Societies, nations and the global village are changing so rapidly that the administrators of the systems of these societies and their policy makers are finding it hard to keep up with them and are in a state of worry about what to do. Even mutual relations between countries are not subject to the same outmoded paradigms and traditional rules and policies. Because the pressure of change is such that nobody could have anticipated these difficulties and the system of the global village itself unstable and amorphous.
Just look at climate change for instance. It is clear how human beings are helpless in the face of climate change. The seasons of rainfall are changing. Theres no time for snowfall. The speed of melting glaciers is forever going up and down. Hence, the earth and the waters have decided to show an attitude to humanity. The fact that the number of tsunamis and earthquakes in the last decade has been more than in an entire century is testament. The collective worry of humans now surpasses the worry at any point in history. I wont talk of these upheavals and neither can the space in a single write-up be sufficient for such issues. In todays column, I will move on to India which witnessed the greatest manifestation of a functioning democracy, greater than that in the Arab world, yet the Pakistani media gave it no noticeable coverage. Maybe its because democratic protests were unheard of in the Arab world and were hence extraordinary in that context but India is a democracy and such activity over there is merely ordinary and routine.
But the democratic protests that I want to draw your attention to was one against corruption and a pacifist and non-violent one in line with Gandhian ethics. It was a protest that shook the rulers. The background is that India has been debating the Lokpal Bill (Citizen Ombudsman Bill) for quite a while now. This proposed law gives every ordinary citizen the right to bring a case of corruption to an authoritative department against any public representative or public servant whom they feel might have committed such a crime. That filing of a complaint would then lead to swift action against the accused no matter how powerful and privileged he/she is. He/she would not be beyond the arm of the law and would be punished like any other ordinary citizen if proven guilty.
Some democratically elected representatives were obstructing the passage of this bill and were hemming and hawing about it. Tired of their shenanigans, a social worker Anna Hazare gave an ultimatum to the government that they should draft the law and pass it without any delay and then swiftly setup a department for its enactment to which people could take their complaints. As usual, nobody paid heed to this ultimatum and this man simply informed the media and went on a hunger strike in an entertainment spot in the city of Delhi. In no time, many people gathered around him and by the third day, his protest was being broadcast live on television. Without any preparation or plan, people came out of their houses in droves in support of the cause. Each city had hunger strike camps now and people joined these camps in hundreds of thousands as a show of solidarity with the protesters. Hence, this peaceful protest spread like an epidemic throughout the country.
Once it spread, people used different avenues to express their disgust against corruption. Some had banners, others were chanting slogans. Someone had No Corruption emblazoned across their face in paint while countless other young men and women (even children) had Humaaray nayta corrupt hain (Our rulers are corrupt) tattooed across their arms. Hence, in this movement, people expressed their view against corruption in any and every possible. The situation was such that expressing solidarity with the movement became a social necessity for every individual.
Everybody stepped forward and announced their support. Social workers, poets, philosophers, musicians, painters, everybody spoke and no class of society was left behind. The politicians thus had no choice but to come out in support of this movement also. But when a politician tried to enter one of these camps, he was barred from doing so because no politician was allowed to go near the people on strike. When the entire populace was up in arms, the big industrialists of India (who are considered huge magnates globally) also spoke up. I personally heard the heads of the Bajaj and Godrej groups in favour of this movement and I saw Shaban Azmi, Diya Mirza and Urmila pay their respects at a camp. Whereas Anupma Kher was one of the organisers of a certain camp and even his house was attacked by Shiv Sena goons in retaliation.
This is a unique movement, one of its kind with links to Gandhi-ism. Indian society is no stranger to Gandhian movements. Most politicians rightly feared that this may spiral out of control. An ordinary social worker of Mumbai who used to solve small-time public problems was now suddenly the leader of a mass of one billion and twenty crore people. The government was now panting with worry and in this state, they fervently started contacting Anna who refused to see any minister and told them to talk to his representatives. Out of compulsion, the ministers had to negotiate.
As per usual, government representative came up with a half-baked draft of the law in an attempt to placate the man and to give him the impression that his demands had been fulfilled. But Anna refused to budge and rejected this draft and put forward his condition that this law of accountability would be drafted in collusion by the government and civil society. There would be five members of each on a committee which would be headed by two people: one nominated by the government and the other by civil society. Then this draft will be swiftly enacted by parliament and then implemented. Anna Hazare also said that he would keep an eye on the implementation and if the law was not implemented in letter and spirit, then he would proceed to the Red Fort on 15th August (where the official celebrations of independence take place) with the full force of the public behind him an initiate a new movement.
If this voice had been raised sometime ago, it could have been dismissed in jest. But this voice of revolution has been raised in a world that has changed. This is a world where even people who have been oppressed for centuries have stood up. India, on the other hand, is an independent country. One of the members of the ruling party and a minister who was also a member of the committee commented, What difference will the enactment of this law make? The reaction to his statement was so vehement that he had to take back what he said and deny it. We, too, are afflicted by the malaise of corruption and our public, too, is restless to be rid of it. We couldnt figure out the way but Anna Hazare has shown us the light the way he showed it to the Indian public. We need to adopt a similar way because our politicians may be way worse than their Indian counterparts.
The writer is one of Pakistans most widely read columnists.
