I am NOT Anna and dont want to be Anna

[Sachin=GOD]

I am NOT Anna and dont want to be Anna Like many middle-class Indians, I admire Anna Hazare for his courage, fortitude, simplicity, determination and self-belief and unequivocally endorse his goal of a corruption-free India. I dont think any patriotic Indian can quibble with that. But in this country, it has been said, for everything that is true, the opposite is also true. Let me confess: I also find Anna Hazare preachy, *****ly, sanctimonious, dogmatic and dictatorial. So, on the limited issue of the Lokpal Bill as well as the larger one of corruption in public life, I am caught between the devil and the deep sea, or, in keeping with popular preferences, between the infinitely less elegant rock and a hard place. I have no doubts in my mind: corruption, nepotism, crony capitalism and the state-ism that encourages them are practices whose time is up. Merit, quality, competition and the individual spark, the animal spirit, the atavistic sentiment that drives them are ideas whose time has come. Then why am I caught in two minds on Anna? I didn't have these doubts in April when Hazare, then still an obscure Gandhian, descended upon Jantar Mantar with his vision of a corruption-free India. Ironically, I started having second thoughts about Hazare, his agitation and his team shortly after the government came out with the first draft of its version of the Lokpal Bill which, to cut a long story short fell way short of expectations. The overwhelming show of public support for Hazare's fast at Ramlila Maidan in August proved that the informal covenant between Team Anna and urban India was still intact. He wanted our backing; in return, he would force the government to enact a law to eradicate, or at least reduce, corruption in public life. But this was also a turning point in the agitation some members of Team Anna, riding high on public adulation, began behaving like mavericks initially and megalomaniacs later. It was almost as if three Team Anna members in particular Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi had abrogated to themselves the right to decide what was, and what wasn't, right for the country, its people and for me, you, everyone. Their wishes, they implied, was superior even to the will of Parliament. Politicians, they told us, with a broad sweep of the brush, were venal, corrupt and the root of all society's ills. Their version of the Jan Lokpal Bill, they insisted, was superior to all other versions and had to be accepted in full, right down to the last comma. And the people of this country, they assumed, had given them the right to speak on their behalf. I don't know about you, but I find such a mindset dictatorial, arrogant and patronising and so, disagree with all of the above. I greatly treasure my democratic rights as a citizen of free India. And I strongly object to people especially unelected ones taking upon themselves the right to speak on my behalf on any subject that takes their fancy. As far as I'm concerned, Anna Hazare and his team have a very limited mandate: to act as a pressure group to force the government to come up with a meaningful anti-corruption bill. Any demand beyond that would need a fresh mandate, a new covenant. I have not authorised Team Anna to do any of the following: * Call for plebiscite in J&K; * Beat up people for drinking; * Decide whether FDI in retail is good or bad for the country; * Tar all politicians with the brush of venality and corruption; * Launch poll campaigns for or against any political party; and * Launch personal smear campaigns against individual politicians, in particular, against Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. By expanding its anti-corruption agenda to include these issues, Team Anna, I feel, has breached the trust the people of India had reposed in it. Its not that I'm upset because I support this or that party. Its just that I feel very strongly about Messrs Hazare, Bhushan, Kejriwal and Bedi exceeding their brief without so much as a by your leave. So, why are they shooting off their mouths on any and every issue, and yet, not saying a word against corruption in BJP and other opposition-ruled states? My feeling is that Team Anna is under siege. There are very credible allegations of corruption against former supercop Bedi. Charges of professional misdemeanour and financial mismanagement (relating to his availing of study leave at the *** end of his career as an IAS officer) have dented Kejriwal's image. And the younger Bhushan's comments in favour of plebiscite in Kashmir have not gone down very well with large sections of society. Because of these reasons, a significant section of Hazare supporters are now having second thoughts. After all, it is fair to expect that: * An anti-corruption crusader should be free from the taint of personal corruption. Let me clarify: I'm not suggesting even once that Bedi and Kejriwal are guilty. But the charges levelled against them are serious. And if they hold themselves to the same high standards they expect from everyone else, they should stand aside till their names are cleared. * A group that wants a better India should at least be concerned about maintaining its territorial integrity. By questioning KashmirÃÔ status within the Indian Union, Bhushan was making common cause with those inimical to this country. I, for one, am very uncomfortable backing someone whose views are more in line with those across the border. I'm writing this shortly before the public debate at Jantar Mantar. What's my stand on Team Anna and the next step(s) of his agitation? As I said at the beginning, I fully endorse his goal of a corruption-free India. I believe that his team, which should be reconstituted for the reasons given above, has a big role to play in the drafting of a new anti-corruption bill. I also feel that Team Anna's real relevance lies in its presence as one of several pressure groups, not as the arbiter of my destiny. Thats why I will be praying that Anna and many other civil society activists succeeds in pushing through a strong anti-corruption law. But because of the reasons given above, I will not wear an "I am Anna" cap anytime soon. Hindustan Times

[surajmal]

writer is a chewtiya.

