(NOTE: 1. Read the entire thing before outraging and shouting abuses. 2. This is not an outright pro/anti post, just trying to drill down the facts of what is going on. 3. I am not a supporter of any party and no one asked me to write this.)
All over India, people are outraging against an apparent “dictatorial government” and “evil politicians” for their corruption and high handed ways of draining the country of billions of Rupees of public money. There have been millions of articles poured out all over the Internet about the Jan Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare, the Government and so on. This one is not supposed to add fire to that debate. This post is about the demographics of Anna’s supporters which is the Indian Middle Class. But first I let me declare my stand:
Corrupt politicians and bureaucrats need to be controlled, their assets seized and they should be put in jail. And it is reasonable to think that they in power will not make laws that will stop their own corruption, and a mass movement may be required to let the government know what we want. That is all fine. Why I am against the Janlokpal or the Government’s Lokpal is that absolute power should not be concentrated anywhere, especially so in the hands of someone who is not accountable to anyone, reports to none and can lord over anyone who they want to. And the calls of “Revolution”, “Second freedom struggle”, “Corruption will be abolished” through the Lokpal bill and associated war cries are irritating, senseless and ridiculous.
It has been made out that there are millions out there coming out in support for Anna, but the real truth is a bit far off. It is the middle and upper middle class, the biggest “beneficiaries and drivers” of corruption who are coming out in droves to support Anna and the movement, backed by the institution that has benefited the most by it’s rise – The Media. The real casualties of corruption, the poor, nameless, faceless, homeless, dalits, tribals, have no say in anything that would benefit them the most. We see far more jeans and t-shirts in the throng than we do dhoties.
Yes, they are the same newly empowered children of shining India. Typically they are like me and you: Have migrated to the big city from another state, have regular day jobs and Facebook accounts, live on loans and EMIs, drive 1 liter cars, roam around in malls but shop at local roadside vendors or Big Bazaar, dream of buying an apartment in the suburbs or IT corridors and whose parents are either government servants/teachers/small business people or ex-NRIs. A distinguishing feature of every Indian person and the middle class especially is that they have an inflated opinion of themselves: Think they are upper middle class, while actually they are just at the lower end of the regular middle class, which leads them to think that they are “superior” to the people who do regular things and are regular like you know, all the above mentioned. They also find it “cool” to protest on the internet while being sanctimoniously hypocritical about their own misdeeds.
They also have another distinguishing feature: They abhore and absolutely despise politics and anything related to politics. They do not want to be associated with anyone who do things even close to politics, like, Voting. During the last LS elections, all hill stations, beach side stations and other such tourist destinations were overbooked as people started heading out of an extended holiday weekend due to elections. A guy who owns a resort near my place in Kerala said that there were people calling in from far away Delhi and Chandigarh asking for bookings that he had to put up a recorded caller tune saying that rooms are full and booking is closed!
Thanks to 24 hour news channels, the Internet and being well read and traveled, the middle class is intensely aware of national issues but only to skim their surface . They know about the 2G spectrum scam and 1.76 Lakh Crore is missing somehow but not about it’s further intricacies. And they don’t want to know. So the conclusion is that A.Raja and the remaining politicians somehow siphoned off this amount from somewhere and put it in their Swiss bank accounts. No one outrages about Balwa or Maran or anyone else. It is always the politicians who are evil and not the supporting corporates or bureaucrats. They do not know where their vote is, why they should vote and who their MP or MLA is. Also, they are naive, gullible and easily led by false promises and have an amazing sense of entitlement, believing that is is them who build up this nation. They just want their rights without doing even their most basic of duties.
People around the world are facing bullets to get a right to vote. In India, non-voters want non-elected people to make laws.
