Anna Hazare's hi-profile mass movement :: will it lead towards a better democracy or towards a chaos-fascism

Vivek Umrao Glendenning MCIJ
International Journalist, the Chartered Institute of Journalists, London
Member, Wikimedia /Wikipedia Australia
Member, International PEN
Member, International PEN Sydney Centre

All discussions given below are based on advertisements received by me via sms/emails/updates in social networks and made by Anna’s team to get popularity-sensation. I am a very common person and I talked with hundreds of villagers/tribal/ground activists and urban common persons of the states Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand before writing points below.

1. I do not want to see things blindly just because of sensation made by electronic media. Why should I see a fake dream of a second freedom of India by Anna’s Lokpal?
   
   
2. The failure of strong and visionary J P Movement created big frustrations in the mind of youth who participated actively with the JP Movement. The movement produced unaccountable and corrupt leaders and no one could have moved towards Total Revolution even though Jai Prakash made efforts for thought process and political awareness while Anna’s team preferred to cash the vision-less hidden anger against corruption in the system to get popularity cheaply.
   
   
3. It could not be imagined the level of violence/frustration/reaction caused by this so-called hi-tech TRP-hungry-Tv-channel-based-media movement with full of lies and manipulations. The time will reveal that Anna’s team betrayed Indian people for glory and glamour. Indian people will be facing the results of their betrayals.
   
   
4. Anna and his team had no actual critical masses behind them thus they are behaving as drunk with superficial heroism and patriotism. They are betraying to enjoy this glamour. They cannot control reactions/chain-reactions now, things are beyond their capacities and will end with community frustrations/reactions and hate.
   
   
   I strongly believe that Indians will feel high frustrations, reactions and violence after the fever..................
   
   
5. To get public support for a Bill, Anna is saying it is a second freedom struggle thus everyone must sacrifice everything for the nation. Formation of a Bill cannot be a freedom because many very important things are missing. I am sure that Anna’s so-called second freedom is fake and very superficial.
   
   
6. In JP Movement thousands of mass leaders were sent in jail for around 19 months and faced mental and physical tortures. This so-called second freedom Anna Hazare got in one day by the supports of TV channels’ OV vans without having critical mass supports. How cheap this is!!!
   
   
7. Many Indians are dreaming that Jan Lokpal Bill will bring all black money back to India and within a night, they will become rich and will enjoy luxuries. They are supporting for these dreams, they are not supporting for a nation building.
   
   
   I have few questions about this dreamed richness:-
   
   
   I do not think a paper known as currency or a binary digit in computer known as money in the bank could produce things. They are thinking that with the money they will be able to buy anything but the most important question is- who will produce things how and where?
   
   
   I do not think currency can solve problems. Indians will be millionaires by currency digits only but will be having huge unsolved long-term chaos.
   
   
   There are many baseless, fake dreams have been planted by the Anna’s team to get cheap popularity. How could it be taken as second freedom struggle?
   
   
8. In Jantar Mantar I saw Anna was saying that he is Gandhi. The Anna team planted manipulated and falsies ideals to get cheap popularity that in last few thousands years there was not a great person like Anna Hazare.
   
   
   I started to think that Anna Hazare wants to be praised like Gandhi. Some Followers of Anna Hazare informed me that Gandhi was nothing but Anna is like God of India. I want to suggest followers of Anna that they should start to demand to Central Government to make a special act presenting Anna Hazare as God of the Nation.
   
   
9. In the month of August 2011, Anna and his team have realised very well their failure to generate a critical mass movement though they used a continuous hi-tech media sensation. Using these tricks Anna team got support of media, online patriots and unemployed youth of metro cities specially in the capital cities. But Anna team didn't try to reach poor, villagers and common people of India.
   
   
   They thought media sensation could create a critical mass movement. Because people of India wants to see a change in systems thus many ground activists started to support Anna as a chance to create a pressure on central government but they realise very well that Anna’s team will not lead for a change in system beyond Jan Lokpal Bill. India needs a critical mass movement not a show of movement.
   
   
10. I have been receiving SMS minimum 10 times per day for last 6 months about Anna Hazare’s greatness with full of manipulations and emotional sensations. Those SMS were suggesting how to show my support to great Anna i.e. I should wear a badge of Anna’s photo in my home, office and I should instruct my friends, family and colleagues the same. Now two days before SMS have started to suggest that I should instruct women to wear a badge of Kiran Bedi’s photo and should motivate them for march holding a banner of photo of Kiran Bedi.
    
    
11. If we want to believe Indian electronic media which is only interested in TRP rating, we must believe that Indian freedom struggle was full of shit and Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia etc are getting real freedom even though they are using media sensation, falsies and manipulations.
    
    
    By seeing all these I feel Gandhi and others were fools because they spent many years on real ground struggling for integral development but they did not use OV vans of TV Channels, sms, updates in facebook/linkedin/twitter and others.
    
    
    This is why the followers of Anna are entitled to abuse Gandhi and other persons to establish Anna Hazare as God of the nation.
    
    
12. None of the societies can be corruption free just by a law or media sensation. Social transformation or system change cannot happen in one day or two days, it needs a farsighted vision and long term ground efforts.
    
    
    But who is trying for that. At least Anna and his team are not trying. They are only interested in their own glory. Maybe it is a second freedom for personal glory of Anna team but not for the entire India.
    
    
13. I will never support anything, which will kill democracy.
    Anna’s Lokpal is built undemocratically, is undemocratic and moving towards fascism. It was drafted with undemocratic methods. No public discussion and concern were made before drafting the Jan Lokpal Bill. The members of civil society were not suggested by the people of India. There is no public representation in Anna’s civil society.
    
    
14. Anna’s team has been manipulating the emotions of public by creating illusions. Anna’s movement is only for a Bill nothing more. It is a waste and misuse of public energy and believes and betrayal. Anna has no capacity to stop this now and reactions after this fever. He is enjoying heroism on the cost of social transformation.
    
    
15. India needs very sincere visionary and long-term movement on the actual ground of masses for social transformation. One has to know the ground realities of India for a social transformation.