Far away from the excitement surrounding a historic victory for the India Against Corruption movement, Swami Agnivesh is a lonely man today. While the movement has turned activist Anna Hazare into a popular hero and a legislation a subject of discussion for millions on India’s streets, Agnivesh finds himself castigated as a government mole by many IAC members.
Today, however, he is equally critical of both Hazare, his core group and the government. He accuses the IAC of lack of transparency as the organisation has failed to name its core committee members on its website or in a formal communique.
“Even decisions emanate without discussions. We don’t know which are the decisions of the core group and which are independent decisions,” When asked if Hazare speaks his mind or echoes what he has been told, Aginvesh said: “Keep watching. It is a big tamasha. It is evolving moment to moment. And the media is giving it a multiplier effect.”
Asked about the concerns in the IAC about Hazare’s health, he said: “If Anna is happy in becoming a living martyr then what is the problem? He says he can do another 4-5 days!”
He holds the doctors responsible for not taking a firm stand. “Doctors should have been firm. Santosh Hegde, Sri Sri Ravishankar and I had said the fast should have ended much earlier but this was delayed on some pretext or the other.”
Giving reasons for distancing himself from the team he said their behaviour was not good. “Collective decision-making was not there. When it comes to taking a crucial decision the members say ‘we leave it to Anna’. And Anna has already been told what his decision should be..” alleged Agnivesh.
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“It is like the Congress policy. The Congress leaders would not take unpleasant decisions and say that the high command would decide. But the high command has already been given names which are to be decided. I don’t want to hurt the movement. Let it continue. Anna is not worried either. He is enjoying every moment.”
Agnivesh said people who have been sidelined, like him, include Rajendra Singh, Sunilam, Rajgopal, Santosh Hegde and even Devender Sharma. No one is even consulting Hegde or any other member. He says the Bhushans are not even part of the core committee but they make decisions along with Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi. “Kejriwal has all the funds which go to his foundation,” he alleged.
Sharma, however, said he was in Chandigarh because his mother was ill, but Agnivesh rejects his claim. He says there are vested interests behind the movement. “All this would come out at the right moment. Let the show go on for now. Medha Patkar was also marginalized but she is still trying hard to stay with the group.”
Sharma said these are outbursts of someone who has been sidelined because the group had lost faith in him. “Corruption is an issue on which not everyone in the committee can negotiate. People who worked on the Jan Lok Pal Bill know better. The core committee initially had ten members and it has now gone up to 22.”
Medha Patkar also denied the allegations made by Swami Agnivesh. “It is not true,” she said.