Opinion The bewildering saga of Anna Hazare

At present,the most urgent matter is to ensure that 74-year-old Annaji who has rendered yeoman service by galvanising the nation in the battle against corruption remains with us in good health which would be problematic if his fast continues. This is uniformly realised. Appeals have been made to him to end his fast by the Prime Minister,the Speaker,all political parties in Parliament,former Chief Justice JS Verma and Justice Santosh Hegde,who is a part of the Anna Team,and by Swami Agnivesh,a strong supporter of Annaji,and Gopalkrishna Gandhi,one of the most respected sane voices in society. They all have urged Annaji to end his fast in view of government’s assurance about tabling three Bills,including the Jan Lokpal Bill,in Parliament. The bewildering part is that these appeals are unheeded. One reason could be distrust of government’s bona fides and suspicion that government wants to stall the enactment of the requisite Lokpal legislation. Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament on Friday about the need to make the Lokpal a constitutional body,whatever be the merits of his proposal,was inopportune and unfortunately has deepened the distrust. But this should not detract from the fact that government has walked the extra mile and Bills were slated for discussion in Parliament,but because of disruption,Parliament had to be adjourned to Saturday for which the government cannot be held responsible. Ms Kiran Bedi of the Anna Team over-reacted and demanded that the parliamentary debate must take place on Friday. One wonders what is the tearing hurry and why the debate in Parliament cannot be postponed for a day or even by a few days. The Lokpal legislation is of the utmost significance and cannot be passed with lightening speed without full consideration of its constitutional implications. The conditions insisted upon by the Anna Team are certainly debatable and to believe that they are self-evident truths which must be accepted betrays an inflexible attitude which is not in keeping with the democratic spirit of give and take. However,the urgent priority is Annaji’s health. No one is saying that Annaji should give up his protest and movement against corruption. That will be needed even after the ultimate passage of the Lokpal legislation. And for that,we need a strong healthy Annaji to lead the movement. Therefore our earnest plea to Annaji is not to endanger his life by continuing the fast. This crucial aspect is lost on the cheering crowds at Ramlila grounds.

There is one disturbing thought. Is Annaji misguided by some hawks in his team who want to utilise the continuance of his fast as a bargaining counter to wrest more concessions from the government? What is the necessity of making acceptance of certain clauses in Jan Lokpal Bill,a condition precedent for withdrawal of Annaji’s fast? Surely,Annaji’s life cannot be played around for political gains. It is intriguing why other members of the Anna Team have not urged Annaji to give up his fast. In this context,Justice Santosh Hegde’s reported statement to The Indian Express that “there are many people with their own agenda in this group” has ominous significance. Surely it is realised that God forbid if anything untoward happens to Annaji because of continuance of the fast,there is risk of violence erupting which would be tragic because that would severely impede the anti-corruption movement and lead to manifold undesirable consequences. It would be futile then to indulge in blame games about who were responsible for that situation. At the time of writing,there is no indication of Annaji ending his fast. One hopes that wisdom will dawn.

Advertisement

Incidentally,it was refreshing to discern our Prime Minister’s fondness for poetry. He quoted Pope’s famous line,“hope springs eternal in the human breast,” at his annual Iftar party and followed it up with a quote from Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind,“If winter comes,can spring be far behind?” Let us all hope that spring will soon be with us.