The best way to know the self is feeling oneself at the moments of reckoning. The feeling of being alone, just with your senses, may lead you to think more consciously. More and more of such moments may sensitize ‘you towards you’, towards others. We become regular with introspection and retrospection. We get ‘the’ gradual connect to the higher self we may name Spirituality or God or just a Humane Conscious. We tend to get a rhythm again in life. We need to learn the art of being lonely in crowd while being part of the crowd. A multitude of loneliness in mosaic of relations! One needs to feel it severally, with conscience, before making it a way of life. One needs to live several such lonely moments. One needs to live severallyalone.

Sunday 30 October 2011

CORE COMMITTEE TO CONTINUE TILL THE CONSTITUTION FOR THE LOKPAL MOVEMENT IS FRAMED – ANNA HAZARE


A press release this evening signed by Anna Hazare said this after he had discussion with Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan who were reportedly in Ralegan Siddhi to apprise Anna of the Saturday Core Committee meet. It tells us of a good damage control exercise may be on the right track away from the rhetoric of the Core Committee meet in Delhi on Saturday.

After key members like Santosh Hegde, Medha Patkar including Anna Hazare had decided on not attending the Saturday Core Group meeting sighting this or that reason, nothing much was expected from this ‘gathering’ and ultimately what happened proved it was indeed a gathering only where nothing transformative could have been framed or initiated on. So after the meeting ended, we had the expected speaker speaking on the expected line with the resolution this statement, "The meeting was of the view that lakhs of volunteers and along with the core committee members have played a significant role in the movement and there was no question of dismantling the committee. In seeking to divert attention, the government is attempting to tarnish the movement by targeting the individuals. We will give a befitting reply to the government and not allow it to weaken the movement."

That was not even an interlude to what surfaced today. Anna Hazare talks of framing a constitution to run the movement that will deal with the structure and character of the people in the expanded scheme of things. It is a welcome step. Hopefully, we will see more of the Core Committee members speaking on related issues and not just 2/3 faces in the changed set-up. That will bring infusion of fresh ideas, many more perspectives to be debated and a sustained flow of energy.

It will help engage the opponents of the Lokpal Movement on many fronts.

  • All the three talking faces now, Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Bhushan, have had their share of controversies irrespective of the fact that their acts have largely been free of allegations of corruption barring the Bhushan duo.
  • There are many social activists with unblemished track record who can be respectfully invited to be part of the movement.
  • Also, there should be no problems with religious leaders being parts of it barring them who are so visibly political like Ramdev.
  • The constitution should be framed keeping in mind the fact that it must utilize the resources fully and no member should quit the movement sighting reasons like what Rajinder Singh and PV Rajagopal have quoted.
  • Also, having more faces with active voices would make it difficult for the government to target individual members of the movement.
A movement like ‘Lokpal’ needs to have a pan-India team of committed volunteers, say two representatives in each state. Adding to it the count of the Union territories, the number goes well beyond the 50 mark. If a pan-India movement has to be sustained, that is not a big figure when the whole movement has found a uniting voice in the Anna Symbolism.

  • Even the base figure of 50 strong Core Committee members who are all on same trajectory voicing each other to propel ahead would make it extremely difficult for the government to target the movement indirectly by directly targeting the personal and professional lives of the Core Committee members, something that is happening now.
  • If Anna is targeted, people voice against the government. That is not happening with the present Core Group members. In shameful incidents Prashant Bhushan was badly beaten and Arvind Kejriwal was attacked with chappal but we did not see even a small pocket of public going livid over it. Bitter politicking followed nut no protests ensued. How the public reacts on character assassination of Anna should reflect with similar public response if other members of the expanded Core Committee are attacked.
That would come by an absolute realignment of the focus to the ‘Lokpal Bill’ with ground level work by social activists to connect more and more people to it. It is premature to say that the movement has scaled the total of 120 crore Indians. Much has to be done for that on the ground level and it is needed to be accepted honestly.

  • Once the scale has become so significant that it has reached the hinterland (something that cannot happen without taking the grassroots social workers in the fold), masses across the sociopolitical spectrum would find a spontaneous connect with the cause and its leaders (obviously not political leaders of the day but the grassroots workers).
  • If that happens, the silly strategists of the government would never dare to venture into the territory of character assassination that they are finding so lucrative now. The loose cannons will have to find the dock to hide somewhere then.
Another good and most necessary outcome of this evening was Anna saying of embarking on touring many parts of the country for the ‘Lokpal Movement’. If it happens it will be enough to send the government in a tizzy. ‘Lokpal’ has come into the perception of majority of the urban Indians. Taking this perception to the rural masses will really make it creeping into the psyche of the common Indian. Once that battle is won, it is the clear road ahead to follow.

Till then let’s follow Swami Vivekananda’s wisdom: Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is Reached.