BE WARY OF OPPORTUNISTS – ANNA HAZARE
General (retd) V K Singh’s speech to the public from the
same dais on which, Anna Hazare and his Team members were seated after nine
days of fasting, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, came as a very big
disappointment for the cause and spirit of the people’s movement against
corruption in public life. That, Anna a social activist and a leader of
international and national repute was carried away by the perceived credentials
of the general, as an upright, honest and courageous officer; is an apt
testimony to the simplicity and naivety of the veteran soldier who dedicated
his life for the country in a selfless commitment of servant hood – the epitome
of leadership. Great social and public servants, all over the world and without
exceptions, have often been compromised and mislead when they permitted
fledgling upstarts, who were too eager to exploit the opportunity on offer and
parachute into and land upon the ploughed grounds of social movements, that
took years to prepare by the sweat, toil, privation, perseverance, sacrifices
and beliefs of selfless people and their followers. That, the instant case of
the retired general and former chief of the Indian army, making a public appearance
and addressing the masses who had gathered at Jantar Mantar, to await the
announcement from the self professed Gandhian and social activist Anna Hazare,
is a case in point of the movement becoming tarnished and compromised in the
near future.
General (retd) V K Singh, spoke to the assembled
gathering with the assertions, theatricals and nuances of a military leader who
is addressing his hierarchical organization and captive ears, in an assemblage
to resolve welfare and mundane issues which obtain in an army unit or else
formation. This is commonly termed in the army’s parlance as a ‘Sainik
Sammelan’. The occasion at Jantar Mantar was a very serious and a watershed
moment in the history of the country and the nation, wherein the people were to
be enabled to take a climactic decision in their fight against corruption and
misgovernance in the country. The movement was transforming from a social
upsurge of anger against venality in public life, into something more
substantial and enduring, by providing a political alternative in the
mainstream of Indian polity. It was no light matter by any stretch of
imagination and could not be trifled by acceding the platform to a retired
public servant, who had enjoyed the pay, allowances, perks and privileges of service
life for 42 years of his military career; and had now after retirement decided
to go against the very same government and system which nourished him. Inspired
by selflessness?
It must be understood and appreciated by the people of
this country that, General (retd) V K Singh has a defamation suit against him,
pending in the Metropolitan court of New Delhi and there is a likelihood of
various other matters involving him as an officer and the former chief, which
are waiting to spill into the public domain. The off the air interceptor
matter, alleging the tapping of the telephones of the Raksha Mantri and the
Defence Secretary, by the expertise of his chosen officer ‘Honey Bakshi’
heading the Technical Support Directorate (TSD) in the Military Intelligence Branch
of the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army). Then, there is a string of allegations,
which are made by an officer who has shown exceptional courage by publishing a
book ‘General Salute’, containing the charges with documented evidence. The
officer has also brought these failings about the former chief to the notice of
the Raksha Mantri and has requested suitable action in accordance with the
provisos of the rules and acts which continue to apply to all service
personnel, without exceptions. The matter must surely be under consideration in
the MoD, and in the light of the public speech made by the former chief at
Jantar Mantar the other day; a file must surely be under preparation for the
perusal and suitable action of the PMO. Keeping in mind the evidence as
published in the book ‘ General Salute’, it is unlikely that it will not draw
the attention of the government; which must surely be extremely peeved and
disturbed by his ranting from a public platform, in support of the movement
headed by the government’s greatest critic and bête noire, Anna Hazare.
It therefore becomes very convenient and easy for the
government to listen to its spin doctors, who will now go in an overdrive to
discredit the movement and its leaders, by picking up and targeting the
stalwarts, who are seen preening about against the government, on a vital issue
of corruption. This will be cannon fodder for the government. Isolate and
denigrate the pseudo leaders who have belied the trust of the Gandhian and nay
outsourced him, in a veiled attempt to further their political aspirations and
ambitions. When the integrity of the leaders, who mobilise the crowds by
appealing to their emotional feelings and making hackneyed speeches; which
provoke their sentiments and sensibilities, is destroyed by unearthing their
moral and ethical misdemeanours, the movement will take a severe beating. The
moral high ground, which Anna was till today able to maintain on the strength
of his character and integrity, will slowly start slipping from his grasp. It
was the honesty and simplicity of this man, which became the force multiplier
to evolve and enlarge the movement. And now we have a very strong probability
of this sine qua non of the movement getting appreciably marginalised, by the
presence of people like general (retd) V K Singh associated with it.
I had in my earlier writings, cautioned Anna and his team
to be extremely wary of such like people, who would make the movement into a
plank for furthering their personal goals and thus causing chinks to become
visible in the movement per se, and lose out on the slogan of fighting
corruption. There can surely be no double speak in matters of rectitude and
probity, should that be the single point agenda to initiate a movement against
corruption and challenge the constitutional propriety of a legitimately elected
government. It is my personal opinion
that, general (retd) V K Singh was quick to seize an opportunity, which arose
in the prevailing circumstances and cashed on Anna’s simplicity and honesty of
heart to steal the thunder from all others who have been involved with the
movement. It must go to V K Singh’s credit that, he was able to find a
sympathetic and credulous constituency with the people now, as he did with the
brotherhood of the military earlier in his age row and other controversies,
which marked a new low in the history of the army when he was the chief
earlier.
The movement is passing through a very difficult and
embryonic phase of its existence, ever since it was transformed into a
political alternative and will require the founders to tread very carefully on
a ground, which is totally unknown and new to them. The government and the
larger world of politics is waiting for the movement to take shape and it is
then that it will come out with all guns blazing against the leadership and the
chosen representatives, who are mired in similar deeds of misconduct and
venality, as they are standing up against.
Anna ,it is my sincere appeal to you to not get carried away by
posturing and grandstanding, neither by oratory and theatricals and nor by
emotions and feelings in deciding about your representatives; because the murky
waters of politics which you have now decided to wade through are very
turbulent below the calm surface of constitutional propriety. Once the leaders
of the movement get discredited, then it will lose its credibility and disaster
will soon follow. Do not get carried away by reputations alone, because
politics, while it may be a refuge for scoundrels; your philosophy and
ideology does not lend itself to this
belief and hence must be vigilant to protect your turf from opportunists, who
only want to outsource your name and public standing for motivated gains.
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
+919410900051
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