The irony is stark, given that the set of advice is meant for a movement led by a titan Gandhian. Already grappling with cracks in its frontline and even allegations of corruption -- a menace it is fighting against, Team Anna was on Thursday served with a three-point homily from a Church leader who is a member of it.
Maun vrat (silence), vipassana (deep breath and less rhetoric) and some hand-holding with the opponents (the government, in this case). These are what Archbishop Vincent M Concessao said his fellow crusaders should take up, if they were keen to take forwards their non-violent anti-graft agitation. The tips came amid a visible shrinkage in the vanguard functionaries of India Against Corruption led by septuagenarian social activist Anna Hazare.
The priest from south Karnataka’s Canara belt, who is one of the two representatives of minority communities in Team Anna, sent signals to the campaign leaders that all would not be well with the movement unless they shunned confrontation with the government. All the same, the 75-year-old welcomed an RSS support to the movement, saying fighting corruption was a cause all should support.
Even so, the development came a bit of relief to Team Anna. For, earlier in the day, the talk was that the archbishop had quit the movement. This prompted him to issue a denial note on this, but he said the members should abandon a “confrontationist approach” with the government. It should be especially so, he added, given that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has given an assurance that he was all in favour of a strong Lok Pal Bill
All this, on a day the nation woke up to news reports that former supercop Kiran Bedi, as the most vocal member of Team Anna’s core committee, has misrepresented expenses to claim travel compensation. This gave ample steam to the Congress, which is already sharing a strained relation with Team Anna. The ruling party reiterated its doubts about the direction of the anti-corruption movement. Its leaders Salman Khursheed and Digvijay Singh took a dig at the team over the allegations about Bedi’s controversial air ticket reimbursements from her hosts at various functions in the past, much in excess of her actual expense. The retired IPS officer, reports said, could “manage” it making use of her eligibility to heavy discounts as a Gallantry award winner -- and allegedly claim reimbursements of tickets from various organisations that invited her on various occasions.
Archbishop Concessao said he was not pleased with the “rhetoric” of Bedi and movement’s coordinator Arvind Kejriwal. “You can’t overlook the sins of omission or commission made by Bedi,” he told Business Standard. “Anna should calm down a bit. Bring this Bill...or avoid this kind of talk,” he said. “It is good that Anna has taken maun vrat. Arvind had also gone on Vipasana.... I think he is honest.” On their taking campaigning at the recent Hisar Lok Sabha bypoll and reported political moves ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh elections, he said it was part of a strategy to pressure the government. “But I still feel you should collaborate -- and not fight the government.”
The fears that the movement had been taken over by the right-wing groups, though, did not seem to have bothered the Archbishop. “When two groups work, together it doesn’t mean that you agree with all they say. There is no harm if the RSS wants to support the fight against corruption. Don’t we all have common goals when it comes to fighting corruption?”
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But, when it came to corruption charges against Bedi, the Archbishop said the matter, if proven true, merited no forgiveness. “Mistakes in the past should not prevent good actions in the future. Many a criminal has turned into a great social worker,” he added. The ex-supercop, though, did find support -- from Kejriwal and fellow activist Devinder Sharma.
Sharma said Bedi’s action was like that of a mother who gives her two rotis to her children while going hungry herself. “She has said that she travelled economy and claimed business-class fares so that she could donate the balance to her trust. That was a noble purpose,” he said. “Well, I would not have done such a thing. After all, each person behaves differently.”
Kejriwal on the other hand defended Bedi, saying she claimed what was her entitlement and there was “nothing corrupt” about it. “The government can always lodge an FIR and make an inquiry. It can take action if they found her to be wrong,” he added.
Charities Aid Foundation, one of the organisations that had reimbursed tickets of Bedi in the past, reacted to the allegations against Bedi, by saying the travel arrangements were made by her office. “The CAF made the payment in favour of the travel agent who raised the bill,” it said. “No funds were paid to her or her organization. The invitation and the payment are both genuine so far as CAF is concerned.”
Only two days ago had social activists Rajendra Singh and Rajagopal P V quit the group, citing opposition to the movement targeting the Congress in its anti-corruption movement.