Seema Mustafa: From Hazare to Hazareji in 24 hours flat

The last few days of the Anna Hazare drama have been like a movie, unbelievable and almost surreal.

It started with loud assertions by Congress ministers and spokespersons that the 74-year-old Gandhian and his small group of advisers were clothed in corruption, and had no right to take away Parliament’s power (read the Congress and its cronies); went on to threaten action against all those taking law into their own hands and trying to blackmail the government by threatening to go on a fast unto death (wonder what Gandhi would have to say about that!); and within 24 hours of facing the people’s wrath across India changing the language from “Hazare” to “Anna Hazareji” and crawling to meet his demands.

What a pathetic performance by the government. And what an amazing assertion of people’s might that not just challenged the arrogance of those in power, but successfully inverted the pyramid of power in a matter of hours.

To understand why the Congress did what it did — first attack Hazare and his team, then prevent them from going ahead with the hunger strike, then arresting him from his residence in the early hours of the morning, and then sending him to Tihar Jail — it will be necessary to understand the character of a party that has functioned under a dynasty for decades.

Dynasties survive on servility, and to ensure that there is no dissent, become increasingly authoritarian through a chicken-and-egg syndrome, with the one giving birth to the other.

Dynasties also generate mediocrity, by rewarding loyalty over intelligence and merit. They exist on a belief of being better than the others, and hence encourage arrogance, even as they frown on dissent. And above all, dynasties as a combined result of the above lose touch with the people, ruling for themselves and their cronies and not the people at large.

All this and more has been on display for years now, but even more so in the days leading to Anna Hazare’s arrest and subsequent release. The Congress and its government was totally unable to understand the mood of the people being run by a Cabinet of politicians who have never faced the people in an election. Most of them are in position because of the Nehru-Gandhi family, and spend all their time in pleasing the latter than in serving the people.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presided over an amazing drama of blunders, with Congress scion Rahul Gandhi by his side.

The Congress missiles — in the form of P Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tiwari — were unleashed with the result that when the people poured out on the streets in anger, they all became the targets of criticism. And faced with the fury of the people, the government crawled back into the woodwork, desperately trying to undo all that had been done.

The first sign of this worry were the almost apologetic and yet pompous press conferences held by the powerful ministers who have taken extreme delight over the months in issuing threats against all those who question and disagree with government policies.

There was this spectacle of the home minister insisting that Hazare had been arrested by the Delhi police, and that while he was kept informed, he was certainly not in charge of the operation. Amazing! The day that began with Hazare’s arrest ended with the authorities begging him to leave Tihar, and agreeing to his every condition. The pomp had gone out of the voices of the Sibals and the Tiwaris of the Congress, as it tried to wade out of the crisis it had itself created.

The story now lies not in Hazare’s arrest, but in the impact of his arrest and release. The Congress, if it is at all able to read the people’s handwriting, will see the writing on the wall and start counting its days. The anger against the government has spread across the country, and it is almost certain that this movement will link itself to the very important and vital struggle for land that is going on in several states.

This is imperative to give real substance to the movement, more so as the acquisition of land by the government for private parties and real estate mafia constitutes one of the biggest acts of corruption in this country. It was heartening to note that Hazare in his remarks before the arrest, made this link and it can only be hoped that the movement will embrace the ongoing struggles across the country.

It is also clear that the political class is already feeling the pressure. The SP that has been ambivalent to the issue of corruption for obvious reasons came out in support of Hazare. The Mayawati government in UP took action against a corrupt minister even though it had defended him in the assembly. The Left and the BJP are on board in this people’s movement.

The regional parties, including Congress allies, will not be able to swim against the tide now as they know the dangers of being swept away, and despite not wanting to, will have to follow the people who needed only a catalyst to express their pent up anger with the governments of the day. The state governments are under pressure as well with one of the biggest protests taking place in Bangalore, where the BJP has been taking a free ride on the corruption roller coaster.

All this, if it follows the logical course, will make the UPA shaky and weak. The present Congress leadership will not be able to stem the tide as it lacks the brain resources to do so. The people are in power now and it is unlikely that the government will be able to function as it has been doing for the past eight years. There is tremendous anger as well against the government’s attempt to take away the democratic space and the peoples right to protest. The government, of course, has become Gandhi’s little Monkeys, unable to hear, see or speak.

The writer is a senior New Delhi-based journalist.