So, the name of the game is: Deactivate the activists. Since sleaze is a politician’s birthright, spoilsport in the playfield answering to such names as Hazare, Bhushan et al need to be silenced, if that privilege were to be enjoyed in perpetuity. And what best ploy to achieve that end than using the politician’s most handy stock in trade, namely, muck, something he himself can handle with effortess ease owing to a naturally, endowed thick skin. Honest activists, on the contrary are sensitive people, touchy to a fault. Even an inkling of a blemish on their self may bully their conscience into beating a retreat. Small wonder that the Dirty Tricks Department of the ruling regime is terribly busy these days with the familiar dirt dealers like Digvijay Singh and Amar Singh in full flow.
The intensity of this muck- raking, though not surprising, is quite shocking for its audacity. At the outset, whatever the motives of the activists or the merits of their anti-corruption proposals, for the first time a rare public outcry got demonstrated. Those ephemeral visuals may have now ceased to be breaking news but had nevertheless brought the Government to its knees and even managed to extract some promises from it. And there is some semblance of follow up movement towards a law, though everyone knows that is not the final solution but the beginning of a long war. In this context, the UPA’s counter attack on the personalities behind the movement not only smacks of vendetta but also stands as a negation of public opinion and mood. That the rulers can switch to such vengeful mode so soon speaks of their insensitivity to a core national concern besides betraying their vested interests in remaining corrupt.
A greater contradiction shines forth like a neon sign. The burden of Cong’s smear campaign is that the crusaders themselves have some skeletons in their midst and, therefore, have no moral right to take up cudgels against corruption. The idea is to somehow shelve and, if possible, scuttle the message by shooting the messenger. That a just cause is always larger than its champion and, therefore, will outlive the latter is divine logic but we will come to that later. Let’s instead puncuture the Cong polemic on the simple point of proportion. And so, let’s for argument sake concede that the activists do have some past indiscretions to their credit. So what? What is the latest yardstick of cleanliness in public life? By a natural association of thought and Cong’s own claims, it is the life and times of MSingh, the super clean PM of India not to mention that unholy ‘inner voice’ to which this man lip syncs. Starting with the stock scam when he was FM and now to the serial scams rocking his stint as premier, MSingh has presided over and winked at some of the biggest scandsls not just in Independent India but in human history. Yet he is made to emerge unscathed with nary a scratch on his persona. Of the eternally immune St. Superior owing to whose benediction he is in power, the Bofors guns may have fallen silent, but the booms and blasts from the past still linger. Now, at the risk of insulting Hazare and Bhushan, may we ask: Are these champions who hold no public office and do not handle public money worse than that dubious duo that bled the country dry? Should H and B quit quietly while Singh and the Signora hold forth? What travesty!
The comparison though odious is also relevant vis-a-vis the larger public too. This is a sinful society and these are trying times. The devaluation of human material even when mankind is supposed to be evolving is not just a philosophical angst but a practical truth of the present. The process is definitely inclined downwards and is quite sweeping, covering in its arc saints and scoundrels alike. Right and wrong are, therefore, not immutable opposites but only matters of shades and degrees. Forget Hazare or Bhushan, what of all those who thronged Jantar Mantar during those few days or the rest of the janata who cheered them from afar? The crowd must surely have included those who would have greased cops, bribed a babu, sold a house for half in black or at the least, cut some corner somewhere in a business dealing. While the political pigs perennially wallow in muck, each one of us would have surely taken a dip or at the minimum, put a foot into that pit on the path of life. Such being the situation, why not junk the whole idea of Lokpal on the specious logic that all the lok are actually a bunch of paypals, with everyone scratching everyoneelse’s back? The point is all of mankind is a rogues’ gallery with several levels! Clearly a line needs to be drawn between big time public loot and petty private thefts as also between political corruption of those in office and grassroot graft of the governed. Both are cancer and clot, but the bigger lump needs first aid first and fast, because it threatens life, not just a limb. In short, we prajas cannot hold a candle to Raja.
That said, one must be wary and watchful of even honest activists. This is not a comment on their ethical quality but a statement of a fact of life. Gandhi or Gaddafi, all have their weak moments. Humans are frail and, therefore, can fail. Human consistency or character cannot be a test of a cause, rather association with one adds value to a person. Their minds and bodies, being fickle and limited by nature, cannot be trusted with the custody of such lofty things like justice, truth and dharma. At best, humans are temporary carriers like in a relay, not the ultimate repository. That burden lies elsewhere, beyond contact or comprehension.
A cause has to be insulated from the vagaries of human nature. It is indeed important to refrain from making a holy cow of mortals, whatever their worth. No one is wholly holy or perennially perfect. So when mortals are elevated and equated to a message, the latter too will fall when the former falls, at least in the short run. Though a lost case or a lacklusture champion does not mean a lost cause, even a brief lull is enough for evil to gain a foothold. Imagine the set back if H or B were to withdraw in sheer frustration? That is precisely the relief that the present regime is seeking through its assault on the activists. The surest way to insulate against this threat is to make common cause and draft more shoulders into the fight so that even the exit of one will still keep the cause on even keel.
And this must be done not with the idea of supporting any activist but becoming one oneself. Even if it means getting ripped and stripped in public by the likes of Amar Singh!
e-mail the writer at [email protected]