[Sachin=GOD]

^any particular reason for that or its just because you don't like the way he tells things which many people are slowly starting to realize are actually true ?

[surajmal]

^any particular reason for that or its just because you don't like the way he tells things which many people are slowly starting to realize are actually true ?

Nah. I'm just sick and tired of people holding the parliament in such reverence. By all measures, democracy is a grand experiment. If an experiment doesn't work, people conducting it should have enough sense to abort and not try to beat a dead horse. All of these Anna detractors have one thing to say: Anna isn't above the parliament. WTF does that mean? Underneath we all know, majority of the politicians are bloody crooks. Introductions of EVMs have made rigging of elections only easier. Schemes like NREGA are vote buying schemes in gist. Seriously, in a civilized world, this government would have been sent to the gallows by now. From the JFK movie, when Costner's character is giving his closing arguments: "Someday, somewhere, someone may find out the damn truth. We better. Or We might as well built ourselves another government... like the declaration of independence says, when the old one doesn't work. Just a bit farther out west... A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government" That's how I feel about the current political system. And I don't see it being corrected without another revolution.

[ganeshran]

Its one thing to agree/disagree with the method that Anna is using to fight corruption. I fully understand the reservations anyone might have on pressure applied to get laws passed. However, the allegations against Anna's team would never have surfaced if he had not started this movement. He and his team are being targeted by Congress's PR machinery - which is quite obvious if you see the nature of allegations and how they have surfaced out of nowhere.

[Pagalpanti]

Very well put, when they started they were humble and non-violent in their approach. Didn't support any political parties and didn't want to link themselves with any party but slowly after involvement of Ramdev it just went down hill, they've started supporting or going against particular parties. Ahead of polls telling people whom to vote for or not, its just getting ridiculous. Kiran Bedi's speech about all MP's in general showed how arrogant they had become. Didn't expect Anna Hazare to go down the same path but he too couldn't resist. Asked 'how many times?' when he was told Sharad Pawar was slapped. :facepalm:

[asterix]

For more than 60 years Kangress has screwed up the public..Even if Anna or his team screws up the public once or twice, there no harm..Getting screwed up by Kangressis years after years, doesn't gives me any pleasure of the "democracy".. The way CBI has been used as a tool for every political solutions, by Kangressis, atleast I don't feel Anna or his team could do any worse harm.. So I'm willing to give them a chance or two..Those who are happy to get raped by Kangress for many years now and are angry at "pressure groups" like Team Anna are free to keep on getting sodomised by Kangress.. Its their choice. Nobody's forcing them to ditch their love for Kangress sodomy.. What's the most harm Team Anna can do? Atleast it cannot be more than what Kangress has done to the nation for many years now.

[1983-2011]

