The Awakening

A government is of the people, by the people and for the people—this famous definition by Abraham Lincon represents a form of government called Democracy and yesterday’s much welcomed progress in “India Against Corruption” movement led by respected Anna Hazare only goes on to show that the people are supreme, and very rightly so in my opinion. This is indeed a great victory for the entire nation and a significant first step towards the formation of a strong “Lokpal and Lokayukta’s Bill” which is waiting to be passed since it was first tabled in the Parliament in 1968. All the subsequent steps too had failed since then and this was the high time someone showed the way.

A 74 year old social activist, Kisan Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare came forward with a solid resolve and had the country observe a great peaceful and non-violent demonstration/movement/protest buoyed by his indefinite fast and demand of “Jan Lokpal Bill” (Citizen's ombudsman Bill for prevention of corruption) to be passed in the Parliament. The upsurge turned out to be multiple times greater the second time after the government failed to bring in an effective Lokpal Bill even when they agreed to it as a result of Shri Anna Hazare’s protest in April 2011. The rest has become history and billions of people across the world have observed a phenomenon of their lifetime. I am sure that this would be a life changing experience for a lot of them as it has been for me.

So Congratulations to the most revered Shri Anna Hazare, his team, the members of parliament and above all the people of India.

While this is of course a time to rejoice a little; it also is a time to promptly gear up to play our part in order to finish the remaining 50% of the task at hand. I am extremely hopeful that with increased sense accountability by dint of the national movement, the standing committee now rises to the occasion and shows resilience in overcoming the debacle related to their version of Lokpal Bill earlier.

27^th of August 2011, has apparently become a historical day—a day filled with uncanny turn of events that saw its culmination in the Parliament passing a sense resolution in favor of three critical and non-negotiable demands of team Anna. The government with the support of opposition finally got it right after much of deliberation. Good sense prevailed finally.

I am a proud citizen of India and the above developments mean much to me. I have been following this entire movement closely with as much anxiousness as any other true Indian would feel. I devoured different news channels and kept glued to it as and when possible. It felt great being a part of one of the peace marches. By observing a lot of happenings, various debates and chronological events I once had an impression whether some of the views pointed towards a “government” being of the people, by the people and FOR the “Parliament”. This could well have been true had Anna Hazare backed by majority of the people of India would not have held the fort with a firm resolve. They ensured that the real definition remained intact and the other terms like Demonocracy,Mobocracy, Politocracy or whatever other such terms could be coined cease to haunt us in the same intensity in the times to come.

This movement has been ubiquitous, prolific, unprecedented and of acute criticality. It has gone down in history as the biggest peaceful and non-violent movement of the country after Independence. Not only this, the phenomenon was observed across the world with Indian patriots shedding their apathy/inhibitions and coming out on the streets to demonstrate for the great cause. I am short of words to describe it however; I realized that this movement was much more important than it actually appeared. It depicted the rise of collective consciousness and paved the way for a vivid expression, most of which was suppressed so far. It was phenomenal. The movement continued in its truest of spirit remaining peaceful, strictly non-violent and became a landmark step towards building a truly incredible India. Given below are some of the characteristics of the movement in my opinion:

1)      After a long time, the people of India observed a true leadership under which the entire country came together for a common purpose. It was made possible by a common man, a social activist who lives in a temple with the best of simplistic means possible. He is Anna Hazare and he needs no introduction now. This world has a lot to learn from him.

2)      This happens to be the biggest peaceful and non-violent protest of India after freedom. Anna Hazare called it “the second freedom struggle” as we fought in order to free ourselves from the age long chains of corruption.

3)      It has instilled a sense of responsibility, accountability, awareness and above all an undying faith to stand for the country. It rekindles the spirit of patriotism and spreads across the message that the common people have an important role to play.

4)      It saw coming together of masses bridging any division based on class, creed, gender and religion. It has played a crucial role in giving a full throttled voice to the movement which in turn has defied any possibility of political dogma.

5)      Above all, it has been an eye opener for all of us and may very well become the base of a “Paradigm Shift” towards an accelerated motion that leads to the growth of our country.

6)      It re-affirms the fact that the people are supreme in a Democratic establishment. They are simply not there to elect the representatives every 5 years and then surrendering to the whims and fancies of the representatives without any moderations. The representatives should not forget for once the phrase “of the people, by the people and FOR the people”.

7)      It has also created a platform for a healthy debate on important issues and they way different views have emerged are encouraging as they help in arriving at a common goal without missing many things.

It is also important that we thank media for tirelessly broadcasting the events in the most efficient manner. It’s been significant as it brought the much needed transparency to the entire episode and kept people updated of every tiny movement that the country had witnessed. And they played a pivotal role constructively towards building the country’s future. So I thank all the media warriors for seeing this movement through to its logical stopover.

In the end, all I want to say is that it’s a very proud and emotional moment for me. I am grateful to Shri Anna Hazare for inspiring me in such a profound manner and setting an example of true leadership. I thank him for re-affirming my faith that the “Good is Good” and with sound character and unwavering faith nothing is unachievable. I am going to be playing my part with even more awareness and in whatever way possible towards building a truly incredible India.

In the end, I thank everyone associated with this movement for awakening the entire nation and ensuring that there be light everywhere.

I continue to be proud of being an Indian.

Jai Hind!!