Anna, Baba and the Great Indian Political Tamasha by Anupam Dabral
August 15, 2011 
The basic essence of a democracy which is, by the people, for the people and of the people seems to be extremely volatile if we look at the past series of events which was a melodramatic show put up by Baba Ramdev and the entire Congress Party .
The exemplification of democracy which was given by the so called ‘responsible people’ of India is totally full of lawlessness and disorder. The sickening situation of our nation is increasing at a great pace, where the richer are getting richer , poorer are turning into rebels and the middle class most of the times goes unrepresented and sandwiched between the rich and the poor. Morality seems to be a distant dream as the crusaders of morality have turned into the epitome of immorality and are busy seeking out their blunt objectives.
The entire show began when Anna Hazzare went on a strike in regards to the Lok Pal Bill: the government agreed and seemed ‘ok’, but nobody had an idea that in Haridwar a lean , saffron clad Sadhu was getting prepared for a bigger moment which would be the headlines of all the news channels for the days to come.
Baba Ramdev broke the ice/ceiling for the sages who kept themselves away from politics, by not only participating in it , but by trying to change the face of the Indian politics which has been shattered by corruption and nepotism . The agenda was ‘to get entire chunk of Indian money from the foreign banks to India and to clear of the magnanimous burden of debt that India was bearing’.
However the dramatic twist came at the Ramleela Ground where Baba had organized a large scale ‘Amran Anshan’ along with people of India who are troubled by the current government. The 2G Scam, the Common Wealth Scam and the soaring prices of the basic commodities were a few reasons for an unexpected response to the stimuli, an enormous number of people turned up.
But yet again it was proved that politics is nonetheless a spicy, dramatic, movie and for a change people did not only witness it, they participated in it too . Police lathicharged the gathering at Ramleela Grounds, injuring people, leaving some of them paralyzed and leaving Baba in an awe that the government which was sending ministers to receive him at the airport could actually engage in such an intra-mural bloodshed.
Then began the ‘save your head game’ where the baba fought, the congress fought and the news channels increased their ratings. Congress blamed Baba for his undisclosed property, his 40 million dollar empire. Mr Digvijay Singh called him a ‘ thug’ , Laalo Pradad Yaadav called him a mere yoga trainer , Shahrukh Khan called him a propagandist and Mayawati asked him to choose between his exercise and politics.
Baba Ramdev had to flee to Haridwar and the entire nation saw. It was very much evident that a Sadhu had lit a fire that would gain gargantuan dimensions in the times to come.
Introspection:
If one sits and introspects , that why such a noble movement taking a cause that made the entire Cabinet sweat and sent a chill down their spine met such a fate, one can draw certain conclusions. It was Baba’s audacious attitude, lack of diplomacy and allowing himself to be misguided which led to a grand fiasco. There was a huge lack of communication between Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. If the two Titans would have been together then the picture would have been very different. Baba did not fully support Anna in his movement and became a flag bearer for his own agenda.
Looking objectively Baba has a huge fan following of the middle class and Anna has greater supporters in the Upper Middle class, the biggest difference is in the type of people the two leaders cater.
Anna is calm and serene, he knows the inside outs of the ruthless politics, the importance of protocols , the nerves of the very nervous and faulty Indian politicians. On the other hand Baba being the literal son of the soil is new to the political battleground, claims of changing the world through yoga and of contesting elections for Lok Sabha in 2014.
Anna Hazare fasted for 108 days in last 20 years. We owe him the RTI ACT and the Ombudsmen, he has managed to do a lot than the fiery eyed, rambling tongued Baba.
On the whole the role of Baba Ramdev has been like that of a maverick and his defeat has laid a foundation for a mindset that requires change and a speedy change. The moment though , subdued due to the political tamasha at present will come up again with maybe a greater force on 16th August bringing hope for people at large and compelling our politicians to be more accountable to their office.
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