An open letter to Anna Hazare Dear Anna, Tomorrow, when you are about to start another fast, I write to you today as a common Indian citizen who is maybe more disgusted with the corruption plaguing the country than many others. Having personally seen corruption in police, legal system, et al in the last 1 year, my delusion with the country had reached its peak and I had considered what I never thought I would consider to migrate out of this country. But then you came along and with you brought a hope of change. I was super excited and the first time that you campaigned I did all I could to support you from the missed calls, to the sms and the email forwards. And after years I had hope for my country A hope for a better India. But then it ended there, and today I write this letter to tell you why. I will first start by telling you how I find you and the politicians are so similar: 1. All politicians irrespective of how minor they are change, once they taste power. Your team is no different The first time you campaigned, the idea was a strong Lokpal Bill and was not just JanLokPal Bill. But the next time around your campaign changed. From the underdog, common man telling the politicians that they should start give us a strong Lokpal Bill and take steps to curb corruption, your stand changed completely to saying give us only Jan Lokpal Bill. Leave alone the fact that the Jan LokPal Bill was equally flawed as the Government version, the entire campaign was a complete U-turn from the earlier one, when you wanted the Government to bring a strong LokPal Bill. Suddenly it seemed that your team was talking with the same tone, we were used to hearing politicians talk a tone which said we have the power and we will do what we want to, come what may. It seemed only you knew what was good for the country and even the likes of Aruna Roy and all knew nothing. It was as if only your team knew what was good for the country while the rest of the equally diligent civil society members knew nothing. That was the first time I realised that when one tastes power, everyone changes. 2. All politicians love to be the judge, jury and executioner of judgement of their own misdemeanors. Your team behaves identically like them. A few days back there was a huge hue and cry of most of your members. There was a hue and cry about Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and there was talks that you will change your team. So you guys decided to meet and judge the situation and take a decision. It was quite funny watching your team of so-called guilty individuals gather together (minus you) and proclaim themselves innocent and take the decision that they would continue as your core committee members. Actually the only members who were present for that meeting were the actual offenders. Somehow reminded me of politicians (read ministers), when charged with crimes who come up and say they will not leave their posts and would form a team who will report to them and tell them that they are innocent or guilty. 3. The third thing is your paranoia like the ruling party. The ruling part is of the opinion that anyone who stands with Anna is a part of RSS/ BJP, while you are of the opinion that anyone who dares call your team corrupt is a part of Congress sponsored campaign. While both are right according to me in their limited view, the fact is it is a complete wrong assumption to assume that your so called huge support is only cause of BJP/ RSS support and every dissenting voice against you is Congress sponsored. It seems both parties seems to have an extreme myopic view of any criticism leveled against them and seem to think they can make no mistakes. So tell me if the teacher behaves the same way as the so called errant students, how are you having the moral high ground to tell the politicians anything? My second problem is the hypocrisy your team displays at all levels and the dual standards you expect you should display and our politicians should display 1. LetÃÔ start with the fact that you were ready to sue Manish Tiwari cause he called you names, but you at every stage jump the gun, and call everyone the ruling party names. You keep calling them thieves, weak, etc. I have no love lost for any politician of this country, including the Congress, but I am of the firm opinion that you cannot preach, what you cannot follow at least in your public life. Tell me Anna, how are different from them? Have you shown me that your standards of conduct are better than theirs? 2. The second hypocrisy I find is when you have dual standards for the way you judge your team and the way you judge the politicians. A judge recently ordered an inquiry against your core team member Kiran Bedi. You and your team have immediately called it a Congress ploy casting aspersion of course on the judge. But when a judge just agreed to allow someone to present a case against Chidambaram, you and your team immediately declared him guilty and wanted him behind bars? Why Anna? Why this double standard? What is good for the gander should be the goose? Then why this dual standards for two teams? 3. The third hypocrisy is when you refuse to see the corruption in your team. Kiran Bedi has herself admitted to stealing. Even if I assume or even believe 100% that it was the Government which leaked the news, the fact is she herself admitted to the theft and hence irrespective of how the whistle blew, the story remains is that a wrong act happened. And please do not tell me that a Robin Hood act makes the theft any less of a crime. Robin Hood was a hero of the 13th century but in 21st century sensibilities have changed and such acts are considered a crime today. During our freedom movement, killing Britishers was a heroic act of independence, but today such an act would lead someone to call that person a terrorist, and by the same standards Kiran Bedi is wrong. So then how does your team hold the moral high ground to call politicians thieves? Not that they are not (or most are not) but what gives you the authority to call them one? Anna, when you show that you do not enact a single thing you tell the politicians to follow, why should I trust you? Thirdly Anna, and the biggest reason why I have no faith in you, is you like politicians are leading us on to believe you want to cure corruption, and which is far from the truth, and I will tell you why I believe you do not care. 1. Anna, in Hisar campaign you proudly gloated that cause of you Congress lost (ItÃÔ a different matter that Congress would have lost there and you used it as a political opportunism but nevertheless). So Anna, why do you want the Jan Lokpal Bill? Is it not to curb corruption? Or am I mistaken and there is a different agenda to your movement? Cause when you gloated that your team was the reason why Congress lost, you forgot to tell the world that you are the reason why the most corrupt candidate won. In other words, you have no interest in curbing corruption, just like every politician. 2. Anna, though I do believe that even if you are a BJP/ RSS sponsored campaign it does not taint your campaign, but the fact you led me on to believe that your campaign is apolitical, whereas its clearly only a anti-Congress campaign, makes me realise you and your team are no better than the bunch of politicians we have. Anna, I know you will tell that it is all a lie. But then let me ask you a simple question. You want a strong Lokpal Bill, and of course that includes a Lokpal in every state. Tell me Anna, why did you not come to Karnataka by-election and campaign against the BJP? The BJP here wants to remove the Lokpal, has made every effort to put in tainted officials in Lokpal after Justice Hedge retired, have even had the gaul to call Justice HegdeÃÔ report trash (He is the only team member in your team whom I sincerely respect), and yet not a word from you. Neither a word from you when Gujarat does not have Lokayukta head for over 7 years? So Anna, am I to believe that this anti corruption movement and Jan Lokpal is just a farce for you? And you only care to malign the Congress. I have no issues with you doing that, but to lead me on to believe otherwise is a criminal offence. Anna, the politicians robbed us of our money, of justice and basic belief that we matter. But none of the politicians, including our Raja and Kalmadi could rob me of my faith and optimism that tomorrow there would be a better India. That someday, someone will come along who will really be honest and think of us citizens first. But you Anna, have robbed me of that last faith too. So I beg of you Anna, do not continue your agitation. Am ready to live with the fact that we have corruption, but not ready to live with the fact that there is no hope Anna I do know that if you ever read this letter you will say that I am being paid by Congress cause like them, you cannot bear criticisms. You seem to live in this euphoria of the media generated circus that you are invincible and like the politicians, you too believe you own the country. Sadly you do not. And next time you tell in your interviews that 1.2 billion Indians are behind you, would appreciate you say, 1.2 billion 1 Indian is behind you, cause I am not. With best wishes Priyashmita PS : And if you can believe then do believe I am no Congress fan or for that matter fan of any politician. http://worldasisee.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/an-open-letter-to-anna-hazare/

