Corruption is not my subject here It is merely the object; the subject in this topic is the ways & means to combat it and their efficacy & further prospects.

 At a time when for (at least) the current generation, Gandhiji had become just a name,

the victory of Mr. Anna Hazare a social activist and simple man with Gandhian principles has signaled the coming of another Gandhi. At the very right time he has proven the relevance and the validity of Gandhian principles and shown to the world how an revolutionary change or a systemic change such as  redefining the political functioning and constitutional processes of  a country, can be brought about without an armed and violent struggle.

 First time in the history of democracy, the electorate of a country involved in making the legislation for itself and forced its Parliament to act on it against its own prejudices.  In spite of the entire political class and many critics, opposing it, because of their vested interests, by terming it anti constitutional anti democratic or blackmailing, I feel this has given a new and true meaning to the democracy where the MPs having been elected by the people to represent them cannot ignore the people and enact Bills suiting to their own vested interests. They have to consider the people’s need & aspirations for the governance & system the people want for them. As the constitution itself says that “We the people of India adopt this constitution & its body (the parliament) to govern us”. That means we the people have created the constitution so the people comes first before the constitution or the Parliament.

 This also certainly doesn’t mean that the people can take to street for every petty issue or the issue with vested interests of certain class or section of society, and take the Govt. or parliament for ransom. 

 The success of the movement for anti graft bill and the overwhelming participation by common public has heralded a new era in the history of democracy. There are many lesson learned and many myth broken through the success of this unprecedented and milestone event. Such as:

 1.       Why should I only bother because no body else bothers or because it  is a political issue I am no one to do any thing about it. -  Success of this movement shows that we have come over this cynicism.

2.      The myth that the common man doesn’t  have a stake or say in the polity of  India except from casting a vote once in a five year and he cant do anything to change his destiny, is broken.-Through the success of this movement only, the middle class and the grass-root India has discovered the power of “We the people”.

3.      The common man has the capacity to change the system if he can rise over his daily routine problems & petty differences. – The message has been very clear for the Aam Adami.

4.      The movement has given a new hope, courage and confidence to the common man and taught him that if your motives are pure and intent is clear then it is just a matter of shear determination to achieve the next to impossible. 

5.      Politics is too important to be ignored by the households of India and to be left for the elite politician only- is a hard lesson learned now.

    
India has a long history of protests dharnas, Andolan and social movements. Never in the history of India, after the movements of Gandhiji during the freedom struggle, have any of the movements been successful in reaching its logical conclusion with such a big social or political impact. This movement has achieved something unique in itself. No democracy has ever attempted anything like this. It has shown to the world that when the institutions even at the highest echelon of the political system (the parliament) fails to be responsible enough and accountable and when the political managers appointed for the administration of these institutions becomes insensitive to the need & aspiration of the people who appointed them and when they continue to be self absorbed and arrogant. Then even the same very institutions can also be jolted to look at itself and assume their responsibility with dignity. This movement has been a turning point in the history of democracy. It has given a clear message that now grass root India can no more be befooled by the dirty, cheap tactics of their political masters.

 So it becomes almost imperative to look for the causes of such a strong, unified collective consciousness converging into a most historical protest in the history of Indian Democracy and reason leading to its success. XLRI Jamshedpur is already considering to include this as a case study in their business management program. I feel it is perfect case for research to develop new supplemental theory on leadership, motivation & systemic change.   

By now, at least the middle class India, if not the common, poor laymen, has clearly understood that how almost all the political party & their leaders have been misusing them just as the vote banks over & over again by using the same old dirty cheap tricks & and playing with their sentiments using either of the popular sectarian, caste based, religion or lingo card to get to the power then misuse the same for their vested interests instead of public good. They have also learned that how all the political parties are engrossed in just opportunistic and competitive politics without any sense of national or even public obligation and continue to play the blame game in the event of any question about their responsibility or accountability. This long desperation & frustration led to a strong under current of anguish in public mind.

This culminated into a larger collective consciousness for not relying on their political masters anymore and instead stands up and takes charge. For such a strong upsurge of anti-political and anti-institutional sentiment, Anna Hazare emerged, almost spontaneously and autonomously, like a perfect Antenna to channelise this massive storehouse of energy and beam it in the right direction.

  At such a time, the present Govt., having already lost the credibility and trust of the public on previous numerous count, added fuel to the fire by dodging on the issue of the Jan Lokpal bill and demands of Team Anna to the utter disregard of public deep sentiments on the issue. 

For the most attributable reasons of the success of this mega movement, one would discover that firstly because of the insensitivity & contempt by the Govt. & entire political class towards the public concerns and the resultant anguish their of, Mr. Anna Hazare was the obvious choice for the unilateral faith & support of the masses by virtue of their selfless intention & consistent clean records. Secondly one can’t ignore the Team Anna’s exceptional mass management & mobilization skills by way of reaching out to them and connecting to them. The major credit goes to Team Anna’s resoluteness & firmness in their purpose & intent and the method adopted to achieve the same and also taking the public along with in the whole process by not letting them misled and divert their attention from the main cause on the one hand and countering the Govt.’s mischievous intentions and political manipulation one the other hand. They effectively & swiftly thwarted their all the notorious tactics of arm twisting, targeted harassment, misleading, attention diverting not to mention their penchant for eating their own words and breaking the promise. Use of modern technology by way of chain SMSes, chain e mails, social networking sites, e-chat rooms and you tube has also been leveraged first time in any protest in India.

 No doubt, it was the Mr. Anna’s and his team’s grit, determination, perseverance & patience which were on the test throughout the entire episode and they have come out of it with a splendid triumph and of course with a big lesson for the Indian masses. It is also true that a Jan Lokpal bill alone can not wipe out the corruption out of this country. But definitely the time has come for innovative process of law making.  This is the beginning of the journey and we have to be prepared for the many more hard lessons to be learned in the process of moving from representative democracy to participative democracy and making governance as an electorate variable.