Right man at the right time
W hatever you call it, Annaism or Anna fever or Anna mania, the inevitable has happened in India. The relentless fight against corruption initiated by the 74-year-old about 25 years back has finally been taken up by his fellow countrymen. It is the biggest explosion of poetic justice in contemporary Indian political scenario, and that too in the form of an apolitical movement. How long can a man’s sincere efforts be sidelined and go unnoticed? How long the authorities could blink over the real issues of over one billion people and claim growth rate in percentages and dollars? There comes Anna’s magic entry — quoting Prime Minister Manmohan, it is an effort “to trip parliamentary democracy.” By making such an allegation against Hazare and his supporters, Singh was expressing his anguish over the massive protests that erupted across the country. When corruption has become a way of life among the bureaucracy and judiciary, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pres