In Defence of Baba Ramdev

The ‘success’ of Anna’s fast has had an interesting collateral damage – the near complete decimation of Baba Ramdev’s credibility as a crusader against corruption. While Anna has certainly been hugely successful in mobilizing public opinion against one of the most effete and corrupt Governments India has seen (that sadly, is not saying much), it will be too much for even the most optimistic of souls to proclaim that the struggle for Jan Lokpal succeeded. While we will analyze and certainly defend Anna’s struggle separately, it will be more worthwhile to dwell a little on Baba Ramdev’s struggle and failure.

Compared to the campaign run for Jan Lokpal, which was more of an instant cause, Baba Ramdev’s campaign against Black Money had been on for the last two years with the Baba using his country wide yoga camps and televised shows to disseminate his message. It was Baba Ramdev who had been the moving force behind India Against Corruption and it was in the Baba’s Ramlila Maidan Rally earlier this year, that overwhelmed by the large gathering, Anna had touched Baba’s feet, proclaimed that he now believes that corruption would be eliminated in India and had declared his support for the fast. Baba Ramdev was among the prime financers of the April fast by Anna and had a significant role in crowd mobilization and in all probability being the force behind the ‘communal’ Bharat Mata portrait on the stage.

Yet, while Anna moved from relative obscurity to becoming a National icon in course of his four days April fast, a more organized and powerful Baba Ramdev found himself pushed to the corner in spite of mobilizing a huge crowd, right on day one of his fast unto death. While the build up to Baba Ramdev’s fast had seen Team Anna extend its support to him and the brutal crackdown did elicit strong reaction from them, very soon, it became clear that with the Baba tying himself in knots, he was to be more of a liability than an asset to Team Anna. Hence, from being its patron financier mobilizer, he was reduced to a mere by stander, not allowed to even meet Anna, when the latter was incarcerated at Tihar Jail.

The countdown to Ramdev’s political oblivion begun, ironically, with his meetings with Kapil Sibal. Having given a routine undertaking, the Baba found little maneuvering space once the Government declared that he had reneged on his promises. While the brutal and unwarranted crackdown of police temporarily did give the halo of a martyr to Ramdev, his call for a trained army of volunteers and inability to carry on the fast showed him to be an unworthy leader. While the political immaturity of Baba Ramdev has certainly played a huge role in his humiliation; just watch him fumble and get aggressive and defensive by turns, when asked probing questions, there can be little doubt that the hostile role played by the media has served to undercut Baba Ramdev more than he actually deserved. While the media, particularly the English news channels had always been openly contemptuous of this rustic, saffron clad mendicant from rural Haryana, the fact of his dressing in a salwar to flee the police crackdown were replayed again and again to forcefully reinforce the point on Baba’s cowardice. Semi-celebrities like Sonam Kapoor declared him a bigot for his anti-homosexuality views while the Shabnam Hashmis of the world managed to snoop out a Godhra in his designs. Compared to the crescendo of well-deserved condemnation of the Government’s attempt to muffle voice of protest, when Anna was arrested, the outrage following the Ramlila Maidan crackdown was certainly more muted and the ELM condemnation was tinged with glee at the saffronite being shown his rightful place.

Yet, while criticizing both Baba Ramdev’s immaturity and the role of the media, one should not lose sight of the fact the Baba Ramdev’s chief advisor, Shri Govindacharya made himself absent when the crackdown happened and was not to be seen when Ramdev was further tying himself up in knots the coming days. While only the inner circle will know on what exactly, whether hints of megalomania in Baba Ramdev’s conduct, his probable disregard for advice or any other factor prompted Govindacharya to disassociate himself with the fast post crackdown, it cannot be denied that after having guided and mentored the Bharat Swabhiman movement for greater part of the last two years, Govindacharya owed it to its followers to have presented himself to steady the rocky boat of the movement. However, if Govindacharya did indeed move away on account of controversies associated with Ramdev, he would have played true to his upbringing in the RSS ideology where even the slightest stain on honour or association with trouble makes you a person-non-grata in the parivar.

Coming back to Anna’s recent fast, the parliament’s ‘sense of the house’ has given an honourable cloak of retreat to Team Anna, something which was made to resemble a victory over Jan Lokpal by our spin doctors. However, this has meant that the Baba comes out all the more poor compared to Anna – a fortyish yoga guru unable to fast for seven days vis-à-vis a septuagenarian fasting for 12 days and more critically a loser as compared to a winner. Had Team Anna had to withdraw without a modicum of victory, there would still have been a decent number of people who would have placed their bets on Baba Ramdev’s movement against black money. But now that we have a ready winner in Anna, few, other than his personal followers would want to side with him in his crusade. A discernible indicator to this is media and public reaction to Government actions against him vis-à-vis the former’s reaction to Government actions against Team Anna. While Baba Ramdev has been declared guilty before even crimes being identified, (just like how the Kanchi Shankaracharya’s guilt was established), allegations against the Bhushans’ and Arvind Kejriwal have been trashed without analysis of their merits, if any.