[bihutoli]

If I was given a platform I would have ranted dirty on the political class too, given the contempt I hold them in. Some of team Anna's methods may be dirty but any movement that tries and dilutes the hold our politicians have on our country is to be welcomed. We can talk about the merits of alternate policies later, when the arm chair idealists come forth with it, but for me, right now the fight is between the government and team Anna and I know who's stand I will support.

[CSK Fan]

Its one thing to agree/disagree with the method that Anna is using to fight corruption. I fully understand the reservations anyone might have on pressure applied to get laws passed. However, the allegations against Anna's team would never have surfaced if he had not started this movement. He and his team are being targeted by Congress's PR machinery - which is quite obvious if you see the nature of allegations and how they have surfaced out of nowhere.

If I was given a platform I would have ranted dirty on the political class too, given the contempt I hold them in. Some of team Anna's methods may be dirty but any movement that tries and dilutes the hold our politicians have on our country is to be welcomed. We can talk about the merits of alternate policies later, when the arm chair idealists come forth with it, but for me, right now the fight is between the government and team Anna and I know who's stand I will support.

The point is, Anna and his team is not the common man anymore. Anna and his team most probably will be a part of the first lokpal. A lokpal which they want to have power over the prime minister, the judiciary and CBI. An unelected team which will weild such power. so of course now they will come under scrutiny. Also keep in mind that its the politicians who are corrupt, not our constitution. If it is diluted to such an extent, we shouldnt even be called a democracy. when a non-elected group of people have the highest power in the country, a group hand-picked by certain people, its more in the lines of auto-cracy

[Sachin=GOD]

The point is, Anna and his team is not the common man anymore. Anna and his team most probably will be a part of the first lokpal. A lokpal which they want to have power over the prime minister, the judiciary and CBI. An unelected team which will weild such power. so of course now they will come under scrutiny. Also keep in mind that its the politicians who are corrupt, not our constitution. If it is diluted to such an extent, we shouldnt even be called a democracy. when a non-elected group of people have the highest power in the country, a group hand-picked by certain people, its more in the lines of auto-cracy

Exactly. They are not responsible to anyone but they want the Parliament to bow to their whims and want be part of the most powerful Anti-Corruption Body in the Country. The worst thing about this whole Team Anna IMO is the way they are trying to blackmail the Govt that unless their demands are met they will campaign against the Govt in the upcoming elections - and then they call themselves apolitical and part of the "civil society"!!!

[asterix]

So why Team Anna is being given so much importance? Who's made them so powerful? It's not their fault if public is supporting them. And don't tell me that they are using populist agenda to get public support as if Political parties don't do that to garner vote. They are a pressure group and they are doing it with public support. If they don't get public support, they'll not be able to do that. They are atleast better than those commission/kickback taking anti-national lobby groups who indulge in even dictating which minister should get which ministry! Atleast better than those Radias and Barkha Dutts.. Atleast whatever they are doing, it's in public. Why Govt. is fearing of Blackmail? Do they think, they'll lose elections? It's okay for Political parties to bribe the voters by money and booze and swindle votes but it's not okay if any group is asking the electorates to not give votes if Govt. is corrupt..

