Though it was long dead already,
and what happened today was to happen sooner or later, thoughts went back there,
in past, bringing the reflections back.
Anna Hazare led anti-corruption
movement of 2011 - one of the biggest civil movements of independent India - was
launched successfully against its own elected government - but, unfortunately
could not sustain - due to its own fault-lines. Much has been written about it.
We cannot say corruption engulfed
it. In fact, we can still find many valid reasons to deny this proposition.
Yes, but we can say that one of
the central reasons behind corruption - Indian politics of the day - led to its
'efficient' winding up.
And within three years, the
movement has been buried deeply. No one talks about it. The mentions don't go
beyond occasional analytical pieces and discourses.
And the person who led it, who
was the source behind the movement, who was the central plank around whom the
movement and its campaign were designed by his 'ardent follower of the day,
Arvind Kejriwal and an outfit named 'India Against Corruption'' was being
mentioned with satirical and humorous mentions today.
-- By the acts of the people who
used to be the core of the team behind the movement that made Anna Hazare a
pan-India icon and an international figure and brought the members of 'Team
Anna' in the socio-political thinking of the Indian masses.
The politicisation of the
anti-corruption movement or to say political branching out of the
anti-corruption movement that began with Arvind Kejriwal in 2012 reached to a
full circle today with Kiran Bedi joining mainstream politics. We cannot say if
there are other circles to come further on the way as almost of the big names
of the movement, except few like Santosh Hegde, have taken the political
plunge.
Majority of them went with Arvind
Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party while those who alleged Arvind Kejriwal of
compromising the movement chose to stay away. Kiran Bedi was the foremost among
them.
And today, as was long expected, she
emerged as the face of the party in direct confrontation with Arvind Kejriwal
and AAP.
Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant
Bhushan, Shanti Bhushan, Kiran Bedi, Medha Patkar, Shazia Ilmi, Kumar Vishwas -
the essential names of the anti-corruption moment - are all political now.
Yes, some like Medha Patkar are continuing
with their activism streak after losing the Lok Sabha polls, but most are
fulltime politicians.
And even if we cannot place them,
the neo-fulltime politicians, in the lot of the existing political class when
it comes to corruption, they cannot be accommodated in our thoughts for the
'team' that made us to contribute to the anti-corruption movement of 2011.
The politics of AAP so far
effectively tells us, that doesn't behave differently. They are acting like the
political class who India has always seen.
And yes, I tried to find 'India
Against Corruption' on the internet, but it seems it doesn't exist there any more.
Irony of changing India! Irony of
Indian politics! Irony of political activism of India! Irony of India's need
for change agents!