By H. R. Ahmad & Danish Ahmad Khan
Corruption is all-pervasive, while probity in public life
continues to be a mirage in India. Corruption in our country is not a modern
day phenomenon, but a ‘ tradition of sorts’ coming down the generation right
from the days of Raja (King) Dahir till date. What led to the victory of Mohammed Bin
Qasim who defeated Raja Dahir is a still a mystery. Modern historians tried to
cover up the historical facts about the priest who cynically played a key role
in precipitating the defeat of Raja Dahir.
History has it that Mohammed Bin Qasim was on the wrong side
of the battle when the chief priest of Royal temple rushed to him and pointed
out the way to bring Raja Dahir to his knees. He told that if he (Qasim) managed to
bring down the flag waving on the dome of the temple the soldiers would take it
for defeat accepted by their gods and take to their heels. Mohammed Bin Qasim
strongly objected to the proposal of the priest and described it as
machination, not a success gained by virtue of valor and bravery. The priest,
however, agreed to do it by himself in exchange for all the gems and jewels
stashed away in the temple. Subsequently, the flag was brought down by the
priest and Raja Dahir’s soldiers started fleeing the battlefield. Thus, Qasim's
victory was clinched. This story goes on to prove the points that corruption is
a century-old phenomenon, which Anna Hazare and his team want to fight it out
by forcing the government to pass the Jan Lok Pal Bill (Ombudsman) of their
choice. Anna Hazare has declared his 'War' on crooks and corruption. But, he is
not ready to recognize the fact that corruption of various hues or at various
levels exist in the country.
India is faced with political, economic, social, physical,
and religious corruption. Anna Hazare is largely concerned with the corruption,
which in other words may be described as ‘Economic Offence’. Why is Anna Hazare
or his Civil Society silent about the religious humbugs moving around in
“saffron clothes”. Will Anna Hazare and his Civil Society muster courage and be
honest enough to declare war on the likes of Nirmal Baba, who is looting the
gullible masses and amassing huge wealth? Why didn’t Anna Hazare ask Baba
Ramdev how he rose from a humble milkman to the rank of Baba and made a good
fortune? Why did Anna Hazare keep mum on
the pogrom committed so brazenly in Gujarat way back in 2002? The women were
not only raped, but also the womb of pregnant women was cut open and her foetus
was lifted on the spike of a spear and displayed as a trophy. Is such crime
against humanity less important than ‘economic corruption'?

Why did Anna Hazare become suddenly so sensitive to the
centuries-old corruption? What forces are working behind him? Trying to make
people believe that the entire nation stands firmly behind him in his fight
against corruption simply amounts to betraying the common masses. The faces
that beamed on the TV screens were those of affluent people who live in their
palatial buildings, move in their air conditioned cars and rarely bother to
come out to exercise their franchise on the polling day. This happened in Anna
Hazare's home state Maharashtra itself, when after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai,
some citizens of Mumbai indulged in meaningless gestures like taking out candle-light
processions and forming human chain extending over the city, but they failed to
see any connection between dealing with terrorist attacks and electing a state government
in 2009, which can take effective steps to prevent and counter such attacks in
future. Where was Anna Hazare when state elections were taking place after
26/11 Mumbai attacks, while 50 percent of Mumbaikars displayed brazen 'double
standards' and chose to go out on holidays out of Mumbai instead of exercising
their franchise?
Forget this, even Team Anna's prominent core committee member
and most visible face on TV news channels Arvind Kejriwal failed to match his
saintly and tall words on high accountability in public life with his actions
when he chose to catch a failed flight to Goa in connection with a Team Anna
program on February 28, 2012, and deliberately failed to cast his franchise in
the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. And, all this happened
despite the fact that Arvind Kejriwal and Team Anna are at the forefront making
a strong pitch for electoral reforms. After all, does Team Anna really mean
what it preaches or does it really represent the masses living in the
countryside and facing plethora of problems.
