does not have to lose lives before the goal is reached. The freedom movement was against a far more brutal government, but we have to concede that they were far more honest.

Gandhiji in those days had advised the congress to disband the party as that was only a tool intended for gaining independence and to set up new parties to fight elections, now we have Anna and team saying they won’t fight elections. The team around Gandhiji were the inheritors of his legacy, they did not disband the party, but used it to form the first government and started out in great earnest, the intent was to make India a proud nation, and we are glad they took up the responsibility, there are many achievements that we are truly grateful to those founding fathers. If only Nehru had not had the weakness of indulging in nepotism to make way for his daughter to get into the highest echelons of power, and start the downslide of the once great party.

The money and power that came with being in politics started to attract goons and thugs, resulting in good people moving away. It was a catch 22 situation, as someone wise once said, if good people refuse to take part in politics then we are condemned to be ruled by scoundrels. Studies of the wealth accumulated by politicians show that it is far more economically profitable to get into politics instead of being in business or working in almost any company in the country. They couldn’t do it without the support of a huge group of government employees, who got corrupted, some willingly and some helplessly. Yes, it is not always because they were dishonest to begin with that such a huge number of people became corrupt, it was because there was more punishment being meted out to the ones who were not willing to toe the line. They lost out to people who were corrupt on all fronts, and realized there was no way for them to get justice without undergoing severe hardships in the process of getting justice too. They had to adapt to the new social norm. They couldn’t beat it, so they slowly started to join in. Not that they were not aware that it wasn’t right, they hoped they did not have to be corrupt. They did not want their kids to see them as being corrupt. And although they were in it, they hoped it wasn’t for good.

When these people saw one man stand up and say enough and galvanize the whole country they realize that there is a possibility that they can have a corruption free (or minimal ) life they came out in support of this movement. One kept hearing the intelligentsia saying this is hypocrisy of the middle class. Sorry, this is the truth of human nature, when conditions are reasonable they are basically good, it is only when the system started to rot and it became the norm, that it started to slide down and quickly reached epidemic proportions.

At this juncture I hope that post Janlokpal there are clean new candidates that we can choose from for our next elections, given the popularity of the Anna team, it would be a good idea for them to get into politics, fight election and bring many more much needed reforms from the within the system. They have shown some weaknesses during these high stress days of being out there on the field, considering that it was in the face of such arrogance from the parliamentarians who are sitting comfortably in their houses, it is pardonable.

There are many more issues that are pending, there is Irom Sharmila on hunger strike for over a decade fighting against a brutal law in one part of the country, there is a retired school teacher somewhere going every other day to the pension office to get what is his due. And there are millions of people having to fight their own individual battles, no individual or group can take care of all these issues individually, a system that takes a firm stand is required. Behind almost all kinds of oppression there is some form of corruption. Corruption has been the single biggest cause of misery to the majority. The need of the hour is for having a strong lokpal bill, and only a clean honest government can really stand for it, one that is transparent and free from corruption. Yes, it is not just being jingoistic when u call this the second freedom movement.