Kiran Bedi’s angry tirade on MPs signifies our collective anger!
[audio:KirabBedi-Bhed-Bakri-Ghulam.mp3]
When you listen to Kiran Bedi you detect her frustration. And though the propah middle class and a media bought over by the Government will spin it negatively, it does resonate the frustration of the ordinary people. That this fight is “Now or Never” is true. Because, if they lose, take it as a given that inquisition will start. The commitment with which they have gone into this, these people – who could have had great lives if they had bent their integrity just that bit and made their minds a little bit numb – have staked their all into this.
The combination of media and the politicians will be after them in a concerted and unrelenting manner. They have already started and they wouldn’t end till they have crushed them.
At that time, there will be no other alternative to bring about change to this bleak situation of extreme plunder than for the Army to stage a coup. To save this country from that, success of this bunch is imperative. This is not a statement of blackmail (“Do this or else”) but a warning of realistic situation. In this battle, that Team Anna is now, either the corrupt politicians go down (leaders in democracy or not) or Team Anna and the related Activists go down. One of these two will be crushed. It is very easy to see which eventuality is in national interest.
Let us take stock of what this movement is pointing to.
What does the populace do when it is fed up with the machinations of those in power? Team Anna’s movement has brought out the frustration of the common man out. Irrespective of what the critics like Fiction-Writer-Turned-Political-Analyst Arundhati Roy think, this kind of agitation is very potent. It hides more than it shows. What it shows is the passion of people expressed in various ways – songs, poems, plays and speeches – by many.
Despite 11 days of fasting, we are a point where there is no consensus amongst the politicians on what to do. The young, wily Rahul Gandhi suddenly wakes up after 10 days to come out with a statement that is constructed with the right words and phrases but its intention is to merely prolong the issue.
Meanwhile, given the passion of people, there is a real danger of Anna Hazare’s health going south. If something were to happen to him, and the situation is moving towards that, the reaction of people would be unprecedented!
There have been warnings of this reaction in the movies that have come in the last 5-6 years such as “Rang de Basanti”, which were great hits. In that movie, the protagonists actually took over the radio station and engaged in a fight unto death. It was metaphorical but it was true in many ways. That it became a big hit is an indication of where the mind of the youth and the middle is in India.
Unlike Pakistan, in India coups don’t happen. So the dissent is only visible in everyday anger and rage that is demonstrated in India.
The rich and the upper middle class gets insulated because it doesn’t want to deal with the daily grind. But if anyone had interacted with any one in India in public office or on the road, one would realize from the daily dynamics that things aren’t so good. There is an underpinning of rage, anger and an apathy out of avoiding the rough situations of life.
Audio File: KirabBedi-Bhed-Bakri-Ghulam.mp3