What a shameful end to a movement that held a lot of promise... the world watched as a Gandhian straddled the nation cutting across religion, caste and politics on one common yet simple platform of anti-corruption drive.... if there was any lingering doubt of a united India it ended with the show of support that came in for this self sacrificing obviously patriotic man from across India... Kashmir to Kanykumari everybody supported him... everybody went crazy about "Anna" and proudly sported "I am Anna" caps... not a mean feet... just when we thought there was no end to the scams that this country could produce we got a hero in the nick of time....
I myself supported the old man... and thanked God that I was an Indian... that we had consistently challenged authority in a peaceful manner... I was also an ardent supporter of the Government... I didnt believe that politicians were all bad... I trusted democracy... and to the extent the Government relented in having a 10 member panel to discuss the lokpal bill I was satisfied... the Government had been brought down to its knees and that was enough for me... I didnt want anything else... not to topple it not to bring another party in power... just getting the government to respond...
then I saw the movement trip over its own importance... they overstayed their welcome.. .people were happy to achieve a compromise... and then go back home to their lives... nobody wanted a displacement of Government... Team Anna forgot their own humble origins.. and presumed knowledge for you and me... and declared famously on TV that Anna is above Parliament... Oh come on... and combined with the constant "we are just friends" dialogue when it came to BJP when it was obvious that they were sleeping with each other (at least the parent RSS was)... Neutrality was thrown out of the window.... and you had a movement that was slowly inching towards "annhilate COngress" mode... I stepped back... I didnt want a BJP Government... I wanted this Government -only better ..... and then the final nail on the coffin was the campaign against the Congress in the various states.... shamelessly BJP tried to gain mileage out of it and gave away the elections to the smaller parties...
and now the announcement that they would join politics and form a party ..... With Kejriwal demanding that we should topple the Government.... If there was any doubt about how immature this movment was this was it... no sagacity... no compromise... no understanding... far from the mentor Gandhi they used to keep invoking before every fast.....
I am happy for the circus to end..... happy also that they have a political outlet... I fear people like Kejriwal who believe they know best.... it will be a case of Mamta Didi in Bengal - where any opposition to her is branded as communist agenda... Kejriwal will be like one of those people who will shout "you Congress" everytime anybody questions him.....
I myself supported the old man... and thanked God that I was an Indian... that we had consistently challenged authority in a peaceful manner... I was also an ardent supporter of the Government... I didnt believe that politicians were all bad... I trusted democracy... and to the extent the Government relented in having a 10 member panel to discuss the lokpal bill I was satisfied... the Government had been brought down to its knees and that was enough for me... I didnt want anything else... not to topple it not to bring another party in power... just getting the government to respond...
then I saw the movement trip over its own importance... they overstayed their welcome.. .people were happy to achieve a compromise... and then go back home to their lives... nobody wanted a displacement of Government... Team Anna forgot their own humble origins.. and presumed knowledge for you and me... and declared famously on TV that Anna is above Parliament... Oh come on... and combined with the constant "we are just friends" dialogue when it came to BJP when it was obvious that they were sleeping with each other (at least the parent RSS was)... Neutrality was thrown out of the window.... and you had a movement that was slowly inching towards "annhilate COngress" mode... I stepped back... I didnt want a BJP Government... I wanted this Government -only better ..... and then the final nail on the coffin was the campaign against the Congress in the various states.... shamelessly BJP tried to gain mileage out of it and gave away the elections to the smaller parties...
and now the announcement that they would join politics and form a party ..... With Kejriwal demanding that we should topple the Government.... If there was any doubt about how immature this movment was this was it... no sagacity... no compromise... no understanding... far from the mentor Gandhi they used to keep invoking before every fast.....
I am happy for the circus to end..... happy also that they have a political outlet... I fear people like Kejriwal who believe they know best.... it will be a case of Mamta Didi in Bengal - where any opposition to her is branded as communist agenda... Kejriwal will be like one of those people who will shout "you Congress" everytime anybody questions him.....
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