People are being jingoistic. Media is creating frenzy. Anna’s movement is unconstitutional. Parliament’s authority is being subverted. Anna is himself steeped into corruption. Nothing will come out of jan lokpal, it will be just another blot on our already high budget deficit.

 If you believe these are lines from a congress spokesperson, think again. These are lines that I have gathered from either FB messages or from discussion with my learned friends some of whom come from the best of the best institutes of this country. Strangely none of the criticism is aimed at the arrogant group of pot bellied (all the pun intended) congressmen. I am presenting here my two cents on phrases mentioned above.

Jingoism means extreme nationalism primarily driven by aggressive foreign policy. In the absence of foreign policy element in the discussion we can safely assume that jingoism charge means that people are showing strong nationalistic fervour. Is it blasphemy to show excessive patriotism? Is it a sin that a nation on a rudderless path to oblivion has suddenly got direction even if for a short shift? And let me tell you there are people in our society, not sure if its the same set or not, who strongly advocate, or desist from active discouragement, of freedom of expression when it comes to showcasing nude paintings of hindu goddesses or rampant inclusion of vulgar vocabulary in all sources of entertainment today.

Media is creating frenzy. People please bother to see what media usually reports during prime time in India. Half the channels show some reality stuff or stand up comedy. Most of the remaining are clear propogandists with anchors whose credibility has been called into question several times in the past. Barring from a couple of news channels Indian media is usually a sham.

 Tune into any channel today, all you see is debate about right and wrong of all that is happening. Isnt this what media is supposed to do?Arent they supposed to mobilize various opinions in a democracy? Provide a platform for people from varied walks of life express their views on issues of national importance? Even India TV is doing it for a change!!

 Now to the point of Anna’s protest and its validity. First of all parliament is chosen for a period of 5 years only because we cant chose them on daily basis. But if a situation so arises which asks of us to let the elected representatives know what we feel; Is it wrong to do so?

 Secondly lets revisit the first agitation Anna staged in April which had wider acceptance but lower visual support. As part of the resolution it was agreed that joint drafting committee would make the draft and on some occassions the civil members were really happy that there is consensus on most of the issues. However when the finalized draft was forwarded to the standing committee of parliament it didn’t contain previously agreed provisions. Isnt it a breach of trust?

What was congress thinking, first GoM on lokpal had Mr Pawar who was removed after perfectly justified public embarrassment of UPA. Then when Anna started his protest some genius in the government played a master stroke, finish this mobilization ASAP, get these guys on discussion table and then finish them on the table, and this is what they did in terms of the final draft.

And now the same hounds in the goverment are asking civil society team to go to parliamentary standing committee and discuss. What a farce? How can they be trusted? And howcome a distrust for the members of ruling party amount to being unconstitutional? What is it that civil society is really asking for? Look deeper and its amply clear they are taking a hardened stance (both in terms of provisions of jan lokpal and the verbal hammering) just to let the same morons know that please come to discussion if you are serious about it and then we can thresh out the finer details.

 Anna is himself steeped into corruption. How much corruption? Rs 2 Lakhs and in a case where the complainant has already withdrawn his complaint and chief charity commissioner has tendered a written apology to Anna. Surely if there was any fuel to this fire there would be no dearth of Anna baiters to sabotage his image of cleanliness.

Now on to the most funny argument. Nothing will happen. Hum nahi sudher sakte. Hum sab corrupt hain. This will only increase the expenditure. What kind of logic is this. Dont start something just because it will not be successful. Seems like people already know the future. 

And yes any lokpal will not solve the problem of corruption but it will give hope to millions who walk on face of this once great nation in condition of absolute hopelessness. It is a chance for us all to feel what a truly vibrant democracy is. It will create the explosion that Bhagat Singh so wanted to do to make the deaf hear. It will create an indelible impression on those who are sent to parliament, to courts, to government offices to keep in mind the most important pillar of democracy and that is WE THE PEOPLE.

A shayar once said “Dil hai to dhadakne ka bahaana koi dhoonde…patthar ki tarah behiso bejaan sa kyun hai”.

 Why have we become such pessimists, it was 1947 when after a long gap of 1000 years we got back the chance to write our own destiny. And we are lucky to have realised our mistakes since then in just 64 years. We should be optimistic about the future because we still have someone who is ready to put his life on the line to ensure we dont loose sight of the ideals that we should live for. Lets not give into cynicism when we can ourselves become better human beings by taking a dip in this ganga of redemption.