AAP (Aam Admi Party) has raised the hopes of millions. They see it as an alternative to the current political parties of Congress, BJP and other regional parties. With the birth of AAP, simultaneously, the hope for a strong social movement which could remove corruption from the society has died for millions.
The transition from a social movement to a political party has been an interesting one. Its origin can be seen in the general unrest in the society against widespread corruption among the political classes in particular and the government machinery in general. Anna Hazare, the chief architect of the movement, started a fast at the famed Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for passing of Lokpal Bill. There was widespread support to his fast. People came from all over India to support him. This support was the culmination of a wide anger and despair among the Indian masses, the 'Aam Admi', against the numerous scams (read Commonwealth Games Scam, Cash for Votes Scam, Adarsh Society Scam, Housing Loan Scam, Radia Tapes Controversy etc.). Added to these were soaring inflation, rising crimes and deteriorating power of the masses vis a vis the elites across economic, political and social dimensions.
The country saw a range of localized protests. But the precipitating moment for the movement was the one when Government decided to frame the Lokpal legislation. Hazare began his indefinite fast on 5 April 2011 at in Delhi to press for demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a stronger anti-corruption bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas. The fast forced the Government to reconsider the Lokpal Bill giving due consideration to the demands of Team Anna only to fall back on its promise later. Anna continued, ably supported by his comrades like Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Shashi and Prashant Bhushan among others. But slowly it seemed that the Indian masses , who can be literally termed Ghajini, for their short memory, were falling back to theri routine life after getting bored with few days of high profile drama created by the movement. This was evident in the last protest held in New Delhi by the India Against Corruption team which witnessed dwindling levels of supporters with even less media attention, the latter though can be attributed to the impartiality of Indian media.
The movement got split into two parts, with Anna Hazare not wanting to enter politics and the splinter group, led by Arvind Kejriwal, frustrated by the little progress they had achieved through the instruments of demonstrations and protests, deciding to directly enter into politics and fight the elections.
What must be remembered here is that by splitting the movement and institutionalizing it in two different forms, one as a periodical social movement and the other as a political party, the creators of the original movement have saved the movement from dying a natural death. The creation of AAP has enthused the people with a new hope. The continuation of Anna movement on the other hand will ensure that people will have a more direct and adventurous way of having their voice represented than merely voting for a political party. The movement is living, it has not died, in fact it has just entered its maturity stage, and can be termed as adult when compared with human life. In a recent interview retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju told that India is seemingly entering the phase of a cultural revolution. In his views the next 15-20 years will be troublesome, we will see lots of protests, movements which will try to uproot the old corrupt society and plant the new honest and egalitarian society in its place. If his words are to come true the Anna movement has to live. It has not died, it should not die.
The transition from a social movement to a political party has been an interesting one. Its origin can be seen in the general unrest in the society against widespread corruption among the political classes in particular and the government machinery in general. Anna Hazare, the chief architect of the movement, started a fast at the famed Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for passing of Lokpal Bill. There was widespread support to his fast. People came from all over India to support him. This support was the culmination of a wide anger and despair among the Indian masses, the 'Aam Admi', against the numerous scams (read Commonwealth Games Scam, Cash for Votes Scam, Adarsh Society Scam, Housing Loan Scam, Radia Tapes Controversy etc.). Added to these were soaring inflation, rising crimes and deteriorating power of the masses vis a vis the elites across economic, political and social dimensions.
The country saw a range of localized protests. But the precipitating moment for the movement was the one when Government decided to frame the Lokpal legislation. Hazare began his indefinite fast on 5 April 2011 at in Delhi to press for demand to form a joint committee of the representatives of the Government and the civil society to draft a stronger anti-corruption bill with stronger penal actions and more independence to the Lokpal and Lokayuktas. The fast forced the Government to reconsider the Lokpal Bill giving due consideration to the demands of Team Anna only to fall back on its promise later. Anna continued, ably supported by his comrades like Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi, Shashi and Prashant Bhushan among others. But slowly it seemed that the Indian masses , who can be literally termed Ghajini, for their short memory, were falling back to theri routine life after getting bored with few days of high profile drama created by the movement. This was evident in the last protest held in New Delhi by the India Against Corruption team which witnessed dwindling levels of supporters with even less media attention, the latter though can be attributed to the impartiality of Indian media.
The movement got split into two parts, with Anna Hazare not wanting to enter politics and the splinter group, led by Arvind Kejriwal, frustrated by the little progress they had achieved through the instruments of demonstrations and protests, deciding to directly enter into politics and fight the elections.
What must be remembered here is that by splitting the movement and institutionalizing it in two different forms, one as a periodical social movement and the other as a political party, the creators of the original movement have saved the movement from dying a natural death. The creation of AAP has enthused the people with a new hope. The continuation of Anna movement on the other hand will ensure that people will have a more direct and adventurous way of having their voice represented than merely voting for a political party. The movement is living, it has not died, in fact it has just entered its maturity stage, and can be termed as adult when compared with human life. In a recent interview retired Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju told that India is seemingly entering the phase of a cultural revolution. In his views the next 15-20 years will be troublesome, we will see lots of protests, movements which will try to uproot the old corrupt society and plant the new honest and egalitarian society in its place. If his words are to come true the Anna movement has to live. It has not died, it should not die.
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