Hazare ‘magic’ galvanised the nation and saw thousands of torch-and-Tiranga wielding “Annas” spilling onto streets of Delhi and across the country on Wednesday forcing the UPA Government to beseech Anna Hazare to come out of Tihar Jail and resume his peaceful fast in the Capital.
The capitulation was so clear that the legal eagles, who scripted Tuesday’s drama and dictated the litany of CrPC provisions that Anna was asked to sign before proceeding on fast, packed their law books and merged into the background. As reality dawned on the Government that the nation was solidly united behind Anna, the same regime was now ready to dump all its conditions and let the Gandhian go and fast wherever he wanted. Of course, no one was forthcoming to explain if the CrPC provisions were so sacrosanct that Anna had to be sent to jail for not agreeing to them, and how could they be dumped into dustbin so conveniently.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley captured the Government’s helplessness succinctly when he told the House: “When you saw the magnitude of protests all over the country, you went begging to Hazare to come out of jail. He has scored over you due to his moral strength and now you are in a trap.”
Taking a dig at some of the Ministers, including Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram, Jaitley said the “problem is that too many lawyers are advising the PM on political issues. You are using criminal procedure code to solve political problems.”
As day events unfolded, it was clear that the Government had no clear plan to deal with level of protest, which brought school and college students, sadhus, old men, fragile women, teachers, advocates, Government servants and aam admi on one platform. The dilemma was reflected in the Government’s confusing stance. So even as Delhi Police tried to persuade Anna to walk into freedom, the PM justified the decision to send him to Tihar and made a desperate attempt to pitch Parliament against Hazare.
While the BJP-led Opposition refused to accept the PM’s prognosis and slammed him for crackdown on Anna and his supporters, the crowd outside Tihar jail kept growing. As the day progressed, the Government was made to look like helpless spectators to the unfolding drama. By evening Anna Hazare and his team was dictating the terms and the Government pleading with them for a face-saver.
The man reviled as a leader of “anarchists” and “fascists” and thoroughly “corrupt” had suddenly become a “True Gandhian” for Home Minister P Chidambaram while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had no qualms in admitting that Anna may have been inspired by high ideals.
Significantly, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari, who had heaped these scurrilous epithets on Anna was conspicuous by his absence both in the Lok Sabha and at the Congress headquarters.
It is a different matter that Tewari would not have reviled Anna without the consent of the party and the Government.
The Gandhian protest got a ‘spiritual dimension also as Sri Sri Ravishankar and Yoga guru Ramdev reached the Capital and slammed the Government for highhandedness. The fact that both of them have millions of supporters across the country and abroad was another element that clearly told the Government that if it continued with “arrogance’, more and more people were bound to come to the streets.
Whether it was Mumbai, where supporters of the Gandhian assembled at Azad Maidan or Bangalore, where thousands of students skipped classes and thronged Freedom Park, the nation seemed to tell the UPA Government that it will never allow it to even dream of revisiting Emergency and deprive citizens of their fundamental rights.
Jaipur, Patna, Kolkatta, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Bhopal, Indore, and all other important cities across the country saw a similar protest, unnerving the Government which was under the false impression that it could get away by meting out the Ramdev-treatment to Hazare as well.
As thousands of people begun to march towards India Gate in the evening and Anna magic united the nation, a panicky Government admitted in the Lok Sabha that the matter should have been handle politically and administratively. Though Chidambaram statement on this count will have few takers because it was well know that even on Tuesday he and his Ministry were directing the Delhi Police, it was an attempt to convince the nation that the Government will be more sensitive to handle such civil right movements in future. But the surge of people that marched towards India Gate should leave no doubt in the mind of the Government that its belated attempt to buy peace with Hazare have few takers among his followers.
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