Time for a Corruption Free India?

Originally Posted: August 14, 2011

Anna Hazare is set to take up his struggle against corruption this Tuesday. This is a historic moment for all of us. We have a chance to be a part of a change, a change that we all have dreamt of. But we all have apprehensions. A few people raise voices against the approach that Anna has adopted. I am one of them. Some believe it amounts to demeaning the parliament. Some others feel that same tactics could be used for some faction to  demand a separate state or reservation (But I don’t know how those movements will gather the support that Anna has managed to get.)

But here is a fact. All criticism that has come from civilised people is about the way of getting this done. No one has a single doubt about the aim. So, I assume everyone believes that we want a corruption free India and the Jan Lokpal is a good way for achieveing it. Now, the question is whether we speak up or remain silent, because we don’t believe in Anna’s way of doing things. I wrote this post to explain what I feel about this question.

What if we speak up? We will then be giving full support to Anna Hazare. There is no way to covey that we don’t believe in his ways but his goals. Your speaking up at this moment will mean you are a part of the movement Anna plans to start. It will mean you want the jan lokpal bill passed now. You will then be responsible (in part) for all the consequences of taking up this approach.

What if we remain silent? You will then be hurting the movement. You will be against Anna and his aims. This hurts me more. If you stay silent, everyone assumes you are on the side that rules. This means you support the government on the issue, and the government’s ways. If you stay silent and the movement fails, just because many of us chose to stay silent, the inspiration behind the movement dies down. The fire that keeps the likes of Arvind Kejriwal ticking, will be extinguished. They have invested all they had (including their life) in this. Believe me, it feels really ugly, when your loved ones back out support when you are fighting for them. When you stand up for such a fight, it really kills if you see no one backing up when you turn around to look for support. If Anna fails now, no one in civil society will be able to cause such a stir in the years to come. No one will dare to try. This will be a big loss for the people working for a cause. And I don’t want that to happen.

I know Anna’s aims are my wishes. I know his ways are debatable. But it’s not the time to discuss ways to get things done. We want results. And Anna’s ways are by no means, criminal. His ways also find favour with a large fraction. If I stay silent now, I will be on the other side. It’s time to take sides. You can’t be neutral.You have one day too decide ‘ Which side are you on?’