Ever
since the Aam Aadmi party was formed, its national convener, Arvind
Kejriwal, has spoken repeatedly about changing the politics of this
country. While many have pooh-poohed this as the talk of just another
newly minted politician, the AAP has shown that it is attempting
something new and fundamentally different. The AAP has spoken extensvely
about Swaraj and decentralization. They have highlighted the need for
better governance. They strived for the Lokpal since their pre-political
avatar. They dared to expose the powerful and connected. They have
strived for transparency by publicizing all donations made to the party
and refusing donations from people who wished to remain anonymous. Now,
they have embarked on a civil disobedience movement of the kind not seen
since independence.
Shortly after its formation,
the AAP embarked on a series of exposes. The media took immediate notice
because the exposes dared to take on the high and mighty across party
lines. Interestingly, sections of the media privately praised the AAP
party for its efforts, admitting that they had all this information all
along but simply did not have the “guts” to lay it bare before the
public -- a classic example of the failure of our fourth estate.
Unfortunately, despite the documentary evidence garnered from the public
domain and from RTI filings, the government ignored the exposes. The
media, meanwhile, was summarily threatened by large industrial houses
from covering these exposes. The most recent of these exposes involved
the Sheila Dikshit government of Delhi, and its hand in the inflated
electricity and water bills of the residents of Delhi.
Sections of the media and
several talking heads on TV have derided the AAP as a product of “OB
Van” politics. They predicted boldly that they would vanish into
insignificance once the OB Vans stopped covering them. The ongoing fast
by Arvind Kejriwal has completely debunked this theory. This fast is
labeled as an attempt to inspire people to overcome their fears and join
the civil disobedience movement, one that involves refusing to pay the
inflated electricity bills. Instead of creating a media spectacle,
Arvind Kejriwal chose to fast in a nondescript slum in Sundar Nagari,
far from the media’s sought-after areas. The AAP insisted that crowds
not gather at the venue of the fast. Instead, volunteers and
well-wishers were encouraged to participate in a well thought out
“ground game” of signing up supporters for the civil disobedience
movement. The result was that over eight lakh people signed up in a
matter of a few days, and this list is growing by the day.
Interestingly, the media has
now started to take notice. There have been a few discussions on TV
about civil disobedience and Arvind Kejriwal’s fast. BJP and Congress
personnel on these panels were hard pressed for meaningful responses.
They realize that the AAP has slowly but surely brought up a very
relevant issue that hurts the common man, and while the government in
power has chosen to ignore it, the opposition has failed to hold the
government responsible.
“Freedom is when the people
can speak. Democracy is when the government listens.” This quote
(attributed to Alistair Farrugia) is extremely relevant in the case of
India. Thus far, we are lucky that bold and daring exposes have
occurred, though there have been efforts to clamp down on such exposes
by powerful industrial houses with vested interests. In other words, if
you are fearless like the AAP, you can speak up. But one thing that is
consistent is that we clearly don’t have a government that listens. The
AAP has been immensely successful in slowly driving home this point to
the people of Delhi.
India has hardly witnessed
civil disobedience since independence. There are some who decry the move
towards civil disobedience by the AAP. But when you elect a government
once every five years, and the government treats this election as a
blank check to do whatever it wants, with no grievance redressal
mechanism in place whatsoever for the citizens, then what option is the Aam Aadmi
left with? They have tried public exposes and other efforts to get the
government in power to respond, but to no avail. Embracing civil
disobedience seems to be the last and only approach to gain a response
from the government.
The Sheila Dikshit government
in Delhi is making a huge mistake by not facing the issue head on. The
thinking that “if you ignore it, it will die down” is a gross
miscalculation on their part. On the other hand, if they take up the
issue and address this genuine grievance of the people, there might
still be an opportunity for them to garner some support as
problem-solvers. The opposition is on a much more difficult wicket. They
neither have the power to address the issue, nor do they have the moral
authority to join the protesters after being bystanders while this
injustice was being propagated. Meanwhile, the AAP is slowly but surely
beginning to strike a chord with the people of Delhi in new and
innovative ways.
http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/outsideedge/entry/the-aam-aadmi-party-aap-strikes-a-chord
