Showing posts with label hunger strike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hunger strike. Show all posts

Friday, September 16, 2011

Fading Anna

On this moldy wall, someone's expressed support of Anna Hazare is slowly fading away.
It made me wonder what is left of his campaign that made such noise last month.

He's still out there making speeches and other demands. But there's much less noise about it.

In looking for current news about Hazare, I found an article about another anti-corruption hunger-striker and noted that they published the strategy. It emphasized what is annoying to me about the "hunger strike unto death": No one is serious about dying.
“If you go on a hunger strike till death it has to be a very specific issue,” Ahsan said. “The objective is very laudable, but you are not going to achieve it in the 45 to 50 days that you can survive on a hunger strike.”
I'm not convinced that much gets done through hunger strike.

I'm still waiting to see what impact Anna has.
Wondering if he soon fades away with the graffiti.

Someone who makes a lot of sense about the roots of corruption is Vishal Mangalwadi.
Here is some of what he had to say about it:
"[There is] no regard for personal dignity and no respect for honest hard work. Merit is irrelevant in the culture of corruption, only appeasement matters.”
"He [Anna Hazare] is indeed following our great men and the gods that our sages created. They crafted our myths and legends – our folk literature – in their self-interest."
"In order to eradicate corruption, we need a different Messiah: one who would not extract his ‘pound of flesh’ but sacrifice himself for our salvation. We need a Savior who is a shepherd, who would redefine our cultural idea of leadership as servanthood."
It is possible to get rid of corrupt officials and jail corrupt ministers, but the challenge is to change a culture.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

We are with you

After twelve days of fasting, the protesting is over.
Now there is no marching or slogan shouting. The main rally grounds are deserted.
Who won?
Supposedly Anna Hazare and his followers.
What did he win?
That remains to be seen.

Anna, called by some a "recently minted saint", proposed a bill for the parliament on anti-corruption and then took up a hunger fast.
The support for him was quick, loud and surprising.
To be Indian was to support Anna, "We are with you!" shouted people in trains, buses, parks, and at rallies throughout the city.

The protests reached my neighborhood also. Most of the marchers were middle aged, but there were also the young.

The hunger strike is over. So now what?

It takes more than words and a pledge to not give/take bribes.
It takes more than popularity to make a policy change that alters a nation.
It takes more than following the methods of Gandhi to demonstrate character.
It takes more than promises for true change.


Candles, flag waving and slogan shouting may be good at gaining attention--but it doesn't get to the root of the problem.

I'm not convinced that twelve days of not eating and becoming really popular are what cause people to value integrity.
I think a change of a much bigger nature is needed--a deep change of heart and of national character and values.

What was really won?
That remains to be seen.