It's been a long, long week; what with Independence Day, and Loss of Independence Day (as the 16th was called) and what has now generally become known as 'India's second freedom struggle' week. What started out as a passionate and frenzied protest has surprisingly remained exactly that, and Hazare and his team do not look like they are about to slip up anytime soon. But lets not get into that. Not yet.
For us to understand the many shades of white, black and yellow that make up this fascinating phenomenon, we must understand what each party is fighting for. The Hazare clan, first. Anna Hazare, who should have been named Abba Hazare so as to inspire many 'Father of the Nation' jokes is nevertheless being compared, time and time again to The Man on our money, Mahatma Gandhi. What makes things a little more complicated is that Gandhi was fighting for freedom; not just that of the country but for himself as well. All due respect for Gandhi's many sacrifices and the trials and tribulations he was put through on the way, but the goal was a little more than well worth the effort. No doubt, corruption is a big deal, but to compare it to our freedom struggle seems a little too much. I respect that people are trying to inspire the country into taking action against corruption, but the constant bbm broadcast or SMS forward stating the things that could be done if 1452 lakh crore rupees was brought back is a little far fetched. The same message continues to demonstrate faulty mathematics and states that 60,000 crore Rupees would be brought back to each village. Sorry, not buying it. A following message which says that alcohol rates would drop as well, is a little more inspiring and real. Coming back to the dilemma at hand. It is now becoming harder to believe that anyone who is anyone in society would selflessly sacrifice their lives to rid society of corruption. The UPA capitalized on this when they published a story on Anna Hazare's apparent corruption, and it was an interesting strategy that had worked in the case of Baba Ramdev. However, it backfired here, and once Hazare was imprisoned in the same jail as Kalmadi and Raja, I think the revolt has gotten even more serious. Bad move, Manmohan. In what seems like an appeasement now, Manmohan Singh agreed to hold talks with Hazare about the Bill, stating that he had never said that it wasn't open to discussion and how he was all for an anti corruption body. The chaos continues.
If we consider the UPA to be wrong, then we shall shift attention to the BJP, who is the 'right' party. (seewhatIdidthere?) The BJP is all for Hazare's campaign as it has taken away total attention from the Yeddyurappa scandal. The BJP again finds itself in a position of power and goes back to criticizing the Congress as scam after scam is unearthed. Public approval levels fro the UPA are at an all time low and it is justified for the BJP to take full advantage. This is not to claim that the BJP is any less corrupt than the Congress; it is just a comment that it was an obvious political move to badmouth the Congress, and the BJP has latched on to it. The Congress is on the back foot, completely in sync with our cricket team which is also at the receiving end of not so positive criticism. Trivial comparison, I know, but you should know by now that the country being unhappy with cricket and politics at the same time is not good. The Congress, if nothing else, is wishing that the Indian Cricket Team demolishes England in the final match which is now going on. Chances are less, so they're back to the drawing board.
Coming to the third set of parties. The media has enough cannon fodder for a while now. Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesai and Pronnoy Roy are all praying at this moment that the Government does not give in, at least for a while. The only newspaper I've really been reading this week, much to my disapproval, is the Times of India. However, I am cheered up by the fact that now, even they cannot continue to appear pro-Congress, although there was a pretty snide comment somewhere about the BJP capitalizing on the current scenario. It has focused more on how India can generally beat corruption and has been publishing tips to make India an honest nation. And what have YOU been feeling about this? Well, there's the 5% of you who are out there at Azad Maidan, Churchgate Station or wherever the protests have been going, shouting your lungs out for something that most of you believe in. There's the 55%, me included, who have been sharing posts and funny messages, broadcasts or blogging about the whole situation without completely understanding what is going on and what implications it has for the country. Still, we support the movement. Then, there are the 40% of you who are now tired of the countless bandhs, discussions at home or in college, headlines, etc. It's getting to you, which is perfectly natural. Many of us are praying for the Government to give in soon so that we can just move on and poor Anna Hazare can break his fast. So about all of us support this movement, and believe the Jan Lokpal Bill should be passed, albeit for different reasons. Still, that is what we want. Leave the rest to Democracy and Hazare's fitness.
We now examine the White, Black and Yellow aspects of this week's most interesting phenomenon.
White: Literally, the sea of caps and khadi that Hazare has inspired. From the streets to Lakme Fashion Week, wow. If not the emotion, at least the fashion from our Freedom struggle is back, full force. Also, Hazare's never say die attitude which has made sure that the movement hasn't lost steam. Well done!
Black: The UPA's failed political strategies. Also, the inconvenience that has been caused due to the movement. Traffic, strikes, et al. Can't gain something without losing something else, can we? Ah well.
