A septuagenarian rises and a nation awakes. Suddenly the big fat Indian Middle Class decides to ascribe to itself the tag of ‘civil society’ and in the process, out comes their fashionable lighters to light up candles and enlighten the cynics that the taxes we pay are accountable. Thanks for reminding us. Claiming solidarity, they soldier to Jantar Mantar in their fashionable shades to fight corruption, even as the scores of news channels, who seemingly outnumber the crusaders, pounce on the every visible creature belonging to human of the species for its latest breaking news. Ah, that thing called breaking news. A boy falls in a pit or a cricketer shaves off his head, everything ought to be reported as if it were to do something with world peace.
Back on the issue, and back in our living rooms, the TV screen is a battle ground to enlighten the masses. “The groundswell is here”, exclaimed an emotionally charged anchor as the screen breaks down into a grid, where reporters, alert and hungry, take us to the celebrations across various cities. One of the lasting shots is that of a group of school kids chanting nationalist slogans in support of one Mr.Hazare. Few days later. A little girl is seen offering water to him as he breaks his fast on national television. An earnest request; can we please keep our kids out of this? How many of them know what they are actually standing for, other than the incentive of being on prime time news? Who is to be blamed for this caricatured childhood, the hyperactive parents or the hyperventilating media? How many of this ‘civil society’ can tell PDS from CCT, or PAC from JPC or NAC from NIA? Standing up for a cause doesn’t require the minimum qualification of knowing the Government policies like the back of your hand, agreed. However it must require the understanding of the cause, to start with.
One wonders what struck their nationalist fervor when the tribes of Chhattisgarh had no one to listen to? “Can Jantar Mantar be India’s Tehrir Square?” shouted another senior journalist on prime time TV, rather nervously. Don’t know about that, but with no-brainers like these, broadcast media will of course lose its last remaining vestige of credibility, its purpose lost long back.
Meanwhile Mr. Hazare, out fasting for a noble cause no doubt, seats himself close to the imposing idol of Bharat Mata with spiritual – religious leaders ,brimming with silent aspirations of their own, in tow declares that that the voters do not know much and that they vote for a saree,a bottle ,even Rs.100.So much for ‘Poribortan’!Try deconstructing that. Where did this reminder-rejoinder come from? If the covert RSS undertone wasn’t loud enough, here comes the most overt of the overtures. A yoga guru, a Deoband cleric and an Archbishop came together in a never before sell-out frame. We are secular, and to the best of my knowledge, are in no dire need of an endorsement so preposterous from the well heeled ‘civil society’.
Meanwhile it’s a revolution, I am told. Yes, yes it is the revolution. You have to believe it if they claim it , unabashedly,24X7.An actor of repute meanwhile puts up the show of his life as he questions the credibility of the Constitution of world’s largest democracy. On the same show, some nondescript tween claims to have started a fresh page on Facebook to fight corruption. So while the government frames policies, the uber cool class can do with a FB page to start with. Cool? Yes. Relevant? Maybe. Will it last? Too obvious a joke to laugh.
At the risk of being tagged the greatest cynic to have ever (dis)graced this planet, I call this ‘civil society’ downright opportunist and the corporate sponsored broadcast media downright mercenary. His ideas are laudable, his ideologies ludicrous. He demands capital punishment for the corrupt. He demands absolute autonomy to indict anyone by the Lokpal.I demand why his demands be considered democratic and not authoritarian. Agreed, desperate situations demand desperate measures, but not the undemocratic ones. Agreed, citizens have the right to demand, just that they need to know what exactly to demand.
It’s easy to grease palms at busy thoroughfares and talk of eradicating corruption in the same breath. It’s easier to evade taxes and demand accountability from the Government, to lounge in the comforts of the cozy penthouses on sunny polling days and despise the people you never cared to elect; and guess the easiest of them all? Yes, light a candle. Bring them on, the weapons of mass enlightenment.
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