Team Anna’s doubtful credentials
Anna Hazare’s credentials itself is dubious. The emergence
of Anna Hazare on the national scene has been sudden and with the obvious
support of the media, and which by all account is financed by Marwaris (Jains)
and controlled by Brahmins thus putting a question mark on his pious
intentions. These two powerful groups constitute the votebank of BJP. Media’s
total focus on Anna and his team made the right thinking citizens of the
country doubtful of his intention to carry on a ‘surreal’ fight against the corruption,
and which is being seen more as directed against the ruling Congress Party-led
UPA-II alliance. Anna Hazare campaign’s communal and dictatorial streak can be
gauged from the fact that Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh and Gandhian
activist P.V. Rajagopal quit the original 26-member panel citing the political
activism of Arvind Kejriwal and other leaders of India Against Corruption (IAC)
after the campaign against the Congress Party in the Hisar parliamentary
by-poll. Later, a prominent member Swami Agnivesh was booted out from the core
committee after leveling charges of breach of trust.
Communal Face of Team Anna
Recently, a prominent Muslim member of core committee
Maulana Shamoom Qasmi (who is an anonymous face among majority of Muslims and more
known for his ambitious and selfish attitude) was humiliated and shown the door
after leveling serious charges. However, Maulana Shamoom Qasmi said that he had
quit the core committee as Team Anna had become politicized and was
anti-Muslim. Even other founding committee Muslim members of Team Anna such as
Maulana Mahmood Madani, Syed Rizvi and Syed Shah Fazlur Rahman Waizi have also
quit the core committee.
This is, however, not for the first time that Team Anna’s
communal face has been exposed. The Indian Muslim Observer was the first in
India to expose the communal face of Anna Hazare and his movement. Not a single
publication in the Indian mainstream media or a community journal was able to
see through this nefarious game before the Indian Muslim Observer raised the
issue and exposed RSS hand behind the so-called anti-corruption movement of
Anna Hazare. The Indian Muslim Observer in its Op-Ed article “Fight AgainstCorruption: Can Indians Sustain It for Long?” by Founder-Editor Danish Ahmad
Khan (Published APRIL 11‚ 2011 at 10:55 am) written just after 4-day hunger strike at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar had clearly
pointed out the RSS-BJP hand behind the whole movement. Mr. Khan wrote: “Being
a political observer, it gives me a strange feeling and prompts to ask myself
whether Anna Hazares’s movement is stage-managed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from behind the scenes. I say this
with conviction because of the manner in which religious symbolism and national
interests have been intermingled. The canvas at the backdrop at the stage,
where fast-unto-death was taking place at Jantar Mantar, had a Hindu goddess
holding the Indian National Flag similar to that of the RSS, the only
difference being the National Flag replaced the Bhagwa Dhwaj in the hands of
goddess Bharat Devi of the RSS. Displaying religious symbolism on such a grave
issue of national interest smacks of a sinister conspiracy and the upper
handedness of the pro-Hindutva elements in hijacking the very issue of
corruption by using Anna Hazare as a mere tool. It seems that Anna Hazare’s
love for the RSS and BJP stopped him from raising this important issue of
corruption and going on fast-unto-death during the NDA regime. On one hand, it
seems that the abrasive display of religious symbolism also kept away a majority
of Muslims from sharing the stage or giving their wholehearted support to the
movement, while on the other hand it also seems as if this was a deliberate
ploy to keep Muslims away from this significant movement and then portray them
as being anti-nationals, the stigma which they have been carrying with them all
along ever since India’s independence…”
Anti-national and Corrupt Face of Team Anna
Communal face of Team Anna is only one side of the coin. The
heinous side is Team Anna’s anti-national and corrupt face. The flag-bearer of
Team Anna Arvind Kejriwal faces severe charges of intimidation by the
recently-elected Uttar Pradesh government. Azam Khan, the urban development
minister, has taken serious note of a letter allegedly written by Arvind
Kejriwal to the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) in 2008 seeking
permission to collect taxes from shopkeepers. He alleged that Kejriwal wanted
this for the Kaushambi Residents' Welfare Association. Mr. Kejriwal had
intimidated the officers in his letter and tried to put pressure on officials
for outsourcing the responsibility of tax collection to his NGO.
