As we go along our routine today , Baba Ramdev and his followers have commenced a protest fast at Ramlila grounds in Delhi.
The protest fast of Anna Hazare , a simple and commited Gandhian , is still fresh in our minds. We admired the spirit and zeal of this small,simple & frail old man and his team of concerned and commiteed ciitizens as they took on the might of the Indian establishment. The objective of Anna Hazare and his team was clear - to provide an effective administrative & legal tool to tackle corruption. The existing framework to handle corruption in Government is grossly inadequate and just has no teeth. Maybe the existing state of affairs is an agreeable arrangement for the ruling elite of India ;complete from business people, industrialist , bureaucrats with all & sundry politicians.
The protest fast was for a noble cause supported by millions of Indians fed up with corruption. Besides there was clarity of puprose on what needs to be done - in the short term (re-drafting of the Lok Pal bill) and eventually what needs to be attained (its passing in the parliament as a law) .It was a truly breathtaking and amazing act that complelled the Govenment to not only take them seriously but also to bring them to the negotiating table to accept nominees of civil society as members of the team re-drating the Lok Pal bill.
Its too early and may be pre-mature to comment on how negotiations are proceeding on the re-drafting of the Lok Pal bill. But ,one can be sure that the vested interests of the ruling elite will impede its progress and will not make the going easy for members of civil society.
While we are eagerly following the goings-on with the Lok Pal bill drafting , there comes another hunger fast ,that of Baba Ramdev. Somehow, noble though the cause is, this does not srike a chord in our hearts like in the earlier occassion. Maybe its too much of its kind too soon , maybe its smacks of opportunism . After all India is the world's largest democracy and a stable & vibrant one at that. Do we have to go on an indefinite protest fast to have our voices heard ? Do we not have democratic mechanisms is place to push issues of national importance? The success of Anna Hazare's protest fast should not set a precedent for more protest fast concerning people issues. The repeated fall back on extra- contitutional measures undermines India's position as a stable, functioning ,credible & progressive democratic state.
We will ,nevertheless, follow Baba's protest fast with great interest. We wish him and all concerned citizens like him to lead India into a newer , brighter and cleaner future.