— Nitin Pai (@acorn) August 19, 2011
Yes, politics is “dirty” and there is a general consensus that whoever comes into power will be equally corrupt as well. And all this hoopla of electing people and asking them to make laws do not work any more they feel. But it still does, as the recent elections in 5 states with heavy poll percentages showed: CPM was kicked out of it’s bastion of 34 years, DMK was sent to political oblivion and a carefully balanced majority made the Kerala government a performing one! But people living in cities do not buy all this. They are creatures of higher being, and cannot be troubled by elections and stuff. As Manu Joseph mentions in his article “A Dictator for India’s Bourgeoisie” for the New York times here:
For decades, many educated Indians have resented the fact that they are governed by low-grade people voted into office by drivers and maids and illiterate farmers.
https://twitter.com/#!/samar11/status/104377391366930432
And hence, without understanding the intricacies or impact of subverting the freedom we enjoy today by restricting powers of the representative model of Parliamentary Democracy, they took to the streets fed up of corrupted bureaucrats and politicians, without acknowledging the fact that they, and/or their parents are/were equally corrupt and are the ones who allowed this malaise to grow into the phenomenal levels that it is today. And having got a chance to “do something” against them evil politicians and rulers, we jump into the fray, no wonder not knowing what the entire thing amounts to. Also, show general outrage to the ruling party and/or opposition, show faces on TV, be in with the cool crowd etc… Add to that our general nature of denial, justification and self-righteous chants of “It is not me, it is everyone else”, the picture is complete.
https://twitter.com/#!/subtletea/statuses/104454149629952000
As I had said in my previous post “Levels of Corruption“, all Indians, all of us are corrupt. Politicians and bureaucrats are just manifestations that the higher a person goes, the size of corruption just gets bigger. We can give examples to try and justify why we are not actually “corrupt” per se, but it is just a matter of convenience etc., but it is still corruption.
“It was just that one time”
“I needed to get things done in a hurry”
“I jumped the signal because I was late for the interview”
“I have back pain so can’t stand. That is why I bribed the TTE for a berth”
“I pulled the chain on the train because it was night and the next stop is too far”
“I committed that crime by mistake, it will not happen again”
https://twitter.com/#!/NameFieldmt/status/104218796503482368
If we are pointed out that we might be mistaken, we fly into a rage and outrage, since we know it all! How can they know better than us? Anyone who speaks against your idol whom you support for some reason shall not be tolerated, he/she should be shot at sight! The level of rant depends upon our culture and upbringing. It can be like this also, a rant from a “Gandhian” follower of Anna Hazare.
https://twitter.com/#!/gargorama/statuses/104446892531920896
For more about the middle class phenomenon, read this Firstpost article here.
As long as we do not accept the fact that the most corrupt are ourselves, and if a Lokpal comes around everything will be wiped away, I disagree. Sure, a law like that might mend something, but the real problem will end only if we stop being corrupt ourselves, and follow laws. Simple rules like forming queues and driving on the correct lane.
And a last shot: To all the people shouting against corruption: If you have cut corners on land purchase by registering your property as undervalued, go and pay the difference to the government. That will do a lot more good than shouting slogans. Kids, go ask your parents. Mostly, you have reached where you are only because of massive corruption, including seat buying and property sales.
https://twitter.com/#!/NameFieldmt/status/104213795735470080
Well said dude.. Cheers fr ur opening up the facts.. with all respect to Hazare, I agree with you 100%…
Thank you! :)
I actually was waiting for this post. I guess I too belong to the so called middle class. At first I was carried away by reading what this magic wand called Lokpal could offer and yes, I did forward those mails to people I know. It didn’t take too much time for me to realize Lokpal is just a fools paradise, promoted in an innovative manner, with all those social media circus, missed calls, SMS etc. People who protest must understand, the “democratic protest” they do by fasting is just a cheap emotional bargain and is childish in a country where 7000 die daily of hunger. As you said, lokpal definitely isn’t the solution for the deep-rooted corruption in our nation.
Yeah. the middle class revolution will not succeed unless we realize we are fighting the right thing in the wrong way.
This post mainly deals with the subject “we r all corrupt.” and cites many valid examples too. So we should either keep quiet or should not support this movement, right? Doesn’t throw much light on why jan lokpal should’nt be passed.
