(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
By John Foley
HONG KONG, Aug 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Arresting a self-styled Gandhian hunger-striker on Aug. 16 was a foolish move by India. Manmohan Singh's government claims not to have directly requested Anna Hazare's brief detention, but the episode has cost it some credibility all the same. India's political sclerosis(A thickening or hardening of a body part, as of an artery, especially from excessive formation of fibrous interstitial tissue.) may now worsen. In the short term, that will hurt an economy facing inflation of above 9 percent and in dire need of decisive reform. Yet the ruckus(A disturbance; a commotion:) could have a good long-term outcome, if the botched crackdown leads to tougher action on endemic corruption.
The white-clad 74-year-old has fasted over plans to create a new anti-corruption watchdog. He contends that the government's draft of the Lokpal bill, originally mooted four decades ago, lacks teeth. And he has a point. Graft in India is often claimed to cost the Indian economy 1 percent to 2 percent of GDP a year. The government has been rocked with scandals relating to its handling of 2010's Commonwealth Games, and the allocation of 2G telecoms licences. The legislation as proposed would make it hard for the watchdog to target top political figures, and the body would lack the autonomy Hazare and his supporters demand.
Arresting a peaceful protester, and 1,500 of his supporters, may be unpalatable. Yet the protests and overzealous crackdown are distractions from India's pressing problems. Above-target inflation is being intensified by infrastructure shortages and supply bottlenecks. A land acquisition bill that would help ease the problem is stuck in parliament, which has achieved nothing in weeks. The so-called "monsoon session", which ends in September, looks set to be a washout. Further paralysis is likely to defer needed reforms, which casts serious doubt on India's ability to sustain 8 percent to 9 percent GDP growth.
But this could be a turning point. Singh has so far failed to act decisively on corruption. The groundswell of support for Hazare's peaceful methods, twinned with anger over the response, makes it difficult for inaction to continue. Anything that pushes corruption further up the agenda should augur well for India's markets, foreign investment and economic growth. Nor does the lesson extend only to India. Other countries struggling with corruption should take note how peace and persistence can break more ground than sticks and stones.
CONTEXT NEWS
-- Protests erupted in cities across India over the detention of a self-styled Gandhian protester who undertook a hunger strike over stalled legislation on corruption, along with some 1,500 of his supporters.
-- Anna Hazare, a 74-year-old anti-graft campaigner, was arrested in Delhi on Aug. 16, and refused to leave prison after being freed within hours. As of Aug. 17 he was continuing his fast from inside the prison. His actions were condemned by prime minister Manmohan Singh as "totally misconceived".
-- Hazare's protests centred on the Lokpal Bill, a piece of unpassed legislation that would create a new anti-corruption ombudsman. The bill has been mooted in various forms since the late 1960s.
-- The latest draft from the Singh government was rejected by Hazare, who was involved with the drafting of an alternative, tougher version of the bill known as the Jan Lokpal. The government's proposed watchdog, for example, would be unable to investigate the prime minister, and would have no police powers.
-- India has been plagued by corruption scandals in the past year, including allegations of bribery in the organisation of last year's Commonwealth Games, and a controversy over allocation of 2G telecom licences, which a state auditor claimed cost the government up to $39 billion in lost revenue. The resulting probe saw some of India's top telecoms tycoons brought before a parliamentary committee.
-- For live blog: http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2011/08/16/live-blog-anna-hazare-detained/
((john.foley@thomsonreuters.com))
(Editing by Chris Hughes and Sarah Bailey)
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Ramdev, Sri Sri join protesters at Tihar jail
Press Trust Of India
Posted on Aug 17, 2011 at 02:46pm IST
New Delhi: Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and the Art of Living Foundation head Sri Sri Ravishankar on Wednesday joined protestors expressing solidarity with Anna Hazare outside Tihar Jail.
Ramdev, with whom Hazare and his associates have differences due to his alleged links with Hindutva elements, reached Tihar Jail on Wednesday afternoon. He was denied entry in Tihar Jail to meet Anna Hazare.
Earlier, Ramdev submitted a memorandum against Hazare's arrest to President Pratibha Patil. Addressing protesters, Ramdev termed Hazare's arrest as a
"conspiracy in the name of democracy".
"Anna is fighting for a strong Lokpal and his dream will be fulfilled. The whole country and all patriotic countrymen are with him in this struggle," he said.
Activists Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh and Medha Patkar had earlier joined hundreds of protestors while a large number of the Gandhian's supporters took out marches across the city.
(Follow IBNLive.com on Facebook and on Twitter for updates that you can share with your friends.)
