Corruption has been the talk of the town rather the nation for past few months....But in the last week it reached its pinnacle(read highest TRP ratings)...Political commentators rolled up their sleeves and came out of the closet after a lull of cricket world cup...Jostling on T.V. channels to describe that people are angry....[yes,they are...and you are making money out of it..]....Actors came out,as if to show,'We got brains too...'...Hullabaloo all around...Now that we are back to normal...We should be honest to our souls in answering these simple questions..How many people were actually aware of the "jan-lokpal" or the citizen's ombudsman bill one month ago..?..or knew in detail about Anna Hajare(besides the name!)..?..turns out,a bill which know one even knew about a month ago..(some are still unaware!) became the cause of a so called 'revolution'.
No one can deny the fact that there is an outarage against corruption..But this angst became a ploy for T.V. channels that went all out to prove that 'Jantar-Mantar would become the new Tahrir square..!'..what..?.....Dhoni was found sulking....'I thought we would be all over the news...atleast a month..'..Too bad..Anti-corruption wave and Anna Hajare took all the lime-light...Don't worry boy....IPL is back...So the 'revolution' has taken a break..!...And the people of this country don't worry about the 'revolution',it will be back as soon as the 'cricket-tamasha' is over....Till then all the prime slots are occupied..!
To compare this protest to the revolution in Egypt is a bit far-fetched...Corruption is a thing that is so deeply rooted in our society that it would be too optimistic to think on those lines..What we need is not a media exercise..rather some strong will..[and Anna Hajare does seem determined..]..But in our country we like creating heroes..and to put all hopes on the little old man would be unfair to this kind gentleman....All 'revolt' and no 'action' might make jack[that is you] a dull boy....Why not take a pledge that we would never be involved in any act of corruption..Those who are corrupt did not come from some other planet..They are just a face amongst us..Everyone raises a cry when they are the ones on the suffering side..what about the case when you end up paying 'chai-paani' to the constable to get away for violating traffic rules..!
Revolt has to have a strong moral backing...To praise your hero is easy,but to follow his footsteps is the real deal...The road ahead is bumpy..Lets show the world that we are no banana republic..The largest democracy has to justify its tag by keeping a check on the high and mighty....The good thing that came out amidst all this hype is that people are becoming restless..and they want to knuckle-down the 'devil'..But sadly there is no knock-out punch....If there are excuses to stop along this journey,there are more than enough reasons to move ahead..March ahead if you ever cursed a politician[cos u did no better than him..]..march ahead to show that the cries you raised after the world cup win had anything to do with the love for your country..and march ahead so that no one walks scott-free after looting all the public money....Only a single 'lok-pal' would never be enough..let your soul act as a 'lok-pal' for you..!
we had a term called "lok laaj"...we still have it...but in redundance,in the name of boldness,modern culture, frankness..or whatsoever excuses people figure out for themselves to cheat their own souls...and since morals themselves have been thrown out of the seat(can't evn say at the backseat)...to back ur own self has become a very tough job in itself..so i too wud lyk to repeat..re-urge..that people-march ahead..&show that the cries you raised after the world cup win had anything to do with the love for your country"..Dont just 'like' this post if u really lykd it..feel its soul..and then try to answer those questions that r subdued in ur own.
ReplyDeleteyep..it's so easy to curse the politicians...but the fact of the matter is we don't do anything about it..Supporting in words ..and action are two entirely different things..
ReplyDeleteobviously just the jan lokpal bill wont end the corruption. it's just the first step that would give the much needed impetus. anyways the bill is never passing the parliament. and even the civil society doesnt claim to bring an end to it even by incorporating such heavy points as making the cbi independent. this is just thebeginning. as for those who dnt knw what jan lokpal bill is... i say lets see it this way... you and i know what it is but are sitting at home, so let them play our parts(though i think that this crowd is much more educated n informed than the ones that took part in j p narayan's rebellion due to this flattening internet and consists of fairly educated and intellectual class.trust me i have been hearing people in my train journeys from college to lko and they were highly aware abt the details.)
ReplyDelete@LTTG..completely agree with you..this post is an old one when anna n co. sat at jantar-mantar..people are much more aware now as compared to that..hope tat something good will come out of all this..
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