Common Man....Anna Hazare....a Moral Victory, finally !!!

It took 13 days of fasting, losing almost 8kgs of weight, risking the very life of one of the cleanest man in our country, getting the Common Man on streets across cross sections of the society, staging rallies, screaming protests, courting arrests, joining on hunger strike, almost bringing the Country to a standstill…to get the two Houses in Parliament into an unanimous agreement for a strong & independent Lokpal Bill. 

Finally it was victory for Team Anna & the Common Man, at least moral & symbolic, as the Govt bowed to this stupendous movement.

Over this dramatic movement that unfolded, we all witnessed political mayhem through all these days, with the Govt started by giving a damn to Anna’s movement…..getting him arrested & removed to Tihar Jail, as their leaders kept hurling allegations, accusations & what not against Anna & his team, while the Opposition, looked at gaining political mileage. For them all, it was just a political brownie....to be contested & won. The various leaders & the party spokesperson on media channels were using politically correct statements, blaming each other, raising the temperature of the sentiments, & claiming clean chit......or shall I say, plain shit!!!! Amazing, how Congress, kept bringing in fresh speakers one after the other, all contorting & convoluting, but essentially diverting the main topic of discussions......from foot in the mouth Manish Tewari, to slippery Kapil Sibal, to ever avoiding eyes of Manmohan Singh, to a clueless & just in - just out Rahul Gandhi, to P Chidambaram, & some more, .........it at times really became distasteful. In fact a group of Baboons is called Congress ...(pls refer to any English dictionary) !!.... now, isnt that symbolic enough?????

However, much to the chagrin of the Govt, as it tried all its tricks to derail the movement, the Common Man had united across the length & breadth of the Country in uprising on the issue of Corruption….this time around there was no stopping !!! It was a completely non violent & apolitical drive ending in the greatest rebuttal of the civil society to the politicians of India.

It was for the first time since independence, that the Voice of the Common Man had won over the representatives in the Parliament….it was indeed history in the making… something, I am sure, we all can be proud of, while, our coming generations would read about it & take inspirations from.

While celebrations across India breaks out as Anna ends his fast, we all need to be cautious & alert. The movement is not over….in fact it has just about begun. Going by our experience of how our politicians behave as turncoats, how this Govt has been known for changing colors like a chameleon, we need to ensure that the pressure is kept through the next few months to ensure the legal application & implementation of the Lokpal Bill.

While I have taken names of some deceitful people, I also need to highlight the courageous & unrelenting efforts of honest people like Arvind Kejriwal, Aruna Roy, Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi etc. Sushma Swaraj was a good game changer along with Arun Jaitley & they were able to create substantial pressures on the Govt to take action. From the Govt's side Pranab Mukherjee managed to steal the show by bringing the deadlock to an amicable end. It was heartening to see the likes of Aamir Khan, Raju Hirani, Sonu Nigam come to the stage at Ramlila Grounds & express their solidarity to Anna and also request him to end his fast.......

Jai Hind......Vande Mataram