Yellow: Not much, surprisingly. I'm sure everyone expected the media to cover the story exactly the way they have. Very ordinary coverage, but at least it hasn't been shoddy. Not bad at all.
That's all for this week. Stay tuned. :)
For us to understand the many shades of white, black and yellow that make up this fascinating phenomenon, we must understand what each party is fighting for. The Hazare clan, first. Anna Hazare, who should have been named Abba Hazare so as to inspire many 'Father of the Nation' jokes is nevertheless being compared, time and time again to The Man on our money, Mahatma Gandhi. What makes things a little more complicated is that Gandhi was fighting for freedom; not just that of the country but for himself as well. All due respect for Gandhi's many sacrifices and the trials and tribulations he was put through on the way, but the goal was a little more than well worth the effort. No doubt, corruption is a big deal, but to compare it to our freedom struggle seems a little too much. I respect that people are trying to inspire the country into taking action against corruption, but the constant bbm broadcast or SMS forward stating the things that could be done if 1452 lakh crore rupees was brought back is a little far fetched. The same message continues to demonstrate faulty mathematics and states that 60,000 crore Rupees would be brought back to each village. Sorry, not buying it. A following message which says that alcohol rates would drop as well, is a little more inspiring and real. Coming back to the dilemma at hand. It is now becoming harder to believe that anyone who is anyone in society would selflessly sacrifice their lives to rid society of corruption. The UPA capitalized on this when they published a story on Anna Hazare's apparent corruption, and it was an interesting strategy that had worked in the case of Baba Ramdev. However, it backfired here, and once Hazare was imprisoned in the same jail as Kalmadi and Raja, I think the revolt has gotten even more serious. Bad move, Manmohan. In what seems like an appeasement now, Manmohan Singh agreed to hold talks with Hazare about the Bill, stating that he had never said that it wasn't open to discussion and how he was all for an anti corruption body. The chaos continues.
If we consider the UPA to be wrong, then we shall shift attention to the BJP, who is the 'right' party. (seewhatIdidthere?) The BJP is all for Hazare's campaign as it has taken away total attention from the Yeddyurappa scandal. The BJP again finds itself in a position of power and goes back to criticizing the Congress as scam after scam is unearthed. Public approval levels fro the UPA are at an all time low and it is justified for the BJP to take full advantage. This is not to claim that the BJP is any less corrupt than the Congress; it is just a comment that it was an obvious political move to badmouth the Congress, and the BJP has latched on to it. The Congress is on the back foot, completely in sync with our cricket team which is also at the receiving end of not so positive criticism. Trivial comparison, I know, but you should know by now that the country being unhappy with cricket and politics at the same time is not good. The Congress, if nothing else, is wishing that the Indian Cricket Team demolishes England in the final match which is now going on. Chances are less, so they're back to the drawing board.
Coming to the third set of parties. The media has enough cannon fodder for a while now. Arnab Goswami, Rajdeep Sardesai and Pronnoy Roy are all praying at this moment that the Government does not give in, at least for a while. The only newspaper I've really been reading this week, much to my disapproval, is the Times of India. However, I am cheered up by the fact that now, even they cannot continue to appear pro-Congress, although there was a pretty snide comment somewhere about the BJP capitalizing on the current scenario. It has focused more on how India can generally beat corruption and has been publishing tips to make India an honest nation. And what have YOU been feeling about this? Well, there's the 5% of you who are out there at Azad Maidan, Churchgate Station or wherever the protests have been going, shouting your lungs out for something that most of you believe in. There's the 55%, me included, who have been sharing posts and funny messages, broadcasts or blogging about the whole situation without completely understanding what is going on and what implications it has for the country. Still, we support the movement. Then, there are the 40% of you who are now tired of the countless bandhs, discussions at home or in college, headlines, etc. It's getting to you, which is perfectly natural. Many of us are praying for the Government to give in soon so that we can just move on and poor Anna Hazare can break his fast. So about all of us support this movement, and believe the Jan Lokpal Bill should be passed, albeit for different reasons. Still, that is what we want. Leave the rest to Democracy and Hazare's fitness.
We now examine the White, Black and Yellow aspects of this week's most interesting phenomenon.
White: Literally, the sea of caps and khadi that Hazare has inspired. From the streets to Lakme Fashion Week, wow. If not the emotion, at least the fashion from our Freedom struggle is back, full force. Also, Hazare's never say die attitude which has made sure that the movement hasn't lost steam. Well done!
Black: The UPA's failed political strategies. Also, the inconvenience that has been caused due to the movement. Traffic, strikes, et al. Can't gain something without losing something else, can we? Ah well.
Yellow: Not much, surprisingly. I'm sure everyone expected the media to cover the story exactly the way they have. Very ordinary coverage, but at least it hasn't been shoddy. Not bad at all.
That's all for this week. Stay tuned. :)
