Editor’s Desk: “You fight on your own” were the words Anna Hazare used for the Kejriwal led group when they parted ways earlier in September, and since then Arvind Kejriwal has been doing the same. The people have witnessed it all, the “India Against corruption Movement” by Anna Hazare and “the political rendezvous” of Arvind Kejriwal.
The separation of the two thought processes came into light in September when Anna stuck to his a-political anti-corruption movement and refused to support the political plunge taken by Kejriwal to give the movement new heights and dimensions. Anna made it explicit by saying that, “It is unfortunate the team has separated. I will not join any party or any group. I will not go for their campaigns.”
On the other hand, the Kejriwal-led group shared the same belief that to clean a heap of garbage one had to enter the garbage-bin and should not fear the foul smell. Kiran Bedi and Justice Santosh Hegde were the prominent members of team Anna, who dissented Kejriwal’s move of forming a political party. On the other side, Kejriwal was supported in his quest by Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav.
It seems as if not only the IAC but the whole nation is divided on the prominently critical issue of reviving noble politics by attempting it. The difference in opinion and methods of achieving the same noble objective can be traced back to the Indian National Movement for freedom where the Gandhivadi’s and the revolutionaries thrived to achieve complete freedom for India but the approaches differed drastically.
Kejriwal, here, is providing an answer to the frequently asked questions of Indians. He is not just doing his bit, but a lot more by going deep in the underworld of politics and bringing out the worst for the people to see and decide. The effectiveness of the efforts is yet to be proved but the vigour, audacity and the nobility in the efforts have to be applauded. With all due respect to Anna’s choice of keeping himself and the movement unscathed from politics, the need of the hour emphasises on a more drastic plunge which the government and the public couldn’t ignore and that is exactly what Arvind Kejriwal is doing. He received both brickbats and bouquets for his explosive exposures of the big names like Gadkari, Vadra, Ambani, DLF etc. but he is unfazed by both.
Kejriwal is criticised for being a publicity wannabe, for being fulfilling his personal political aspirations and taking on multiple issues altogether and abandoning Anna and the movement but these are just a few stumbling blocks the real anti-graft crusader had to leap-off to repair the “hollowed-out” system by corruption. India needs more Kejriwal’s to defy the statement made by Arundhati Roy, “Those who’ve tried to change the system via elections have ended up being changed by it.”