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Journalism of Courage
Between sneers and jibes at the Government,Baba Ramdev announced from the Ramlila Ground after his talks failed that he would not allow any bagaavat (violent overthrow).
In the surge that cheered him on,however,stood politicians,ex-Army and government officials,all convinced of their role in the Bold New Order that their Swamiji would herald once he dismantled the old. Their hopes were captured in the chant that Babas Bharat Swabhiman Trust had drummed up for the day and the night: Yaachna nahin,ab run hoga,sangram bada bhishan hoga.
No revolution has been successful without saints and the Army. Even the 1857 revolt was initiated by Swami Dayanand and Brajanand Swami,who inspired Tatya Tope and Laxmibai. We are the army of Baba Ramdev. Jab bhavishya men humein jimmedari di jayegi,hum talwar ka kaam karenge. Om cant work during unrest,then we will take up the responsibility of ensuring law and order, said former Colonel Tejandra Pal Tyagi,president of the Rashtriya Sainik Sanstha and coordinator,Ex-Servicemen Cell of the Bharat Swabhiman Trust.
An ex-serviceman can provide clean and better grassroot-level leadership because he has experience and discipline, said former Major General Narendra Bahadur Singh,who was at the Ramlila Ground to fill the membership form of the Bharat Swabhiman Trust.
Elaborating on the role of various organisations after the change,Tyagi said: We have planned everything in the new dispensation education,health,law and order. So while British laws will be Indianised,education and health will also be freed of foreign influence.
The RSS may have issued an order to its rank and file to join Ramdevs protests but the Baba took pains to deny that his movement had political colour. And yet,the neta,too,was present.
This is an andolan of purusharth. The system will have to come around purusharth. Swamiji has given a call for change, said Naval Kishore Yadav,RJD MLC from Patna who will sit on fast with Ramdev. Politicians did nothing for the country,its now for spiritual leaders to come forward, he said.
Asked if he would leave his party if Baba forms a new party,former BSP MLA from Buxar Hridaya Narain Singh said: Agar aisa hota hai (If the present system changes),koi party apni jagah par nahi reh payegi (no party will be able to hold its ground. Singh has also joined the Trust.
BSP candidate for 2009 elections from West Delhi,Dipak Bhardwaj donated Rs 11 lakh to the andolan. He was among the richest candidates to contest the polls. Top officials of the Trust were also confident of The Change.
Mantri Baba ke aage piche ghum rahe hain. You can imagine his strength, said a government official at the venue. Their intelligence agencies have informed that Baba is no paper tiger. Top officials are providing crucial data to Ramdev on black money and other issues to keep him updated.
Ramdev seems to have cultivated this conviction across the board by offering a unique mix of ideologies. While the Trust booklet Hamare Sapno Ka Bharat proposed Adhyatmik Samajvad (Spiritual Socialism) in an evident reference to Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru,the banners across the pandal mentioned Bhagat Singh,Ashfaq-ul-Khan and even Sita Mata as Satyagrahi,the term coined by Gandhi.
There was space for everyone in the Maidan,clearly. Except for Ramdevs fast-mate Anna Hazare.
His fast was sponsored by a handful of people called civil society. Did you see such mass support there? Anna Hazare ko log piche se chalate the,Baba ke piche log chalte hain. You cant compare the two Kahan Raja Bhoj,kahan Gangu Teli, said RJDs Yadav.
Comparisons are also drawn that while Annas fast was spontaneous,Ramdevs movement is very carefully planned and focussed at larger issues.
And it was visible too. Men and women from West Bengal to Bikaner milled around waiting for Babas orders. The British looted us before Independence,we Indians looted us after that. As Pranayam cures an individual of ills,the fast will cure the nation. Baba will bring the new system, said Manas Mandal,a chemist from Birbhum,West Bengal. He was with his friends,jhaal muri with mustard oil.
In a nearby pandal,Rajasthani men and women danced to the tune of folk songs celebrating change.
There were also a few voices,tempering the enthusiasm. G R Khairnar,who took on the then Maharashtra CM Sharad Pawar,said: Earlier,Swamiji had announced to form a party and contest 2014 polls,but we have shelved the plans and decided to focus only on issues.
Few listened to Khairnar sitting on the podium as barely meters ahead,an organiser shouted at the music team for playing stale Bhakti tunes instead of high-pitch patriotic numbers.
