Politics, The word can be best described by adjectives like manipulative, exploitative and simply diabolic, when one talks about India in particular. It has the power to bring out the worst out of people and can lead to even family parting ways. Recent being the split between Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare owing to their difference of opinion on the fight against corruption.
While Anna’s approach towards fight against corruption is by undertaking a series of protests and hunger strikes in order to force the government into passage of the lokpal bill so proposed by him, Kejriwal opted to take the political route and fight the system from within. While the goal in both the approaches is one -
eradication of corruption; both parties have their own methods of reaching this goal.
The cold war between the two has been under much media scrutiny and the Government is happily cashing their dispute. Anna Hazare made a blistering attack n Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of wrecking the anti-corruption campaign because of his political ambitions. He feels the party was launched in violation of his wishes. The veteran agitator also warned people not to trust those who used his name and tried to associate themselves with his movement. Kejriwal has maintained that Anna would come around to bless his enterprise in a while. He has downplayed the differences making them seem like a case of estrangement.
In my personal opinion I feel Anna’s agitation will not lead to a fruitful conclusion and Kejriwal’s party might be able to create an impact as is desir. Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption by forcing the government to pass their Jan Lokpal bill within a limited timeframe was unconstitutional. Can a group of people sitting in Jantar Mantar force any democratically elected government to pass the bill by threatening a hunger strike unto death? If the answer is, yes, then it would deprive the population from free and fair debate about the law and it will nullify the utility of the Parliament. Yes, constitution does provide every Indian right to protest against unjust laws - they are provided with freedom of speech and expression and can approach the judiciary to address their grievances, however blackmailing the government and going on endless strikes is not the solution.
Bringing about a change in the constitution and laws cannot be done in a fortnight, there are certain rules and procedures which need to be followed and we cannot simply circumvent the legal process.
Arvind Kejriwal’s route of forming a political party and fighting the government at its own battlefield does seem a fair approach because if one has to fight the system, one needs to be part of the system. By simply protesting externally and pressurizing the government to take measures will not lead anywhere which Arvind Kejriwal realised and decided to form the political party AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). This new outfit may take some time to fully establish itself and win mass support but it appears to be doing well considering the growing popularity it is gaining so rapidly at the initial stage of its inception. A large number of initial core team members of IAC (India Against Corruption) started by Anna, are supporting Kejriwal which shows their belief that this is the way they can fight corruption.
I personally feel that Anna Hazare and Kejriwal shouldn’t have parted ways because now their support too has split and has lost the momentum which was there initially. The reason in 2011 the uprising was a roaring success because both the sides together were able to gather the support and make people believe in their cause, however now, people supporting the cause have also split, one supporting Anna’s movement and the other Kejriwal’s party. The split has been unfortunately much to the Government’s glee which can get back to its corrupt functioning without further disruptions from the people’s side.
We hope the two parties reconcile and join hands together to fight against corruption. Each party backlashing the other and fighting amongst themselves will not lead to their common dream. In the end the both the sides and the people of India want corruption to end an India to thrive as a corruption free country.
Kejriwal to an extent should redefine politics by setting up an honest party working towards the welfare of the people as the name suggests. We hope to see a change.
While Anna’s approach towards fight against corruption is by undertaking a series of protests and hunger strikes in order to force the government into passage of the lokpal bill so proposed by him, Kejriwal opted to take the political route and fight the system from within. While the goal in both the approaches is one -
eradication of corruption; both parties have their own methods of reaching this goal.
The cold war between the two has been under much media scrutiny and the Government is happily cashing their dispute. Anna Hazare made a blistering attack n Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of wrecking the anti-corruption campaign because of his political ambitions. He feels the party was launched in violation of his wishes. The veteran agitator also warned people not to trust those who used his name and tried to associate themselves with his movement. Kejriwal has maintained that Anna would come around to bless his enterprise in a while. He has downplayed the differences making them seem like a case of estrangement.
In my personal opinion I feel Anna’s agitation will not lead to a fruitful conclusion and Kejriwal’s party might be able to create an impact as is desir. Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption by forcing the government to pass their Jan Lokpal bill within a limited timeframe was unconstitutional. Can a group of people sitting in Jantar Mantar force any democratically elected government to pass the bill by threatening a hunger strike unto death? If the answer is, yes, then it would deprive the population from free and fair debate about the law and it will nullify the utility of the Parliament. Yes, constitution does provide every Indian right to protest against unjust laws - they are provided with freedom of speech and expression and can approach the judiciary to address their grievances, however blackmailing the government and going on endless strikes is not the solution.
Bringing about a change in the constitution and laws cannot be done in a fortnight, there are certain rules and procedures which need to be followed and we cannot simply circumvent the legal process.
Arvind Kejriwal’s route of forming a political party and fighting the government at its own battlefield does seem a fair approach because if one has to fight the system, one needs to be part of the system. By simply protesting externally and pressurizing the government to take measures will not lead anywhere which Arvind Kejriwal realised and decided to form the political party AAP (Aam Aadmi Party). This new outfit may take some time to fully establish itself and win mass support but it appears to be doing well considering the growing popularity it is gaining so rapidly at the initial stage of its inception. A large number of initial core team members of IAC (India Against Corruption) started by Anna, are supporting Kejriwal which shows their belief that this is the way they can fight corruption.
I personally feel that Anna Hazare and Kejriwal shouldn’t have parted ways because now their support too has split and has lost the momentum which was there initially. The reason in 2011 the uprising was a roaring success because both the sides together were able to gather the support and make people believe in their cause, however now, people supporting the cause have also split, one supporting Anna’s movement and the other Kejriwal’s party. The split has been unfortunately much to the Government’s glee which can get back to its corrupt functioning without further disruptions from the people’s side.
We hope the two parties reconcile and join hands together to fight against corruption. Each party backlashing the other and fighting amongst themselves will not lead to their common dream. In the end the both the sides and the people of India want corruption to end an India to thrive as a corruption free country.
Kejriwal to an extent should redefine politics by setting up an honest party working towards the welfare of the people as the name suggests. We hope to see a change.
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