#Baba Ramdev #Sri Sri Ravishankar #Anna Hazare #Tihar Jail #Jan Lokpal Bill #Citizens Against Corruption
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India protests swell as Anna Hazare fasts
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LIVE BLOG: Anna Hazare detained
By Arup Roychoudhury and Matthias Williams
NEW DELHI | Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:53am EDT
(Reuters) - Protests swelled across India Wednesday in support of a self-styled Gandhian anti-corruption campaigner fasting to the death in jail, with Prime Minister Manmohan's Singh's beleaguered government apparently unable to end the standoff.
An uncompromising Singh, 78, who is widely criticized as out of touch, dismissed the fast by Anna Hazare demanding tougher laws as "totally misconceived," sparking outrage as lawmakers cried "shame."
"It is a wake-up call for all of us unless we put our house in order. The people of this country are becoming restless," said Arun Jaitley, a leader of the opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The squat and slight 74-year-old Hazare fasted Wednesday as thousands of his followers gathered outside the jail, the latest development in a crisis that saw him arrested Tuesday and then refuse to leave jail after the government ordered his release.
Negotiations with the police to end the impasse have so far proved fruitless.
Hazare, who has struck a nerve with millions of Indians by demanding tougher laws against rampant corruption, insists he wants the right to return to a city park where he had originally planned to publicly fast, before he leaves jail.
The arrest and sudden about-turn to release him appeared to confirm a widespread feeling Singh's government is cornered, clumsy and too riddled with corruption scandals to govern Asia's third-largest economy effectively.
"We don't have faith in our government," said Sujeet, a young software engineer from the IT city of Gurgaon, as he protested at the popular tourist site of India Gate in the capital. "We are living in a democracy but only in letter, not in spirit."
Many of the crowd were young, with rucksacks on their backs, some with their faces painted. Others were older, decked out in outfits as worn by the bespectacled Hazare, with his trademark white cap and kurta, a long-time social activist who is often compared to independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.
In northeast Assam state, thousands of farmers, students and lawyers marched. In the financial capital of Mumbai, 500 people carrying the Indian flag and wearing Gandhi caps chanted "I am Anna."
"I was forced to pay a bribe while getting my passport approved and I felt helpless," said student Rahul Acharya, 21. "This is the time all youngsters should join the movement so that the future would be corruption-free."
In the IT hub of Hyderabad, lawyers boycotted courts, students skipped class and hundreds took to the streets.
Across southern Andhra Pradesh state, a Congress party stronghold, thousands went on snap fasts, staged sit-ins, blocked roads and formed human chains.
Demonstrations are part of daily life in the towns and cities of India, a country of 1.2 billion people made up of a myriad of castes, religions and classes. But spontaneous and widespread protests are rare and the scale of this week's outpouring of public fury has taken the government by surprise.
"HIGH IDEALS"
A stone-faced Singh was uncompromising, but offered little vision in a speech to parliament.
"I acknowledge that Anna Hazare may be inspired by high ideals," a stern-looking Singh said. "However, the path that he has chosen to impose a draft of the bill on parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy.
"We must not create an environment in which our economic progress is hijacked by internal dissention."
Hazare became the unlikely thorn in the side of the Congress-led coalition when he went on hunger strike in April. He called off that fast after the government promised to introduce a bill creating an anti-corruption ombudsman.
The legislation was presented in early August, but activists slammed the draft version as toothless because the prime minister and judges were exempt from probes.
Critics say Singh's government of mainly elderly politicians has no idea how to react to spontaneous protests, highlighting a generation gap as social networks like Twitter galvanize thousands - including many of India's growing urban middle class, from Supreme Court lawyers to students.
"The leadership is hiding behind men in uniform," Jaitley said.
The Congress party held an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis. But the absence of party chief Sonia Gandhi due to an undisclosed illness appeared to have further weakened the government decision-making.
Gandhi left control of the party in the hands of a quartet, including her 41-year-old son, Rahul, widely seen as a prime minister in waiting.
The arrest played into Hazare's hands. Many parties were skeptical about the fast and there has been criticism the activist was holding Indian parliamentary democracy hostage. But doubts about the protest were overshadowed by the arrest.
A weak political opposition means that the government should still survive the crisis, but it could further dim the prospect for economic reforms that have already been held back by policy paralysis and a raft of corruption scandals.
RESTIVE MIDDLE CLASS
The arrests shocked many in a country with strong memories of Gandhi's independence battles against colonial rule with fasts and non-violent protests.
Opposition figures likened the crackdown to the 1975 "Emergency" when then-prime minister Indira Gandhi arrested thousands of opposition members to stay in power.
The question for many is whether Hazare's movement will grow in the fast-urbanizing nation whose increasingly assertive middle class is fed up with constant bribes.