Another prominent Team Anna member and Lawyer Prashant
Bhushan has showed his anti-national attitude time and again. Prashant Bhushan
had advocated plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, and for this he was brutally
attacked and severely beaten up by three youth of a Hindu nationalist
organization inside his lawyer’s chamber in Supreme Court of India. By his
extremely controversial remarks Prashant Bhushan had unsuccessfully tried to
flog a dead horse and hurt national sentiments as for majority of Indians
plebiscite in Kashmir is a closed chapter now.
Recently, Prashant Bhushan's links with Maoists or Naxalites
were exposed when he was named as a mediator along with other two people, BD
Sharma and Manish Kunjam, to negotiate for the release of kidnapped Sukma
Disctrict Collector Alex Paul Menon in Chattisgarh. The Government of India has
been waging a war against the Naxals by launching Operation Green Hunt since
long, whom it considers as anti-national, terrorists and disruptive elements.
Though, Prashant Bhushan refused to take part in the negotiations with Naxals,
but nevertheless his links with the Naxals stand exposed thus raising serious
doubts over his patriotism. Even Anna Hazare and his team members have so far not made their stand clear over Prashant Bhushan's links with the Naxals. And, even
if they do speak out on the issue denouncing the Naxal movement, and also prefer to keep Prashant Bhushan into the team then Team Anna's anti-national face
stands exposed. Despite Prashant Bushan's anti-national stand on Plebiscite in
Kashmir, Team Anna could not muster courage to throw him out of the core
committee, nor will they have the courage to take action against Prashant
Bhushan over his alleged links with Naxals.
Team Anna's Confused Priorities
The various stands and gestures shown by Team Anna aptly
shows that it is confused over its priorities and fickle-minded over the issue
of handling corruption. The first nervous signs of Team Anna were displayed
when it could not withstand the severe public criticism over its overt and
covert links with the rightwing Hindu nationalist organization RSS and the BJP
for displaying the RSS-style Bharat Mata holding the national flag, instead of
RSS Bhagwa Dhwaj, at the backdrop of the stage during its first 4-day Jantar
Mantar agitation. During the second phase of the movement at New Delhi's
Ramlila Maidan, the fickle-minded, anti-national, weak-hearted Team Anna chose
to dump the Bharat Mata portrait for good, and instead display photos of
prominent national leaders and freedom fighters at the backdrop of the stage.
Sample yet another fickle-minded and communal approach of
Team Anna. During the first phase of the movement at Jantar Mantar, Yoga
Guru-turned-Businessman Baba Ramdev had shared the stage with Anna Hazare at
Jantar Mantar. But after criticism over his links with saffron parties, Team
Anna broke ties with Baba Ramdev, and he was nowhere to be seen standing with
Team Anna during the other phases of the movement.
Though, at one stage Anna Hazare had announced to join the fast
to support Baba Ramdev's cause in June 2011, but at the last minute chose to
stay away since Baba Ramdev's agitation at Ramlila Maidan was fully backed by
rightwing Hindu nationalist organizations. The signs were everywhere to be seen
at Baba Ramdev's agitation at Ramlila Maidan, from the fiery Sangh Parivar
leader and chief architect of Babri Masjid demolition Sadhvi Ritambhara on
stage to the fluttering banners of Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, Arya Veer
and Veerangana Dal and Arya Samaj fluttering along the walls and inside the
mammoth pandal. There was also a prominent portrait of the RSS-style Bharat
Mata immediately below the stage, besides volunteers in khaki shorts and orange
caps serving water.
Even, lawyer and member of the committee Prashant Bhushan
also said he was 'unhappy' at the presence of Sadhvi Ritambhara on the dais,
where Ramdev is on hunger-strike against black money, saying the platform
should not be allowed to be used by "communal" forces. Prashant
Bhushan was quoted as saying: "I am unhappy with the presence of Sadhvi
Ritambhara. You cannot prevent anyone from supporting a cause but the platform
should not be allowed to be used by communal forces.''
