One really wonders what became of the India Against Corruption Movement that was launched with much fanfare at the national capital's Ramleela grounds some four odd years ago and what it's leading lights are doing right now........
To jog people's memories; the India Against Corruption Movement not only grabbed headlines,eyeballs and copious amounts of media space but also was touted as the panacea to the scourge of corruption that is continuing to bleed the country dry despite the IAC's avowed aim and intention of weeding it out to the tune of 70-75% with it's much hyped "Janlokpal" bill..........
Bowing to the popular sentiment at the time and reading the writing on the wall the then Manmohan Singh government condescended to form a joint drafting committee comprising of five members from the IAC headed by the honourable Anna Hazare and a motley group of five ministers headed by the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.........
This joint drafting committee had an innumerable number of meetings but these failed to yield any noteworthy result as the two could never narrow down their points of difference and undercurrents of mistrust that were visible for all to see........
Yes, Shri Arvind Kejriwal did float his own political outfit or party in conjunction with such other doughty warriors like Kumar Vishwas, Manish Sisodia, Shazia Ilmi, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Gopal Rai and a few such other notables while Shri Anna Hazare preferred to remain apolitical and give a new lease of life to the almost defunct India Against Corruption Movement with former army chief General V.K.Singh and Kiran Bedi firmly ensconced in his corner........
Unfortunately, the spark kindled by the revamped IAC failed to transform itself into a raging fire and Shri Arvind Kejriwal also deemed it fit to hand over his 49 day old government's resignation letter to the Lieutenant Governor on February 13/14, 2014 citing the failure to pilot the long awaited Janlokpal Bill through the corridoors of the Delhi Assembly as the primary reason for the same..........
Well; so much for ancient history as all that is nothing more than water under the bridge; the fact of the matter is that the India Against Corruption now well and truly seems to be dead and buried what with it's founding father Shri Anna Hazare restricting himself to his pocket borough of Ralegan Siddhi; while his trusted lieutenant General V.K. Singh deemed it worth his while to contest the last general elections as a BJP candidate and even donned the mantle of a union minister..........
As for Ms. Kiran Bedi; the less said the better, her blow hot blow cold attitude vis a vis the ruling party (BJP) and the incumbent prime minister Shri Narendra Modi has not only confusing her legions of supporters about her real or true intentions about becoming a part and parcel of the BJP rank and file; but the same also seems to have Ms. Bedi in a tizzy........
Which brings one back to the moot question as to whether the India Against Corruption was well and truly a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) fronted or sponsored outfit expressly meant to galvanise public opinion against the unpardonable acts of corruption and graft perpetrated by the UPA government; remember the RSS sarsanghchalak's lofty comments about providing the impetus and much needed numbers to the IAC movement so that it could continue to exert considerable pressure on a government that seemed to be beating a hasty and unseemly retreat......
Whatever may be the truth or then varying shades of the same; long time supporters and followers of the IAC movement as well as the Aam Aadmi Party find ourselves at the crossroads right now as both the IAC as well as the AAP have woefully failed to channelise and galvanise the simmering discontent against a political and governmental system that not only facilitates corruption but also provides it's exponents newer and more innovative avenues of indulging in the vice........
Messrs. Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and others; kindly shed your recalcitrance, inertia, procrastination, laziness and get back on the streets, gullies, maidans, chaurahas and other such public platforms as the incorruptible and unwavering India as well as scores of such Indians need you to step up to the plate and give the increasingly relevant and timely movement against corruption the much needed impetus and fillip........
To jog people's memories; the India Against Corruption Movement not only grabbed headlines,eyeballs and copious amounts of media space but also was touted as the panacea to the scourge of corruption that is continuing to bleed the country dry despite the IAC's avowed aim and intention of weeding it out to the tune of 70-75% with it's much hyped "Janlokpal" bill..........
Bowing to the popular sentiment at the time and reading the writing on the wall the then Manmohan Singh government condescended to form a joint drafting committee comprising of five members from the IAC headed by the honourable Anna Hazare and a motley group of five ministers headed by the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee.........
This joint drafting committee had an innumerable number of meetings but these failed to yield any noteworthy result as the two could never narrow down their points of difference and undercurrents of mistrust that were visible for all to see........
Yes, Shri Arvind Kejriwal did float his own political outfit or party in conjunction with such other doughty warriors like Kumar Vishwas, Manish Sisodia, Shazia Ilmi, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Gopal Rai and a few such other notables while Shri Anna Hazare preferred to remain apolitical and give a new lease of life to the almost defunct India Against Corruption Movement with former army chief General V.K.Singh and Kiran Bedi firmly ensconced in his corner........
Unfortunately, the spark kindled by the revamped IAC failed to transform itself into a raging fire and Shri Arvind Kejriwal also deemed it fit to hand over his 49 day old government's resignation letter to the Lieutenant Governor on February 13/14, 2014 citing the failure to pilot the long awaited Janlokpal Bill through the corridoors of the Delhi Assembly as the primary reason for the same..........
Well; so much for ancient history as all that is nothing more than water under the bridge; the fact of the matter is that the India Against Corruption now well and truly seems to be dead and buried what with it's founding father Shri Anna Hazare restricting himself to his pocket borough of Ralegan Siddhi; while his trusted lieutenant General V.K. Singh deemed it worth his while to contest the last general elections as a BJP candidate and even donned the mantle of a union minister..........
As for Ms. Kiran Bedi; the less said the better, her blow hot blow cold attitude vis a vis the ruling party (BJP) and the incumbent prime minister Shri Narendra Modi has not only confusing her legions of supporters about her real or true intentions about becoming a part and parcel of the BJP rank and file; but the same also seems to have Ms. Bedi in a tizzy........
Which brings one back to the moot question as to whether the India Against Corruption was well and truly a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) fronted or sponsored outfit expressly meant to galvanise public opinion against the unpardonable acts of corruption and graft perpetrated by the UPA government; remember the RSS sarsanghchalak's lofty comments about providing the impetus and much needed numbers to the IAC movement so that it could continue to exert considerable pressure on a government that seemed to be beating a hasty and unseemly retreat......
Whatever may be the truth or then varying shades of the same; long time supporters and followers of the IAC movement as well as the Aam Aadmi Party find ourselves at the crossroads right now as both the IAC as well as the AAP have woefully failed to channelise and galvanise the simmering discontent against a political and governmental system that not only facilitates corruption but also provides it's exponents newer and more innovative avenues of indulging in the vice........
Messrs. Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and others; kindly shed your recalcitrance, inertia, procrastination, laziness and get back on the streets, gullies, maidans, chaurahas and other such public platforms as the incorruptible and unwavering India as well as scores of such Indians need you to step up to the plate and give the increasingly relevant and timely movement against corruption the much needed impetus and fillip........
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete