Where did Baba Ramdev go wrong?? .. my thoughts
KUMAR PAUDEL: wrote on 5 June 2011, Sunday Dear All, Just trying to put down my words on this much debated Ramdev issue, His agenda was nice. Though quite difficult to get to the roots of the problem. But, such agendas can be put forwarded, fasting can be done, democratic protest must be allowed as well. But, the place where he went wrong on that particular late midnight incident was:
- He should have surrendered to Police, raised his hands, and had he not run away... ( politicians generally run in between the crowds and trigger fightback with police)
- He should have surrendered and told his supporters to stay calm ( he should not have given exciting remarks in the crowd of his supporters, he should not have raised his FIST.
- He should not have tried to run away wearing kurta and hiding among the crowd.
- He should have been more aware about the number and age-group of supporters. he is saying himself that there were lots of children), he himself was not sensitive to women and children, and old people.
- If I were him, I would have addressed the crowd saying " Let them win this night , we will win tomorrow, have faith on yourself, do accordingly what the police says to you, they will finally do the way we will tell them tomorrow"
His mistakes are very similar to that acts of cunning politicians, who generally run among the crowd, make violent fight back to police with stones, slippers and empty hands, though they are aware that their defeat is sure. A peaceful leader of the protest programme has faith in silence, smile in response to the Lathis, Tear gas-shells, and bullets. The ultimate way to defeat the military masculinity is by protest masculinity of silence and smile.. the way Anna Hazare did it recently. This much for now.. Kumar PaudelNepal
Rahul Roy on 7th July 2011 responded: The Ramdev episode has to be seen in the context of what transpired earlier with the Anna Hazare fast and the developments thereon....had written a small response on a discussion blog... pasting it here for your reading:
my comment is not so much about what transpired at Ram Lila Maidan but I think the Ramdev issue reveals the dangers of what got set through the Anna Hazare protests and the subsequent formation of the Lok Pal Bill Drafting Committee. Have been wondering what the implications are of a bunch of self appointed civil society representatives taking on the task of framing laws along with the government. The questions that trouble me are as follows:
- What is the basis for a small group of non governmental individuals to take on the mantle of representing ‘civil society’? If show of strength by attracting numbers to a protest become the basis for representation then I am afraid we are facing extremely bleak times as was evident from the what transpired through the Ramdev circus. What this essentially means is that if a group can collect large enough protesters in Delhi they can bypass all democratic institutions of decision making. I don’t think democracy is made out of just the freedom to protest and of expression but through the mechanics of a coordinated functioning of peoples will and institutions. The governments and political parties desperate to control these institutions may subvert this relationship but for the civil society to start hammering at this foundation provides a dangerous breach for anti democratic forces to squeeze in and take charge.
- I am aware that it will be pointed out that non governmental representation is part of policy making and processes of law making. My argument would be that in most of these cases the non governmental people are representing other democratic institutions like trade unions, business associations, etc. Therefore these non governmental representatives are answerable to their constituencies. In the case of the Lok Pal Drafting Committee the ‘civil society’ representatives are self appointed and answerable to none. We are to have faith in them because they are believed to be incorruptible and have proven their honesty through their involvement in ‘just’ causes. How dangerous this can be was clearly demonstrated by the murky negotiations between Ramdev and the government representatives. In my view self righteousness cannot replace politics and that is precisely what the Anna Hazare and his group has been doing ever since they appeared on the TV screen. How can I take seriously a panel that has a self righteous Arvind Kejriwal and a permanently emotional Hegde asserting that what happened at Ram Lila Maidan was akin to the Jalianwala Bagh episode?! These are not just foolish statements but dangerous because anti democratic forces the world over revel in anachronism and historical wrongs. My expectations from the Kejriwals and the Bedis are not much but I am truly disappointed with the Bhushans not reading the political implications of becoming party to this Committee and thereby providing a window to the Ramdevs to dictate who should be punished how in this country. There is a great sophistry of language going on at this point — ‘we support the cause of anti corruption but not Baba Ramdev’, ‘we will talk to him and then decide whether we will sit on a hunger strike with him’, ‘he has a right to raise issues of corruption but why is he allowing communalists to use his platform’. The fact of the matter is that the Anna group has got itself tied in knots. If tomorrow Ramdev gets more people than them at Jantar Mantar will he be included into the drafting Committee? The route they have followed to park themselves every week behind the thick walls of the North Block can arguably be followed by anyone else. Instead of politicising the issue of ‘corruption’ by expanding the meaning of the term and demonstrating the hollowness of the governments claim that they are interested in doing something, instead of lobbying with a counter bill and building a public opinion on it, they have opted for a moral and self righteous claim to be part of the drafting committee.
- Finally, I would assert that Anna and his group are dangerous because they have provided an opportunity to the Hindu Right wing to resurrect itself by whittling down the issue of corruption to bribery. The phenomenon of the creation of informal labour, misuse of state institutions, parcelling of land and resources to global conglomerates, abysmal health care, the use of state machinery to organise communal pogroms, the eviction of adivasis from their villages are just some amongst a range of corruptions that stamp our democracy but what we are told to believe is that unaccounted funds lying in tax havens and bribery are the two most important issues of corruption. With the blessings of the Hazare group and UPA 2, we are being gifted the second coming of the Hindu Right. The last one was because of another hotch potch movement that went by the name of –Total Revolution.
Zaheer Abbas <zaheer.amal@yahoo.com> responded on 7th July 2011:
Heard alot about this Yogi. I acknowledge his efforts for popularizing Vedic system (science of Yoga) and creating awareness among the masses on several issues of common interest. However, history suggesting us that clergy remained always hostile towards minorities and exploiting people in the name of religion. You see, how Sawami Ramdev fooling the Indian poor masses by claiming that he has treatment for cancer, HIV and AIDS...Also he threatened to oppose Dehli Court's verdict on homosexuality...According to Ramdev, homosexual people are sick and instead of giving them rights, they must be sent to hospitals for treatments....how such biased people can change the fate of a nation....He is a man obsessed with Indian nationalism and traditions....and want to impose it on everyone.
In case of the police crack down on Sawami Ramdeve and his supporters, this must not have happened in the world,s largest democratic state. It clearly shows Congress's intolerance for freedom of speech and protest. Sawami having fasting and demonstrating peacefully.....this is his basic human right. Indian fellows will know more than me....this is what I know about him.
regards,
Zaheer