The scandals, including a telecoms bribery scam that may have cost the government $39 billion, have dented investor confidence and distracted parliament just as the $1.6 trillion economy is being hit by inflation and higher interest rates.
(Added reporting by Matthias Williams and Annie Banerji in New Delhi and Kaustubh Kulkarni in Mumbai; Writing by Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Paul de Bendern)
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'Gandhiji's method of fasting was different'
By: Urvashi Seth Date: 2011-08-17 Place: Mumbai
The Mahatma's great grandson, Tushar Gandhi, tells MiD DAY where and why Bapu would have disagreed with activist Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement and fasting
The media hoopla with Anna Hazare at its centre, the civil society on the peripheries, the UPA-II as the target, and political parties lurking in the shadows reached level two on Independence Day, as Hazare had promised, and was a super hit.
The vehement sloganeering by civilians resounded across the nation, facilitated by the glare of the TV cameras.
Tushar averred that Bapu would have exhorted
people to look within, instead of pointing fingers
But what's so civil about this protest anyway, to paraphrase legendary rock band Guns N' Roses. To understand the anatomy of the protest sparked off by Anna, MiD DAY spoke with the Mahatma's great grandson himself.
In an exclusive conversation with us, Tushar Gandhi said that the manner of the protest reeks of publicity, and is adversarial in nature, while Bapu's method was more reformative. But, he hastens to add, he respects Anna's right to his individual point of view.
Anna is being hailed as a modern-day Gandhi or messiah. Do you see shades of the Mahatma in his movement?
As far as the non-violence aspect of the protest is concerned, yes. I would not be too critical, but if at all a comparison is to be made, Bapu's method of fasting was completely different than that of Anna's. Bapu would not have threatened anyone the way Anna has. But I believe Anna looks up to Bapu as his icon, and as an individual. He has a right to his point of view.
Do you think fasting has lost meaning because of the manner in which it is being used?
Well, there is the danger of it being trivialised. During Bapu's time, fasting was never used against an opponent. Rather, it was used to lead a friend to the right path. Anna's is more of an adversarial protest. It is to defeat someone rather than reform them. Bapu never accorded importance to emerging victorious; his aim was always the dawning of realisation. That is the big difference.
From the far west to the Gulf, the world seems to be in the grip of uprisings. Do you think such uprisings would eventually lose steam?
A protest that is thought through has a better chance at success. Also, protests for a cause closer to the heart survive longer. I hope the one led by Hazare lasts longer, otherwise the anti-graft movement will be discredited. Since this morning, the rationale behind the struggle has shifted. Earlier, it was Anna's fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill. Now, it is the citizens' fight for the right to demonstrate, a democratic privilege, which has been curtailed. So, for me, the meaning of the protest has changed.
The world has changed since the days of the Mahatma. Revolution now means social media, page 3 celebrities and reams of publicity. Is this the new face of reform, Gandhian in its ends, but not in its means?
I would say this is the PR face of the movement, where we are all peacocks preening ourselves in front of the camera. Real activism is happening on the streets, which are devoid of celebrities and pretty faces, that remain in the studio. But both are doing their duty, since without PR, it is difficult to promote a movement. But many a time, it is just a desire to be seen, rather than a real belief in the cause. True revolution is always the result of an absolute disenchantment with the system, and Anna is among the few people who citizens can look up to.
Anna has struck a chord somewhere. Do you think this is the right way to stamp out corruption endemic to the system?
I agree that he has touched a chord. But he has taken the populist road by turning our people into accusers. Corruption is a two-way stream. I don't agree with Anna's saying that the poor have no choice but to bribe. Instead, everybody has got addicted to it. Just changing our leaders is not enough. If Bapu were here, he would have asked people to first do some introspection (Contemplation of one's own thoughts, feelings, and sensations; self-examination.), acknowledge their own shortcomings, and overcome them. He would have appealed to people to 'be the change', as goes his saying.
What do you think of Hazare's presence in one of the talent shows on TV?
The camera has the power to lure anybody and everybody, and Hazare is no different.
Do you think the Jan Lokpal Bill will make a difference?
I don't think so. First, we have to address our addiction to corruption and that of bribing people for small things.
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ANALYSIS-Protests are baptism of fire for Gandhi family scion
18 Aug 2011 11:10
Source: reuters // Reuters
By Alistair Scrutton
Catapult: A military machine for hurling missiles, such as large stones or spears, used in ancient and medieval times.
NEW DELHI, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Huge anti-corruption protests and a fumbling government response have catapulted India's family scion and prime minister-in-waiting Rahul Gandhi into a baptism of fire and exposed a leadership vacuum in the world's biggest democracy.
"Where is he now?" said Manish Kumar Singh, a protesting 42-year-old state employee protesting outside the jail holding activist Anna Hazare, reflecting a sense of leadership vacuum.
"If Rahul is called the crown prince of Congress, he should come out and take up his responsibilities."
Only a fortnight before the arrest of self-styled Gandhian activist Hazare and then a U-turn to release him, an undisclosed illness of Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi had led her to nominate her son to take charge.
It was a transition that coincided with India's most widespread and spontaneous social demonstrations in decades, leading to more than 2,600 peaceful protesters being arrested in Delhi alone, and the worst-ever crisis to face the Congress government now in its second term.
But since Rahul returned from visiting his ailing mother in the United States on Sunday, the 41-year-old heir to the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty that has run India for most of its post-independence era has not said a word in public and may have been sidelined in government.
It underscores what may be an unstable succession to Sonia Gandhi, India's most powerful politician, who has run the country from behind the scenes since handing the post of prime minister to economist Manmohan Singh in 2004.
"The complete incoherence of government strategy is not something that he (Rahul Gandhi) can distance himself from," said political analyst Swapan Dasgupta. "The dynasty may be the glue that holds Congress together but there are times when events just overtake you and you become an election liability."
GROOMED FOR POWER
For seven years Sonia Gandhi has provided the strategy for the Congress-led coalition, leaving day-to-day running in the hands of her ministers but providing the overall, pro-poor and often populist direction of the left-of-centre national party.
The widow of assassinated prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and daughter-in-law of assassinated prime minister Indira Gandhi, she was the designated -- if reluctant -- successor, winning two successive general elections in 2004 and 2009.
For years Rahul has been groomed, hidden from the limelight, as Sonia's successor.
While Rahul has avoided government posts, the Congress youth leader has travelled across India, staying in poor hamlets and preaching the cause of the poor and joining protests for farmer land rights.
Criticised as too young, he grew a beard. Criticised as too lightweight, he met with intellectuals and economists, attended business conferences and was photographed with international figures such as Bill Gates.
But the sudden announcement his mother had handed reins to a quartet including Rahul threw him into leadership of a party that is as notoriously bureaucratic as any ministry.
Returning from visiting his mother, Rahul attended government meetings before the arrest of Hazare -- a detention that proved a costly political mistake -- but he also may have been key in persuading the government to release Hazare.
It was a sign that Rahul was not fully in control, allowing more hardline politicians such as Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram to crack down on protesters.
"Rahul was catapulted to leadership even faster than he imagined. And to that extent he was not ready," said Siddharth Varadarajan, editor at The Hindu newspaper.
"He seems to be far more aware of the political implications than ministers like Chidambaram," said Varadarajan. "But he has always been reluctant to use his position to second guess the government."
WHO IS IN CONTROL?
Rahul also appears to have had little control over his own spokesmen, who inflated the crisis by claiming Hazare and his followers had fascist and anarchist links and that the United States had a hand in driving the protests.
When Singh spoke to parliament over the crisis, Rahul, who is a lawmaker, sat stone-faced, silent and with his arms folded. But even though he appeared not to agree with the government, he has failed to take matters in his own hands.
On Thursday he traveled to western India to meet victims of a land dispute with police -- a noble cause but hardly leading from the front in a massive political crisis.
"We people were not expecting this level of problem," said a senior Congress official and former cabinet minister. "Whatever he can do he will do. But to expect -- he came, he has seen and he conquered -- it will not happen."
The crisis has also thrown into question the dual role that Sonia introduced after the 2004 election -- nominating Singh but running strategy from behind the scenes.
The system has accentuated different centres of power, with ministers and Congress officials battling each other over key economic reforms like a food security bill and foreign investment in the modern supermarket sector.
The system has so far helped the Gandhis, creating a mystique and ensuring they are not focus of public ire that often is directed at Singh and his ministers. There were, however, small signs this week of cracks in that system.
"Sonia has always stayed above the fray even if people criticise the government, and that's the same with Rahul," said pollster Yashwant Deshmukh in New Delhi.
"That is changing. Anger is being directed at Sonia and Rahul. What I haven't seen in seven years has now happened in the last 72 hours."
But the real test for Rahul may not come with the corruption protests. His party faces a state election in Uttar Pradesh in 2012 that could provide crucial for the party's fortune in the 2014 general election.
"The real metric to judge him will be the electoral outcomes," said Varadarajan. "And he still has time on his hands." (Added reporting by Manoj Kumar, Arup Roychoudhury and Matthias Williams; Editing by Paul de Bendern and Miral Fahmy)
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