The other day as I was walking from my office across the road in Sector V when suddenly I saw a group of so called enthusiastic people walking in a group shouting slogans like “Long Live Anna Hazare”, and stuff like that. (Of course it brought traffic to a standstill in the busy evening). Well, it made me think, “why is there so much hullaballoo about this Hazare guy, who is he
”.
Well, for those who do not know this guy, Kisan Baburao Hazare aka Anna is nowadays considered to be the messiah who has taken a vow to eradicate the term corruption from India. To him, the source of corruption is the Jan Lokpal Bill, once that is prevented. India will be corruption free. Good ridiculous cause indeed. And as it always happens in India, gurus get followers easily- so we have thousands lining up to support him, hailing him as a true hero. Yes we are all fed up with corruption, but what we fail to understand is that by supporting people by Anna Hazare, we are indirectly supporting another breed of corrupt individuals, ac corruption from different kind- opportunism.
To me people like Anna are like parasites who survive on the food of another animal. Well, Hazare and his followers are well happy surviving on the corruption of the government. The more corrupt the government gets- the more bread and butter will they get to build up a public opinion and sympathy. And who knows sooner or later he may form a political party and contest in the elections. We have already seen some big babaji, go on fast, and suddenly declare “I want to join politics”. So why not this Anna too? I ask In fact these types of people want corruption to breed more, or else they will not flourish. They are using each step of corruption to make their own political platform, and we buffoons are supporting them. To fight corruption needs a strong will power, and not some stupid drams like fasting on Ramlila Maidan, under the umbrella of media cameras. There have been numerous instances where honest people have successfully stood up against corruption in their own manner, but nobody cares about them. It was because they were more committed to the cause, rather than gaining public glare and recognition.
In an interview about the Anna Hazare issue, Rahul Bose has right said, “‘we all want to eradicate corruption. If something like that happens we all will be helped. But this particular incident where Anna Hazare is going on a fast is complicated. It’s not simple. Who all are along with him, who wants to take the profit of it at Jantar Mantar, who actually believes in it and who doesn’t?” This is exactly what it should be; we should first think about the issue, and not follow someone blindly.
So the next time, if you are really concerned about corruption- start in your small way. If you see a policeman taking bribe on the road, protest against that. Do not join the crowd and support someone baselessly, or else ultimately you are going to be fooled by these humbugs. Always remember “charity begins at home”
