Prof. A.N. Sadhu
Anarchy is held to mean; a situation in a country, an organisation, in which there is no government, order or control. In other words the society is so unorganised, that there does not exist an institutional framework administrative, social and political, to run the affairs of a country in an orderly manner. It may also refer to a situation where an established order is completely or substantially eroded. Situations of anarchy must have existed at the initial stages of social evolution for several reasons not requiring an elaborate explanation. As the processes of evolution accelerated, the social complexities manifested in divergences in understanding, approaches and resolutions became known, the realisation dawned that organised systems need to be put in place so that everyone gets justice; social political and religious. The contributions of social thinkers, more particularly, of the Greek philosophers, came in time to help in creating the systems of governance that would ensure an orderly working of the human society. The history itself is an elaborate explanation of long march from tribal orders to feudal systems, aristocracy and eventually to a democratic polity, now prevalent in most of the countries of the world.
Of late a talk on anarchy is going on in several countries of the world. Is it because orderly systems have become weak or incompetent as the managers of these systems have not been able to keep pace with the changes of the times or because individual vested interest has overtaken the social wellbeing resulting into all round dissatisfaction among the people. If the happenings of last ten years in our country are indicative of that phenomenon then emerging tendencies of anarchy in the country should not surprise because people put incharge of law and order- social, economic, political- have ignored their responsibilities towards the society and remained engrossed in serving their individual vested interest alone. Political scientists can better explain if the emergence on anarchy is a pre-requisite for establishing a new order suited to the existing socio-politico and economic scenario and if that be so our country is appearing to be falling in that syndrome. Will ArvindKejriwal spare head the emergence of such an anarchy which will pave way for a new and better order or rid the present order of its infirmities for better delivery will be seen in the days to come. If Kejriwal’sagitational approach to bring about the much needed transformation holds any hope, the common man should join it voluntarily and help in stemming the rot. Trepidation, many a times, may mark a lull before the storm because there is limit to every thing. AAP is just born, therefore, bereft of experience and maturity , by the common judgement of the people but those in the game claiming experience and maturity, have used it only in defending the wrong doings, either of their own or of their accomplices. Let us hope the AAP leaders orient their anarchy for bringing about a better change to the relief of the common man. Delhi experiment of AAP is quoted as its failure when the fact is that it should be treated as its first success for showing clearly its detachment to power and commitment to commonman,s wellbeing. The longevity of its remaining in power is not as important as the dent it has made in unnerving the vested political interests who in their fear psychosis are struggling hard to innovate the mechanisms to show it negatively.
The direct offshoot of anarchy is aggression. If there is no aggression, there obviously is no disorder either. Aggression sometimes is required to awaken the insensitive systems to their responsibilities towards the society. If a Chief Minister is not free to command his subordinate services for doing the needful, his leaving the cosy office and sitting at dharna to sensitise the super boss should be taken as an act of admiration and not as aggression against the established systems devoid of the logistics as also the pragmatics of addressing a situation. Demonstration at BJP office is a democratic act and it was transformed into an agrresseion by utter mishandling of the law and order machinery.In this country it has usually been seen that peaceful demonstrations are quite often turned to aggression by inept handling of the police. Nobody will ever argue in favour of aggression to realise the goals but if it has to be ensured that aggression does not take place, the law and order machinery should act in time, should act thoughtfully and should act sympathetically and not crulely has would happen in colonial administration. Forceful demonstrations sould be differentiated from intentional aggression as the former is a democratic way and the latter an engineered mischief. Recently several agitations have taken place in different parts of the country and all were not of the same genre. Agitations built on muscle power have to be condemned outrightly but those of the agitations revealing the anguish and mental agony of the masses are not agressions but means of expression of extreme anguish which needs to be addressed forthwith with compassion and consideration. The civil society in the country is not at peace and cannot be held wrong in giving forceful vent to their anger. The problems of insecurity, the pressures of inflation, the assault at their personal dignity and the intimidation by rowdies and mafia groups are telling stories on every day basis. Rising in revolt against these criminalities cannot be termed as aggression. If such a stir takes the shape of aggression, it is because of the insensitivityof the existing system and its failure to rise in time to address the concerns of the common man.An uprising spearheaded by AAP has no aggressive overtures and it should not be compelled to take that shape as it may suit some of the players of the game , in the beginning but will ultimately consume them all.
Anarchy, aggression and adversity are closely interrelated.There is a cyclical relationship among the three phases. In fact adversity leads to aggression and aggression to anarchy. The converse is equally true. Anarchy leads to aggression and that, in turn, to adversity.The country is faced with a difficult situation as of now and the biggest adversity resulting from the present chaos is the political uncertainty that is imminent after the elections, if the present assessments and opinions are to be believed. The perceived or misinterpreted anarchical order associated with the emergence of AAP phenomena is causing a different type of adversity resulting from the compulsion of main political parties throwing all etheical norms to winds. Unnerved by the APP phenomena, these political parties are fielding tainted candidates from a large number of constituencies, sending wrong signals among the electorate. The parties seem to be so much shaken that these are desperately trying to salvage their bare existence, even if it comes through the fielding of tainted candidates whom the parties believe are still the winning horses.APP itself is passing through the teething troubles and initial ups and downs are obviously making its road rough but what is encouraging is that it is catching up at the national level and enthusing larger sections of population of all age groups to come forward and join its ranks. The emergence of APP is inconvenient to several sections of population, particularly to those belonging to urban rich, big corporate houses and political cartels. That apart, its leadership should exercise restraint even under extreme provocation and learn to live with tough and sensitive questions.The commitment to the mission it has chosen warrnts that the APP leadership, has the responsibility of wading through troubled waters with courage and determination. Youth blended with experience is thee key to success. It is humility and not the arrogance, that gives strength to move forward.Let the uprising not smack of dictatorship and Fascism The country needs a change and let the APP become a catalyst. The damage is done not only to the congress and the BJP but also regional parties which operate in a narrow regime only. The biggest adversity resulting from this phenomena will be an utter chaotic condition, in which, it will be very difficult to form the government, on the one hand and on the other may force new political alignments which may not offer any better and smooth option for the purpose. The danger is also that power is a strong motivating factor and the very smell of it corrupts even the tallest of the moralists and expanations to justify the same or far too easy to find. The following combinations may not be ruled out
a) A possible understanding between the congress, the third front and the AAP to form the next Government at the centre.
b) The third front and the AAP, if they have the numbers may build an understanding between them to form the next government.
c) Driven to the wall an extreme possibility of even the congress and the BJP may join hands to fight the common enemy.
In this extremely uncertain political scenario, what is in store for the country men is a big concern.
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