Who would have thought a revolution would be possible in India? We were seeing the incredible revolution happening in Tahrir Square where youth in large numbers gathered and managed to kick out the corrupt regimes. The energy and beautiful symmetry of those people were sublimely co-ordinated, probably not by design but by the sheer necessity and tenacity of those protestors.
Such a possibility, even remotely, to happen in India to over throw the government which had lost all its legitimacy to rule the citizens would be a dream. Who would have bet that we would come so close to realizing that dream. And all because of one man who until that day majority of Indians had never heard of.
The Revolution
The rise of Anna Hazare was a revolution. The energy and hope that gripped the nation was palpable. It was as if our redemption had been born out of the same tactics that had worked for our forefathers. And to be led by a man, simple and honest with no pretensions of himself or the lust for power, using the same powerful mystery mantra called satyagraha which we kids have only read about in our school text books. It was a powerful concoction of hope, patriotism and determination.
Entire country was abuzz with this new force. The seemingly formidable government was on its knees pleading to a slight-built man from nowhere, and it really kicked up some steam. The ever elusive hope of a developed country and a good standard of living seemed to have emerged from a remote corner of Maharasthrian village.
It was for real!
The fast at Jantar Mantar was the first shot by Anna Hazare. And might have lost completely under the carpet but for the merciful government decided to arrest him. Seeing a glimmer of hope being lost, rose an uproar which was larger than what Anna would have expected at Jantar Mantar. What happened was nothing but a solid uprising which every future government should study and remember. If India needed its own Tahrir, Jantar Mantar was it.
Though little suspicious of his credentials and intent, it was an awesome sight to see what Mahatma Gandhi would probably would have looked like. The euphoria that swept through the country probably resembled the emotions during the pre-1947 era full of patriotism and altruism. For sometime it was clear India had hope and freedom, and it was just matter of it Indians would snatch it from corrupt rulers who have enslaved them.
People were turning Anna’s supporters in droves. Whether it be the “I am Anna” caps or Anna t-shirts or Anna-logo bags, in short months Anna was everywhere. From offices, factories, college canteens, housewives discussions, to media – tv, paper and social, Anna had captured the imagination.
It was truly a revolution none could have foreseen, especially not the politicians who were suddenly without a life boat.
The Movement
If the Jantar Mantar was a success, the Ram Lila maidan was a phenomenon. If there was anyone left who hadn’t heard of Anna, suddenly knew this man. The mass hysteria reached a crescendo at Ram Lila. Splinter fasts were organized across the countries, and the supporters seem to crawl out of everywhere. It was truly hard to be critical of Anna, if only to avoid a jab on our face.
A concept, used and buried for a long time, seemed to have revived and revitalized the entire nation. The cynics among us were surprised and many like me became vocal supporters. Even if we din’t believe Anna to be a savior we generally liked the idea where this movement was going and were all for it.
All through this one thing was pretty clear Anna (and at this stage, Team Anna) were up against formidable opponents and Team Anna were making cardinal mistake of underestimating them. Probably they never tried to understand them. Never tried to understand what makes them tick. Probably they standing on the higher assumed moral platform were full of contempt of these weather-beaten politicians. Unfortunately for Team Anna, these were the opponents with much better experience in national stage, media management, better resourced, grass root networks across the country and more resilience. If Team Anna had to take on these people, it had to be better than good intentions and fly-swatter.
Anna had immense support. The accessibility of Ram Lila maidan [a traditional meeting ground], positive endorsements by movie stars and cricketers – actively and passively, the general goodness of the movement, the us-against-them ideals, the large number of damning corruption scandals against the government, the dull economy and high inflation, the arrogance of the government in thinking the movement could be crushed, gross underestimation by government of Anna’s impact on mass psyche – all lead to help Anna and his movement.
The movement had started and it seemed nothing could stop it until entire establishment was changed.
The Stumble
The first stroke was victorious. Anna had stunned the nation.
However what happened next was an obfuscating series of missteps and apparently illogical. The character of the entire movement suddenly seemed to change, and without any notice or communication. What was happening was behind the scenes people (so the called Team Anna) came forward, with what looked like unsynchronized individual agenda and arguably seeking their 15 minutes under the spotlight. Behind the scene organizers were suddenly becoming the cheerleaders and none of them had the impact or persona of Anna Hazare. The face which had symbolized hope, was lost in the crowd. His message was lost in the never ending stream of rhetoric from the dias.
The stage had virtually become a bashan mandalli. I think the organizers thought the crowd needed to be engaged in every moment, and kept the rhetoric coming at regular intervals. Unfortunately so many people speaking on fast moving subject were bound to confuse people. The confusion that prevailed at all stages of negotiations were very much evidence of their disorganization and immaturity. In a way, team was very naïve to think they had to give a radio-commentary of each and every move happening and negotiating, and after each parlay update the crowds on the occurrence. This perhaps also shows how straight forward they were and transparent. However, communication does not work that way. With each additional information tidbit given to the public the takeaways are vastly different. Ultimately, confusion prevailed, almost an utter chaos. It was tough time in understanding what these people are even implying and how and where they plan to take it forward.
