Anna satyagraha sacrificed at altar of new political party

Translated excerpts from BJP mouthpiece Kamal Sandeshs editorial Anna in quicksand

Anna Hazare stands for movements,fasting,Jantar Mantar,Ramlila ground,Ralegaon Siddhi… sponsored attraction,crowds of non-political people,doctors,blood pressure,sugar,the national song,film stars,civil society,the tricolor,mineral water,Coke/Pepsi,IRS,IPS,IAS,Gandhi cap,MBA,MCA,software engineer,SMS,missed call,Parliament,Constitution,MP,abusing MPs,corruption,Jan Lokpal,sit-ins,gheraos,Tihar jail,abuse,pride… applause,Mahatma Gandhi,non-violence,Shivaji,violence,threats… Baba Ramdev,black money,Team Anna,politics,parties,hatred of politicians,Swami Agnivesh,Kazmi,charges,countercharges,former Army chief V K Singh,foreign aid,RSS,Vilasrao Deshmukh,Kapil Sibal,P Chidambaram,cooperation from all parties,election campaign…

Should anyone wish to make a film from start to end of Annas fast to the announcement of a new political party,he will have to include these words in the script. Has anyone the right to blackmail the emotions of India? Will people now support anyone like Anna Hazare if he wants to draw their attention to genuine issues? Has anyone the right to betray the peoples faith in the name of the Jan Lokpal?… If the aim was politics,why was all this done? Was it necessary to enter politics? Is it right to ask the country to rise in the name of the Jan Lokpal and then dump it in the dustbin? Gandhi was born and Loknayak too was born; they were not created. They came forward to awaken the nation and save independence and democracy,even at the cost of their lives. Therefore,the country called one the Father of the Nation and the other Loknayak. Both greats were surrounded by patriots,not bureaucrats. Neither had any hidden agenda.

The way Team Anna hurled abuse on politics,parties and leaders,how will they explain themselves now that they have decided to enter politics? What kind of principle is this? No one would call it the principle of the Father of the Nation or Loknayak. Any sociologist or observer of the journey from the Anna fast to Anna politics would note they have not practised what they preached. The country is angry. The people have now understood… These people Team Anna will neither lay down their lives,nor live for the country. They are synonymous with opportunism.

…It is only due to the tolerance of parties and their leaders that they are still saying everyone has the right to enter politics. Otherwise,the way Team Anna abused leaders,one wonders what would have happened had these parties reacted the same way.

Anna says it is a satyagraha. But the Anna satyagraha was sacrificed at the altar of a new political party. A former Army driver was misled by the politics of his own people. The opportunistic Team Anna hurled abuse on the Congress and the BJP and the RSS. Who would have thought it would die a political death. Politics is not so easy. Forming a party is even more difficult. When many major parties have not succeeded in solving the countrys problems,what will the fate of the Anna movement be? Time will decide. Even being a political party,the BJP never opposed Anna; party president Nitin Gadkari maintained we are with those opposed to corruption. That was why BJP was the only party openly supporting Anna.

…It is the tradition of India that it salutes commitment and brings down conspiracy. The media,which sang paeans to it,is now lambasting it for its declaration of joining politics. The media too understands the difference between fasts and politics. So far the media was targeting politicians,but in the Anna movement the media itself was targeted. Vagrancy is neither a way out nor a solution,neither a destination nor a station. An endless phenomenon of aimless movements has started.

Once,Baba Jaigurudev had tried his luck by starting the Doordarshi Party. Maharshi Yogi too had formed a political party. After some days,neither the party nor Yogi was anywhere to be seen. Lets see what happens to the politics of Anna Baba in the days to come.

Prabhat Jha