[ravishingravi]

Lets just say that while I may not agree with Anna and this so called movement, you have to be in awe of the Kangress in your face corruption. Now, since the inception of CBI, there have been severe question marks over its credibility. Actually to be fair, it has never had any. And to keep them out of Lokpal's purview tells you a lot about Congress as a party.

[asterix]

They've been using CBI as a tool for long. Kangress uses CBI to get the "support" of SP & BSP MPs in the parlaiment to save it's govt. CBI is sitting on cases against Mayawati (Taj Corridor etc.) and Mulayam. The moment it comes to No-Trust vote in Parliament, it uses CBI to get SP & BSP MPs in line. They either vote for UPA or "abstain".. Is this the "Parliamentary Democracy" which some people cherish and want to "safeguard"? While I can understand the country needs a "stable" govt., the Kangress uses this as virtually to steamroll the opposition even when it depends upon lot's of parties to save in in the Parliament. Heck, it even doesn't consults it's own UPA partners before taking any major decisions (example: FDI), how can you expect it to listen to opposition voices in the Parlaiment? What sort of "debate" they want in the Parliament when they will do whatever they want (with the help of CBI to get various MPs in line)? Laaton Ke bhoot.. Baaton seh nahin maantey.. Jab G mein danda hota hain then they'll agree to 'include PM, C grade employees etc.' in the Lokpal bill. Why do they give chance to pressure groups like Team Anna? Just wait for couple of days, and see how include PM and Grade-C employees in the bill. If they couyld've done this in the first place, it could've not given chance to Team Anna or Opposition. Why do they wait for a kick in their back sides and then react? Now when they change their stance (after getting a kick and looking at the crowd in Jantar-Mantar), the public who are sitting on the fence, feel that Team Anna is actually 'getting things done' and more people join the movement. Not at all a fault of Team Anna..If you want to blame anybody, blame Kangress & UPA... People will be stupid to give a third term to UPA (just look at the prices, inflation & corruption etc.). Even if you don't like it, a govt. change is required in the next elections. You have to give opportunities to other parties to try and bring new and different policies. Kangress should think hard about the ground situation. They are lucky that now CBI will not be under Govt. control if any oppostion party forms the next Govt. otherwise Kangress arses will be roasted alive starting with that damaad Robert Vadra..They should thank their lucky stars..

[bulbul]

The point is, Anna and his team is not the common man anymore. Anna and his team most probably will be a part of the first lokpal. A lokpal which they want to have power over the prime minister, the judiciary and CBI. An unelected team which will weild such power. so of course now they will come under scrutiny. Also keep in mind that its the politicians who are corrupt, not our constitution. If it is diluted to such an extent, we shouldnt even be called a democracy. when a non-elected group of people have the highest power in the country, a group hand-picked by certain people, its more in the lines of auto-cracy

then what is constitution doing... How long we can go with this argument of Law is Bigger....Parliament is sacred... Law , parliamnet everything is for People from people...its not some thing written from Gods...made by people...no need to give them so much importance when people themselves struggling.. It easy to be an Intellectual in this country...but being a common man is difficult

[phaedrus]

I have not authorised Team Anna to do any of the following: * Call for plebiscite in J&K; * Beat up people for drinking; * Decide whether FDI in retail is good or bad for the country;

This is the reason why i have been unsettled by the anna campaign. If you have a bunch of people claiming to represent the people talk about i totally disagree with, go up against an elected government, whose opinion echo mine, we are asking for trouble. I am happy the anna movement happened, mainly it made politicans **** their pants. but i knew then and know now that its not going to end at corruption, a topic that all of us agree with. No one likes politicians, anyone going up against them is going to be cheered. just like the sardar who smacked Sharad Pawar. what next, make homosexuality illegal again, ban alchohol. They do not represent me and it makes me cringe every time they are called that.

[bulbul]

-28 do you any real opinion on this subject or Just copy pasting Con party's advertisment in media :winky:

[chainsmoker]

yes, anna is forgetting his limits and he thinks he is now bigger than the govt. So :finger: to him

[bulbul]

Dear Anna, PS : And if you can believe then do believe I am no Congress fan or for that matter fan of any politician. http://worldasisee.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/an-open-letter-to-anna-hazare/

do this really required if person is Unbiased...why she should care what others think if what she writes is true?

[bulbul]

I have not authorised Team Anna to do any of the following:

I have authorized..Anna plz go ahead :two_thumbs_up: