Anna Hazare’s Movement…. Key Success Factors

Its been some hectic past week . We have seen and heard everywhere all the talk about “Anna Hazare” and his fast , demanding the government to pass the  Janlokpal bill. The movement has gathered support from all corners, much to the surprise of many,probably Anna himself.

Lets understand why such a movement is able to garner so much of support of people from all walks of life ?.  Let us try to logically reason it out.

• It's not about Jan Lokpal

 We all know that very few know about the Jan Lokpal (Anna’s version) and Lokpal Bill( Govt. version) and the similarities and difference between them. General public has either got the time nor the expertise to understand the bill fully and comprehend it. The general public sees and understands a bigger picture. They are more tired and frustrated with the recent scams. May be it it 2G scam, CWG scam,Madhu Khoda scam, Adarsh scam or Karnataka mining scam. Everyone feels something needs to be done for this, and they found the Janlokpal bill and Anna's Movement as a tool to vent out their frustration.All these scams are also making people distancing themselves from politicians. So it has more become a battle between Netas and Aam Jantas.

• It's all about Anna

Today's politics really lacks a truly mass leader, whose charismatic style lures general public away. Earlier it was Gandhi, Nehru and then Indira,Jayprakaash Narayan or Vajpayee. In the absence of such leaders, the general public was always looking for a great leader and they found one with Anna Hazare, who possess a clean and credible image. When they found such a leader after a long time, people start believing that they have found one who can take their fight against corruption to higher scales.

• Herd Mentality

“My neighbor has gone to Anna’s possession” , “My friend has posted in facebook saying that he is supporting Anna”, “If I do not follow, then I am left out and probably be labelled as Non Indian” . This is the exact feeling, many of the Indians have in mind. Hence if someone else is doing, let me also do… a typical case of  herd mentality. The herd mentality converts in to a revolution when it reaches a critical mass and attracts people from all aspects of life. Anna’s movement has already reached a critical mass or is in the verge of reaching it.

Well I do agree that there needs to be a total support for movement against corruption. But at the same time, we can not just go by one view. There needs to be a debate .In one hand,  Jan Lokpal bill, which if implemented in its current version, may give sweeping power to one particular body, which is absolutely against the democracy, whereas  in other hand, if the powers are distributed, then too many loopholes encourage corruption. It’s a complex situation,  difficult to solve completely. Only an honest attempt , both from Govt, civic society and general public will help in curb the corruption. This is  easier said than done.

For a movement, Anna’s movement has energized most people. I hope that emotions and ego should not and should never over take the logic in such a sensitive issue with far reaching consequences to Indian democracy.

 Kiran