Not like that. Supporting it or not is one’s personal opinion. All I wanted to say is that instead of creating another bureaucratic layer of Janlokpal, it would do much better help if we would be ready to “suffer” a bit more by not paying bribes etc…
Good article..But we all are corrupt doesnt justify corruption.The proposed bill can control corruption of people to an extend.Lokpal will be an independent body same like lokayukta in states which can be impeached by the parliament if it is being misused. When there is least corruption more money will come to Govt treasury and there will be more funds to rectify the poverty.Now we are paying lots of money as taxes but not sure whether the money is going to govt treasury or in corrupted pockets..
Well said :) , Corruption is menace and it should be tackled .. Lokpal or jan lokpal bill will never eradicate and infact it will be more of burden on taxpayers … with kind of setup it gonna be. make our existing agency more visible. Whistle-blower system should be encouraged.
All said and done , corruption should be put on end at our homes and schools.
I particularly liked this part – ” To all the people shouting against corruption: If you have cut corners on land purchase by registering your property as undervalued, go and pay the difference to the government.”
Before bringing back the black money & passing janlokpal, Anna can demand all those who are supporting him should do this for all the registration happended within last 30 years. After all they should set a standard..And then lets see, how many of those ‘million’ followers are left :P
While I strongly agree that we straighten ourselves by not paying brides… but that does not stop A.Raja or Kalmadi to extort lakhs of crores to make their parties wealthier. We definitely need an independent body to make our politicians accountable for public money misuse. More said!
There are too many contradictions in the article. You attack the middle class and upper middle class saying they never vote. And when they come out for a good cause, you say it was only middle and upper middle class in the crowd. You say you see only jeans and t-shirts and not dhotis. Obviously when the movement started in Delhi what do you expect? You should learn to appreciate what they are doing rather than denouncing what they are not doing.
Second contradiction: You agree that it has to be mass movement. The greatest benefit of Anna’s movement was not they came out for x bill or y bill, but there was some semblance of that mass movement which you yourself are asking for. When the middle and upper class unites for a mass movement, I do not know what is your problem.
There are some people who will never act and do not want to act. When you move against Khursheed, you will say why not Modi or BJP. When you rise against corruption, they will say why target only corruption in govt, why not corruption in private. Some will say, no not corruption, we must attack population which is the root cause. Such people can reach nowhere.
You say "They took to the streets without acknowledging that they were equally corrupt…"
I had seen people openly accept that they were part of the system and they themselves had given bribes. But they wanted a change. No one person can be honest in a corrupt system, nor can one person change the system. It has to be a mass movement. To expect them to be completely clean is foolish.
There are some people who will keep criticizing. Nothing will happen because of such cynics. They do not trust people. They do not see the positive side. They can't even think that people can be nice. They will curse Anna, Kejriwal and suspect some ulterior motives, because they cannot ever believe that there can be some people in the world for whom raising a voice against wrong is the biggest passion. There are some people who get deeply disturbed to see such evil and the fact that people are sleeping over it and tolerating so much wrong. They want a change from the heart of their hearts. Pls note that I did not say "these are selfless people", because I don't call anyone selfless or selfish. We all work for our selfish interest of finding peace. Some people find peace in earning money and enjoying life which is fulfillment for them, Some get fulfillment through their contribution to society. So it depends on what drives you. There can be some people who are driven by an urge to bring about a positive change, there are people who just cannot believe that there can be such mad people.
I was always saying lokpal, jan lokpal, x-lokpal or y-lokpal will emerge finally, and is not so important. What was most important was to have that mass movement and awaken the people, and also let the corrupt people know that their ways can be checked. Today they are free to do anything, they know nothing will happen or everything can be manipulated. Once the common people genuinely come together, and the corrupt know that they can be questioned, the right-lokpal will automatically come.
Do read "Indians! Wake up to Fight not just Corruption, but to fight Goonda Raj" at https://www.facebook.com/notes/prem-kamble/indians-wake-up-to-fight-not-just-corruption-but-to-fight-goonda-raj/4221129019757.
4 years later, what a farce the whole thing was, and the great savior Kejri keeps plumbing new depths of hypocrisy and idiocy.