Anna: Hunger strike that hardly was
The hunger strike launched by Anna Hazare finished like an abstract act. At one point, this country was looking for traces of Mahatma Gandhi in him. His protest against UPA government had sent shock waves across the country.
Media wrote it as the most genuine uprising by the country against the menace of corruption. But for Hazare to understand that his fight was pitched against UPA government and not corruption as such, Modi had to occupy the chair of PM.
When Hazare was on his hunger strike last time, Modi who was the CM of Gujarat had written to him saying he has been a close fan of Anna ever since his young days.
He had even warned him against the "corrupt" and said "please take care of your health. The corrupt will not hesitate to even harm you" and also "while you are on a hunger strike there, I am observing hunger here in my state too" stating he joined this campaign in spirit and presence.
Now that Hazare was sitting on a hunger strike in Ralegan Siddhi since the last one week, for the same demand he had last time, Modi has not come to meet him. He hasn't even written a note to Hazare.
Anna has realised a bit later that "BJP used him" to meet its own ends. He even said that before the people, out in the open. Not just that, he said before the media that if something were to happen to his life or safety, Modi would be responsible for everything.
In some sense, it looked like he was begging someone from the government to save his life. Finally the Maharashtra CM met him and treating that as a pretext, he ended his strike.
In the given situation, the very demand of Anna for Lokpal to be established itself is very unrealistic. One cannot expect a government that has interfered and compromised on every investigating agency to its comfort, to set up Lokpal ever.
The government threw out the CBI chief unceremoniously.
Today CBI has suffered such a loss of face that even state police could arrest them in West Bengal. IT officers are at the beck and call of the government. It's rather unreasonable to assume a new Lokpal would be set up that has the capacity to inquire into the power and doings of a Prime Minister.
Anna Hazare has maintained silence over the fact that all investigating agencies including the CBI have been left without teeth. Mega scandals like Rafale and others are lying abandoned without a decent investigation. At a time like this, how can one even assume this government would set up Lokpal?
UPA government have this country the RTI act through which people could question the power and doings of a government, administrative powers that be and the politicians.
At least to that extent we need to appreciate the UPA government. Today, the Modi government has trimmed every possible wing of RTI act. Hazare has never spoken against is, and he is hoping to see a Lokpal being set up out of the pressure his hunger strike is creating on the government. This could be plain innocence. On one hand if Hazare really wants a Lokpal, he has to start a new strike to displace the Modi government because so long as Modi exists, Lokpal will not be set up.
Just as he admits himself, BJP and RSS has used Hazare against the UPA government. They played a clever game of chess with him as the pawn. It does not look like anybody around Hazare were interested in fighting corruption. Instead, they just wanted to help collapse the UPA government and bring BJP into power at the centre.
Most of the youngsters in the crowd supporting Hazare were boys who were planted by the RSS. Even the media did not want a government free from corruption. Most of them have sold themselves to the ruling dispensation.
Hence it would be a joke to assume they'd be opposing corruption at all. Anna may have assumed he'd command the same support and same size of crowds even today as he did then. Or he may even have some hidden agenda to stage this dharna.
Anna Hazare is not beyond politics. His opinions about Gandhi ideology are grossly misplaced. He had even praised Gujarat model once. He has no particular ideas about political stances, and often comes across as someone who’d take any way that he would be pushed towards. Even now, he is acting at the behest of some forces.
“I have been assured that my demands would be met, so I am withdrawing my hunger fast” said Anna sounding either desolate or helpless. No one would believe the word of current government after having seen the level of interference they have made into the prevailing intelligence agencies.
Hazare could have asked for a parliamentary committee to investigate into Rafale scandal. This could have generated some trust and other parties may have even joined him.
Hazare has not taken any tough decisions against the centre ever. He is associated with RSS and BJP and has a soft corner for them. Hence, all his hunger strikes are ending up being comedies.
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False, outrageous: Chidambaram slams PM's 'Cong wanted to allocate 15 pc budget to Muslims' remark
New Delhi(PTI): Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday termed "totally false" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the previous Congress government wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the budget for Muslims, and said the PM's statements have been "increasingly bizarre".
Chidambaram said the prime minister claimed on Tuesday that if he played the Hindu-Muslim divide, he would not be fit to be in public life but the very next day, "he played his usual game of dividing Hindus and Muslims".
"Hon'ble Prime Minister's statements are increasingly bizarre and show that his speech writers have lost their balance," the Congress leader said in a post on 'X'.
"The Hon'ble PM's accusation that Dr Manmohan Singh had drawn up a plan to spend 15 per cent of the Union Budget exclusively on Muslims is totally false. His further allegation that Congress will present a Muslim budget and a Hindu budget is so outrageous that it can be only characterised as a hallucination," the former finance minister said.
Article 112 of the Constitution of India contemplates only one Annual Financial statement, which is the Union Budget, Chidambaram said and asked how can there be two budgets.
"In the remaining days of the election campaign, it is my fervent hope that the Hon'ble PM will abandon the path of false accusations and outrageous claims," he said.
"Not only the Indian people, the world is watching and analysing the Indian prime minister's statements, and they do not bring glory to India," Chidambaram said.
Prime Minister Modi on Wednesday alleged that the Congress during its previous rule wanted to allocate 15 per cent of the government budget for Muslims, and vowed not to allow splitting of the budget or reservation in jobs and education on the basis of religion.
Addressing an election rally at Pimpalgaon Baswant in north Maharashtra's Nashik district, the PM said splitting the budget on religious lines was dangerous.
