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Life And Death Of The Anti-Corruption Movement

By Aayush Anand

28 December, 2015
Countercurrents.org

It was an unusual but a more literal evil strapped and ready for demolition in Ramlila Maidan those days. Seated in front of a huge poster of Mahatama Gandhi, Anna had vowed that he will not leave this camp till the new anti-corruption law drafted by his team is passed by the parliament. Lakhs of people, some in audience to the speeches delivered from the giant stage while others swarming around, in and out of the campus taking in the vibrance and indulging in activities were present there, donating their voice to the mass uproar of “this is it for corruption”. The madness did not contain but it unfurled like wildfire using the metro as nerves. Ticketing had to be stalled due to the overwhelming crowd and everybody was immediately boarded on the metro trains amidst the continuous chants and chorus of jingles about corruption and its alleged perpetrators. The sense of inevitable victory over the forces of old and evil was giving people the inspiration which in turn cultivated the electricity of the faithful movement. People had their heroes in Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Kumar Vishwash whose little anecdotes of wins in debate and mass support over ruling party leaders were floating in the air.

Now less than five years later one can go up on Ajmiri Gate near Ramlila Maidan, and with the right kind of eyes can almost see the high-water mark- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back. Anna Hazare faded back into anonymity, team Anna metamorphosed into Aam Aadmi Party and the heroes turned into leaders. The manifesto of AAP reads “..For the last 2 years the anti corruption movement has galvanised the country into a common voice – a voice that is demanding a complete rehaul in the way political parties and their leaders function...” its true that the voice of country demands a complete rehaul of the political circuit but whether AAP is providing it is debatable.

The internal turmoil in AAP has been a subject of many elaborate deliberations in the media. Now after the intense upheavel and public showdown of founding members when one looks at the list of party members, names which held rectitude in definition like Admiral Ramdas and Dr. Dharamvir Gnadhi are replaced by people like Mr.Ashish Khetan or to say people with dubious past. To further the irony Mr.Khetan has been accused of writing a planted story in defence of Essar by relying on the opinion of then Law Minister Salman Khurshid. The very opinion for which senior members of AAP had charged along with demanding a SIT for Khurshid and fifteen others. Since the NC meeting where non members were allowed to perpetrate hoodlumery and lumpensim, every party member who tried to uphold idealistic principles against opportunistic political steps has been eradicated systematically by imposing charges like “indiscipline” and “defamation”. Mr. Prashant Bhushan in his open letter and many other times called these series of events a “Stalinist purge”. But the assumption that discipline is about obedience and conformity to orders from above is exactly the kind of undemocratic politics which AAP was supposed to counter. It is evident that AAP has failed to withhold its internal democracy or the promised moral high-ground.

The thing though, that holds AAP steadfast to gavel is not its internal structure but its PR strategy. In the last few weeks AAP has managed to deflect attention from problems like a 400% pay hike for MLAs and an ill conceived odd-even Delhi pollution plan and put BJP on the defensive by making the finance minister run to the courts. AAP is continually in primetime and CM Arvind Kejriwal has yet again been positioned as Modi's number one rival. Its a commendable victory but the route chosen is the age-old politics of treachery, double-dealing and deception and not clean politics. Like any other political party, they too indulged in low-down activities like printing communal posters, sending fabricated SMSs, undertaking of surreptitious and objectionable underground social campaigns. The deterioration in their standard doesn't stop here. Even the Jan Lokpal which was to be the redemption of Indian Politics is diluted to a level where its potency seems dubitable.

AAP was supposed to be the heir apparent of the anti-corruption movement and take its cause to realization through clean political practice. Most of the public credibility of its leaders have been earned by once being associated with the self sacrificing figure of Anna Hazare. The hope that drove people to streets to affirm their solidarity with the Anna movement is still there in their conscience when they persistently bring AAP to power. But now the cause of anti-corruption is buried deep and every measure is practised without any morale or ideological deliberation in order to keep the gavel. AAP transformed into the very monster it was fighting against while the anti-corruption movement died an inominate death.

Aayush Anand is a feature writer. Blog - beyond-the-static.com; twitter - twitter.com/theaayushanand



 



 

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