The color of the year 2011 for India is Black. But Black has become a curse. There began a big euphoria to erase Black in a spectacular battle comparable to India’s independence struggle. Now the battle took a concrete shape. There is a definite outline of the adversaries and the battlefields. Let us examine these outlines to judge the (over) actions, reactions and outcomes:
Battlefields: Jantar Mantar, Ramlila, and Rajghat. (Haridwar does not count.)
Battle tactic: Fasting and Fasting to Death
Black: People in power who can stop corruption and black money, but do not stop. They are the members of the Ruling Party (Congress), the Executive, the Bureaucracy and the Judiciary.
The adversaries of the Black brigade target , Digvijay Singh , Kapil Sibal, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Pranab Mukherjee and others..
As this brigade controls power of the state, they do not parade their supporters on the streets for the TVs to broadcast. Besides, they have other work to do like legislating, executing and prosecuting – basically running the government. They know corruption is a serious problem, but it is too deeply rooted in Indian society. In fact, they think corruption oils the wheels of economy (and politics) in India, and they fear that the economy will grind to a halt if corruption is stopped completely. They also know Rs 75 lakh crores of black money of Indians in offshore secret accounts is a huge exaggeration – it can never be realized.
The Black brigade is on the loosing side, bur they are not seriously worried about this phony battle. They are veterans at such battles and can make winners look like loosers.
White: People who see corruption is the main cause of India’s backwardness, and want to force Black brigade by hook or by crook to end corruption.
The White brigade consists of “Civil Society” members lead by Anna Hazare (Net worth: lakhs), Shanti Bhushan (many many crores), Prashant Bhuson (many crores), Justice N. Santosh Hegde (crores) and Arvind Kejriwal (lakhs). They think some members of Black brigade are ‘liars, cheats and conspirators’. Their leader believes a piece of legislation will end 90% corruption.
These are also veterans. In fact, these folks hobnob intimately with the Black brigade (including the liars, cheats and conspirators) on a daily basis. They go through the same revolving doors in Delhi’s power structures. Some of them were members of the Black brigade in their previous careers. They worked with Black brigade previously in drafting RTI legislation. They want to make new rules – and do not care if the new rules break THE RULEBOOK - the constitution of India.
The White brigade leaders are self-righteous, "pure" and "untainted". They mostly wear white and are mostly male. Remember they did not think Kiran Bedi to be good enough to get into their Five Star Chamber, but included a father and a son. This brigade enamors the electronic media. They have visible following in many town squares in a dozen big cities, in sections of Bollywood, and on twitter and facebook. Most of these followers are urban and tech-savvy males. They can quickly raise resources for the battles. Just before the White brigade’s first battle, they raised a donation of Rs. 82+ lakhs in a couple of days, spent Rs. 32+ lakhs and saved Rs. 50+ lakhs for future battles. Even the mini-show on Jun 8 at Rajghat fetched quite bit of money.
The White brigade wins the first round and a place for its members in Lokpal bill drafting committee.
Saffron (New): People who see black money is the principle cause of the decline of our economic status and prestige in the world. These are new kids on the block lead by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev. They wanted all black money (400 lakh crores) brought home before Baba ended his fast, so that Indian Rupee attains its true value of 50 US dollars (instead of current equivalent of Rs. 50 to one dollar).
Baba Ramdev with mammoth Yoga enterprise (worth Rs. 1100 crores) has a following of tens of thousands of people all over India in cities as well as small towns. About 5,000 of his followers traveled from different states to Delhi to support his show of battle at Ramlila grounds. These followers include men and women of middle class background and are driven by promise of health and a sense of patriotism. They do not have influential friends in Delhi’s power centers, TV media or Bollywoord. A Bollyward icon came forward to dismiss Baba Ramdev’s battle as “politically motivated”. The old Saffron crowd (RSS and sections of BJP) was glomming on to Baba, but offered little help. The BJP were Block brigade (ruling party) before UPA-1.
In a simple surprise midnight sweep, the novice Baba disguised in ”white“ female robes was removed from the Ramlila battleground and his followers were dispersed. To save face, Baba continued fast in Haridwar far away from the real battlefields of Delhi. He is now in a hospital due to deteriorating health. Finally, Baba ended his fast without any gains to show.
The Reds (Communists) are conspicuously absent in the battlefield, but that is understandable. They do not want to be seen with the Safron brigade and the White brigade does not want to be seen mixed with Reds. Also, the Reds are licking their wounds of huge defeat in the recent electoral (real) battles in their last outposts in West Bengal and Kerala.
So far, the Black brigade is enjoying the show of over-actions by the White and Saffron brigades. The Saffron brigade tasted a big tactical loss, and is in disarray. The White brigade won the first battle, but is not far from looking like a looser.
posted by Govinda Bhisetti @ 11:33 AM
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