All is well that ends well. Anna Hazare’s fast ended well, with people feeling some sort of empowerment. True, “Anna’s August Revolution” generated a lot of euphoria. But it is bound to dissipate before long. This is not to play down Hazare’s extraordinary ability to connect with people disillusioned with politics and politicians or his achievement in procuring a promise of a strong Lok Pal law from Parliament. The point is that Hazare should not restrict his crusade to electoral reforms or legal provisions for recall of elected representatives alone. Now that he has become a “National Hero” by default, he can take up worthier and more profound causes.
In the Indian context, human hardship and suffering primarily stem from economic deprivation, caste oppression and sectarianism. Hazare can capitalise on the growing desire for change now shown by the people. Embracing these issues of existential significance will help him breach his present urban middle class constituency and mobilise a greater number of people across the country. A mere symbolic gesture like accepting coconut water from a Dalit girl and a Muslim girl at the end of a tri-colour waving exercise in itself does not fully convey his commitment to a radical social transformation of the kind envisaged by Dr Ambedkar. No social revolution will be complete in India without the participation of Dalits and other long-suffering sections of the society. In seeking a “new Gandhi” in Anna Hazare, we cannot ignore the real domestic challenges we face.
G David Milton, Maruthancode
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