Mass psychology implies the crowd (no matter how intelligent and motivated), needs to be provided information in measured doses preferably coming from a single or close knit source in a predictable fashion. Any more you confuse them, any less you disengage them. Team Anna were novice in this game. Politicians are Pros in this game.
The disappearance of Anna from the center-stage and constant flip-flop messages put lots of people on the edge.
The Fall No. 1
Team Anna had its fallacies. Its version of legislation was arguably bad. And the method they intended to pursue their agenda was worse. Constant haranguing of politicians, parliamentarians and Parliament itself left a bitter distaste.
[No doctrine, let alone a legislation, no matter how well intentioned or well drafted cannot supercede the conventions and consensus of Parliament in a democratic country.]
Anna’s black mail of the fasting to enact the legislation without following the proper process was a game changer. They lost. And thankfully they din’t win for it would have set a horrendous precedent. Imagine, a Prime Minister tomorrow wanting to enact a dictator-ish powers to himself/ herself, all with the ‘good intentions’ for the people and bypass the entire parliament to achieve this transfer of power!
The constant jabs of insult on Parliament and broad stroking all the politicians as corrupt ensured they din’t have the moral high-ground and character they claimed to posses. Mocking the Parliament is akin to mocking the wisdom of entire electorate who have elected their representatives to Parliament. The most shameful episode was when Kiran Bedi openly mocked the entire Parliament. That in my opinion was the tipping point of the entire movement. The movement we had come to support had morphed into something far more intangible with ominous agenda. I can bet far more people quit Anna on that day than ever before.
Anna and his team had failed. What was left was the end game.
The Fall No. 2
What continued after that was a slow process of debacle. Mumbai fast was an excellent example how dislocated and badly strategized the entire event was. First, Mumbai is not political, not as much as Delhi. Mumbai is much more hectic city than Delhi. Ram Lila grounds is entire Delhi’s traditional get-together spot. It was an excellent choice. Mumbai doesn’t have such accessible stage. Nor was it held to coincide with holidays or weekends to enable people participation. They had alienated most of the people, so the star power that came to support them too was invisible. It just goes on to show how badly equipped Team Anna was, compared to seasoned politicians.
[Team Anna comprises of some excellent people who have achieved great things in their career but they probably dint understand the mass psychology as well as any politician would appreciate.]
IMO Team Anna hopelessly failed in bringing the movement CLOSER to the people and ENGAGE the people. Having an Anshan and asking them stand in hot sun for hours is not engagement nor is making hate speeches and doing nautanki to keep them entertained.
Gandhiji travelled across India by every means – connecting to people directly – influencing, teaching, preaching and learning from everyone he met with a genuine interest and sincerity. Anna failed to reach out and Team Anna definitely failed to help Anna connect with people.
The Fall No. 3
Anna and Team reached out to people, however belatedly but with an unfortunate negative message (something like) “Don’t vote for Congress.” This was a profound shift from what they had intended when started out. I guess, they were desperate to win some brownie points by hitting what they saw as the clearest issue for people – to bring down Congress. Ask any advertiser and he will tell you negative messages always backfire.
This negative message and the assumption that they can influence electoral politics was an all-in bet. They were staking the reputation of the entire movement. If they win, they are redeemed; if they loose they are left vulnerable and that cloak of invincibility (in eyes of country) is gone.
Not surprising then that they lost. I don’t think they lost because any of the above reasons. In all honestly, they probably barely made a difference. They surely lost because when you challenge a very well established, well experienced, well resourced opponent to a large ego battle you have to expect a solid fight. Team Anna just dint have anything to fulfil that fight.
The Present
The present plunge into electoral politics is paradigm shift from their initial non-political non-aligned stance. This is again a massive breach of trust for lots of his supporters.
The whole excuse of “forced to enter politics” is a big nonsense. It in other words just means, they were totally outwitted by politicians who did nothing but stood their ground. What did Team Anna expect, that the politicians would roll out a red carpet and sign their own arrest warrants? Again, Team Anna is treading on the tracks where the present ruling elite are the masters of the game. By falling at the first step and quitting their ideology of being non-political they have played right into the hands of politicians. Do they have any experience or wherewithal to fight these elections?
The Hope
They can be successful. They had some stumble but that’s fine. As long as they realize their mistakes, strategize better and take their opponents much more seriously and respectfully than they did last time. They will need lots of skills from all walks of life – which they will have in abundance if they ever seek out – to take on the shrewdness and cunningness of the seasoned politicians.
I think they made some classical newbie mistakes which is very much rectifiable. Fortunately what works for politicians also works for Anna and his team. The same people who have forgiven the ‘corrupt’ politicians time and again every election will also forgive Anna.
[Oh, btw Team Anna doesn’t seem to exist any longer. I am confused. This is the kind of flip-flop they should sorely avoid and get into a steady predictable organization asap.]
Nevertheless, I hope Anna and his party wins well. And also avoids playing into the hands of these politicians. Let’s hope they are able to bring new thoughts and leadership into the parliament. Let’s just hope, for our sakes, they are able to make some good difference.
**I am not an expert on Anna or anybody, I am just an observer of things.
Brilliant!!
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