Want to be Anna?: dont ask note for vote

Lokpal Bill might not be a magic wand wiping out corruption. The movement for the Bill might be seen as a big scale drama for a small pie. But, it created a strong anti-corruption brand: Anna Hazare. And that is the real gain of the historic groundswell.

The brand and the brand ambassador are one and the same in this case. Hope Anna has realized its importance, while he is embarking upon his next leg of mass movement for electoral reforms.

It is practical to say corruption can not be abolished by law. The menace is so ingrained in the social culture that the Lokpal Bill is a weak brush to scrub it. It is required to convert minds and change the culture. So it is natural to say Anna had to be in connection with people at the ground level perusing them for the awareness against corruption instead of putting up a TV show with fancy characters in T-shirt.

True, he could have traveled, as he has done it earlier, but before doing it one big shout from the roof top was required. And the shout was from Ramlila. It was thunderous and now Anna Hazare is a known factor in the country. More popular than any bollywood superstar, now he can pull crowd wherever he goes.

Before Lokpal movement it would have been impractical to expect an effective social reform from him although he had made name as Gandhian and anti-corruption crusader. His crusade was unknown to the T-shirt activists and the gen-x would have not responded to him as the Gandhi topi was not yet a style statement. For this one reason we must thank TV channels. They successfully launched brand Anna with their non-stop coverage of his fast.

Now, Anna has to tap the potential and channelise the energy. Otherwise the ardor will die down with the euphoric waves subsiding. System will be back to normalcy with bribe givers and takers thriving. If time is spent, Anna has to re-start from the scratch and there is no guarantee of the same response, as it would not be for the first time. People always like an unpredictable drama rather than a re-enactment of older one.

Psychology of the society is that we all think that corruption is something that other people practice. Or it is I-can-do-but-it’s- not- for- others- to- do syndrome. It is deep-rooted in social structure and public life; everyone willingly, or otherwise, consciously, or otherwise, is a participant. The real issue is not this bill or that law. The real issue is: how do we change ourselves?

Anna’s next leg of movement must focus on this. His Ramlila revolution was blamed for keeping dalits, lower strata of society and rural folks out. His whirlwind tour must be inclusive and strictly he must say no to fasting drama and rhetoric of Kiran Bedi brand. When pressure tactics become inseparable from blackmail tactics, they lose their moral strength and become another form of corruption.

Electoral reforms must not be restricted to talk about state funding of polls or recalling representatives or rejecting candidates but to focus on bringing in a holistic change in the system. More importantly, people must be inspired not to get note for vote, especially in rural area. In urban area cynicism is the malice and they must be inspired to come out for voting. The Gandhian way of social reform can definitely change the mind set and bring in electoral reforms.

Then, next step should be whipping in NGOs and corporates. Without cleaning up these two sectors you can’t cleanse corruption.