Finally, while Team Anna’s intent to fight corruption is noble, the tool of Jan Lokpal is more akin to Gandhi taking up the Salt Tax issue to fight colonialism! Salt tax was not repealed in spite of the Salt Satyagrah’s success in mobilizing people. Likewise, the Jan Lokpal, an envisioned by Anna’s team is unlikely to see the day, if for nothing else, on account of the glaring drawbacks of the said proposal. Compared to the Jan Lokpal, it can be argued that the demands put forth by Baba Ramdev, i.e., Declaring accounts of Indians in tax havens as national property; Declaring stashing away black money in tax havens as national crime; Setting up of fast track courts in all states to deal specially with corruption issues; Removal of high denomination currency notes from the economy; Enactment of a strong Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act and Removing the Land Acquisition Act; will have a more profound and long lasting impact on the public life in country.

Anna jaise Hazaron ho?

Shri Anna Hazare’s fast, pressing for introduction of Jan Lokpal Bill has captured the imagination of the Nation and the entire political class has been shaken with the hype it has generated. The Government of India had to capitulate and prima facie, has accepted Anna’s demands. Even if nothing tangible comes out in form of an empowered Lokpal finally, the fast has certainly served to channelize the growing impatience of public with the state of affairs of our country. However, beyond the hype, it would do good to appreciate that the support which Anna drew was more on cyberspace and would-do-anything-for-eyeballs media rather than on ground. Even after 4 days of fast, the maximum crowd which Anna could draw up was around 6,000, a tiny number by any reckoning.

Without in any way belittling Anna’s efforts to clean the system, it is my humble submission that his right thinking supporters will do good to evaluate if righteousness of the larger cause is sufficient reason to ignore fallacies of the immediate cause around which campaign has been built.

While there cannot be any doubt that the Augean stables of corruption need to be cleaned, will the Jan Lokpal Bill model, as proposed by Hazare, really be a panacea to our ills? The model bill proposes a draconian authority that would be larger than any of the elected or nominated constitutional authorities. Looking at authorities like the Election Commission of India, while the Nation may owe a debt of gratitude to TN Sheshan, the havoc a Naveen Chawla like person could have wreaked, had he enjoyed powers like Sheshan did in his heydays, can only be imagined. Likewise, when we know that nomination to most august of bodies is only made by Government and that too from its preferred bunch of bureaucrats and retired judges, can it really be in the interest of larger society to have so powerful an individual to be at helm?

A more critical evaluation is required on the aspect of ‘civil society’ participation. Firstly, what exactly is civil society? Does it mean representatives from cross section of public or does it mean a group of people only with decidedly leftist leanings? If it means the latter, than automatically, at least one quarter of the entire Indian population, majority of the professional / middle classes and an entire thought process, is completely exluded. Even more critically, does it mean representation of people with dubious backgrounds and funding and even more dubious intentions? Who do we have in the name of this civil society today? A Teesta Setalvad who has had numerous strictures, a Cedric Prakash, who manufactures all sorts of lies, a Arundhati Roy, who berates the idea of India, the likes of Agnivesh, who has been expelled by his own ilk but goes around in saffron robes? Who or what has given the idea that a Nation run by a group of shady individuals, with even more shady funding and shadier intents, would be better than our politicians? As far as morals (or the lack of it), biases and thick skin are concerned, our ‘civil society’ members would put many a seasoned politicians to shame.

That said and in spite of the fact that I find Anna’s antidote to corruption woolly headed and impractical, it is sad that this well meaning personality is being subject to attack from the left, right and center. Politicians and columnists have sneeringly called for Anna to fight an election and many have accused him of subverting the constitution. His fast unto death has been denounced as blackmail and tactics undemocratic. While the left sees him as a stooge of the Hindu Nationalists, further certified by his apparent praise for Narendra Modi, the Right sees him being propped by the Congress to subvert Baba Ramdev’s own movement against corruption. Whatever the truth may be, one cannot deny that if the rulers of the day are insensitive, tools used to wake them out of their slumber cannot be of their choice. Had the rulers alone been final arbiters’ of dissent, social revolutions in any part of the world would not have happened, pre independence INC would have forever remained a party of prayers and petitions and Indira’s dictatorial rule would have continued unabated. Desperate times call for desperate measures and the state where India is in today, with the Nation sold to crony capitalists, the babus and the netas, there is little hope for the common middle class person if a well meaning individual is thus ridiculed!