Now, exactly after one year Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev have
decided to join hands and launch a joint agitation. Recently, Anna Hazare and
Baba Ramdev addressed a joint Press Conference at Gurgaon on April 20, 2012,
and announced a series of agitations starting from May 1 followed by a joint
fast at Jantar Mantar on June 3. On May 1, Hazare will start his agitation from
Shirdi while Ramdev will embark on an yatra from Durg in Chhattisgarh. After
all, what has led to the change of heart between Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev
just only after one year? Has Baba Ramdev changed his stripes or dumped his
die-hard Hidu nationalists supporters? Isn't Baba Ramdev communal now? Let Anna
Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan do the
explaining over this issue to the countrymen.
Instead of focusing solely on corruption, Anna Hazare is
trying to expand the scope of his movement and bring in the issue of electoral
reforms within its ambit. Recently after being snubbed by Shiv Sena chief Bal
Thackeray and denied a meeting at Mumbai, Anna Hazare met MNS chief and Bal
Thackeray's estranged nephew Raj Thackeray and praised him for holding exams of
probable candidates for Mumbai, Thane and Pune municipal elections. Though, the
leading light of Team Anna Arvind Kejriwal neither believes in parliamentary
democracy nor he is concerned about casting his electoral franchise as happened
in the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh assemble elections. Raj Thackeray is
also well-known for creating hatred against people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh
in Maharashtra, and bash them up at the slightest instance. But the shameless
Anna Hazare and his team, have never spoken against or lashed out at Raj Thackeray
for using intimidating tactics against people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Endgame for Team Anna
Whenever the likes of Ana Hazare have launched a war against
corruption, communal forces have been strengthened. We have not been able to
forget V.P Singh’s crusade against corruption in the guise of Bofors scandal,
which helped BJP gain immensely in terms of vote share. The party rose to 83
from merely 3 seats, and didn’t look back since.
Presently, the BJP appears to be devoid of any emotive
political issue like that of Ram Janambhumi, which could rally people behind
it. Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhumi issue has already lost its appeal to the
masses. The issue of terrorism stands exposed. Both Muslims and Hindus have
come to know that the bomb blasts triggered at different places across the
country was the handiwork of the organizations like ABHNAV BHARAT. The arrests
of Army officer Colonel Purohit, and Hindu preachers Sadhvi Pragya Singh and
Swami Aseemanand have almost put an end to the bomb explosions across the
country.
So the only issue which appeared to be catchy and appealing
to the masses was that of corruption and black money deposited in the Swiss
Bank . And the only man who, the BJP and supporters could rely on was a Gandhi
looking Anna Hazare who cannot even express himself in an impressive manner.
He speaks only as much as it is taught by Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran
Bedi, Prashant Bhushan and Shanti Bhushan. How long will Anna Hazare persist in
his fight against corruption on borrowed wisdom? The war against corruption
launched by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev is solely targeted at ousting Congress
Party-led UPA-II alliance out of power and aimed at preparing ground for the
victory of the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in 2014. Dr. Syed
Ahmad Quadri, a renowned fiction and story writer, echoes the same sentiment. What
happened in Uttar Pradesh despite Anna Hazare’s anti corruption campaign is
pointer to the regional parties getting maximum number of seats in the
parliamentary election in different states of the country. Political analysts
and psephologists predict a hugely fratured mandate in which regional parties
will call the shots in forming the new Government at the Centre, with both Congress
Party and BJP made to eat humble pie. A veteran journalist Mr. S Ahmad is of
the opinion that Anna Hazare is the Mukhauta (mask) behind anti-corruption war,
and the real forces at work are the communal organizations like RSS , VHP, Shiv
Sena and Bajrang Dal.
[H. R. Ahmad is a Journalist based in Bihar. He is a Press Correspondent with Hindustan Times.
He is also associated with IndianMuslimObserver.com as Bureau Chief (Bihar). He can be contacted at hafizruknuddin@gmail.com.
Danish Ahmad Khan is Founder-Editor of IndianMuslimObserver.com. He can be
contacted at indianmuslimobserver@gmail.com]