Jan Lokpal movement

Col J P Singh, Retd
Issues related to corruption and crime in India in the recent years have become known world over. Public is totally bewildered and does not understand what is happening when serious allegations of corruption and crime are coming out, one after the other, through the news channels involving ministers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and army officers. Abetment of heinous crimes by the likes of Haryana ex minister now and before bewilder more. In Chennai, Mahatma Gandhi’s secretary V Kalyanam said, ” India will get a sure gold medal if corruption is entered as item in Olympics”. It shows how deeply the corruption and despair have entrenched in our society. The cumulative effect of unbridled scams, scandals, corruption and crime increased public anger and disgust. Anna saw the helpless nation groaning in anguish. Thus he took the  initiative to liberate it from the clutches of this menace.
Anna Hazare launched Jan Lokpal movement for the enactment of a strong anti corruption law. A law was drafted by Justice Santosh Hegde, Prashant Bhushan, a senior advocate, Kiran Bedi former IPS officer and  RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and members of India Against Corruption and named it Jan Lokpal. It contained stringent provisions and extensive powers for the Lokpal. He demanded formation of a joint drafting committee of govt and civil society reps to draft the bill. After his demand was rejected by the Prime Minister, Anna began a fast unto death at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on 5th April 2011. Before starting his fast he said “I will fast until Jan Lokpal bill is passed”.
This agitation attracted public attention very quickly. Thousands of people joined the movement at Jantar Mnatar. A number of social and spiritual activists, former Cricketers, industrialists  and celebrities form Bollywood came out openly in support of the protest. Indian students at Cambridge, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s alma-mater, also lent their full support to Anna. (Uma Bharti, Om Prakash Chautala and Barkha Dutt were however shooed away from protest site). Joint protests were launched in villages, towns and cities throughout India. Agitation became a grand success right from day one with lakhs of people converging at Jantar Mantar. 30, 000 to 40,000 people started agitation in Mumbai with little lesser number in other cities. There was heightened political activity on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter. Within few days Facebook page had more than 1,50,000 supporters of the movement. Similarities with Arab Spring and use of social networking as potent weapon to shake the foundations of the state were seen. According to Economic Times of 9 April 2011, a total of 4.4 million tweets from 8,26,000 unique users across 79 cities in India in just three days was recorded! This was just a sample of Indian sentiment for Anna.
Prime Minister and his advisors were surprised to see waves of the youth coming out in streets all over the country to support Anna. They had no answer to the triumvirate; the social activists, angry youths and the media that had joined hands in the name of people’s movement.  As a result Sharad Pawar resigned form GOM formed to review the draft lokpal bill 2010. On 8th April Govt accepted to have a joint drafting committee. On 9th April govt promulgated a gazette and stated that the newly drafted bill will be presented in monsoon session. Victory celebrations were held through out the country. Anna called off the agitation and set August 15 as ultimatum to pass the bill otherwise he will start another fast from 16 August. 1st meeting of joint drafting committee was held on 16 April 2011. No consensus draft could be prepared despite six sittings. Anna demanded that the proceedings be televised but the Govt only agreed to audio recordings.
Since the bill was not passed by 15 August, Anna announced commencement of his fast at Ramlila Maidan on 16th. Section 144 was imposed at night. On 16th morning, Anna Hazare was detained in his Mayor Vihar residence. Magistrate remanded him to 7 days judicial custody in Tihar Jail. Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and  over 1200 activists were taken in preventive custody. Protests were held all over India against Anna’s arrest. At night Govt released Anna but he refused to leave jail until Govt agreed to an unconditional permission to hold protests. Finally he left jail on 19th when he was granted permission to hold 15 days fast at Ramlila Maidan. When he came out, he received unprecedented welcome from massive crowds gathered outside the jail gate. He announced, “whether I am there or not, this fight must continue” to a huge uproar of applause and approval. Anna reached Ramlila Maidan after paying obeisance at Rajghat and Amar Jawan Jyoti to continue his fast.
On the 12th day of fast, i.e. 27th August, Pranab Mukherjee initiated debate on the lokpal bill in the Parliament. Leader of opposition expressed BJP’s support to Anna movement and his three conditions of ending fast which were (i) citizen’s charter (ii) Lokayuktas in states with same powers as that of lokpal and (iii) inclusion of lowest to highest bureaucracy under the preview of Lokpal. Succumbing to the public uproar, reluctant Lok Sabha agreed to his conditions by a voice vote. Written assurance of acceptance of his demands was given to Anna on 28th August 2011 after which he accepted to end his fast at 10 AM next day. He broke 13 days fast on 29th  in the presence of thousands of supporters. Thousands more gathered at India Gate and other parts of India to celebrate their victory. Anna was driven to Medanta Medicity in a grand procession as a great victor, to recoup.
Team Anna’s fast at Jantar Mnatar in July 2012 drew a flak. Though the intention was same, the luck wasn’t. Ignored by the public, media, govt, social activists and the politicians, Team Anna found itself sailing in an abandoned ship.  22 prominent intellectuals, in a joint written statement asked Team Anna to end fast. They advised him to consider political means since that appeared to be the only alternative under the circumstances. Presence of Gen V K Singh on the last day of fast is considered shot in the arm; to be seen. They had to take a political plunge to sail out of the turbulent waters if they were to survive. On 10th day they broke fast on a low key with a firm resolve to use political means to purify the Parliament. Sudden announcement of political course did not go well with majority of his supporters. Their conviction was that apolitical movement was more forceful a weapon to pressurize the govt. Will they launch a political party or a political movement was left vague. This decision has been hailed as well as criticized. Many political analyst have said, “Leave aside Parliament, they won’t be able to win a single seat in any state assembly”. Though harsh in tone and tenor, the observation conveys a stark reality of Indian politics which is discouraging. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Dr. Karan Singh and Maj Gen B C Khanduri have lost elections. Can any one raise a finger on their honesty and integrity? But there is a difference. Anna is a crusader, whereas they are not. Today only rich and crook can win elections. Anna is neither. Congress will frustrate his efforts and make sure that he is finished in 2014. Having met him while being in NCC in Pune, I feel nothing can deter him in his mission because he is a Gandhian, a soldier, a fighter and above all an idol. He has triggered a revolution. A revolution triggered by an idea is bound to succeed. On Gen G S Jamwal’s invitation he visited Jammu in 2001 and is a well known figure in Jammu region.
Why has Team Anna adopted political path after tasting an unprecedented success was because of Govt’s arrogance and his team’s frustration. Team Anna created dreams but couldn’t fulfill them because they have no power. Only people in power can do that. But those in power are arrogant and in denial mood. This despair has triggered an idea of political alternative. Having walked hundred miles, Team Anna could not retract. Machiavellian Congress has crushed Anna temporarily having crushed Baba Ramdev earlier. People will vent their anger in 2014 if they are serious about change. But on the contrary if UPA passes the lokpal bill, starts certain new initiatives such as fast track courts against corruption cases and discloses names of black money stashers abroad, they too can capitalize on the sentiment of despair. At this stage of the agitation, it is important to understand what Anna was, what he is and where he is heading for. What he was and what he has become has been amply described. An attempt will be made to see where he is heading for after he opens his political cards on Gandhi  Jayanti.

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