The idea of a Revolution is as inviting as the idea of Love!
Love transcends all other emotions. There is the thrill of being swept off one's feet, the hope of finding 'The One', the promise of a new life and the desire of a life lived "Happily ever after"! Revolution gives one, the thrill and pride of standing for a cause, the promise of a new and better world and inspires dreams of a life lived "Happily ever after"!
From India's tryst with its revolution-of-sorts in the not-so-distant past, emerged Arvind Kejriwal, held by "the believers" as a harbinger of change, and the architect of India of their dreams. So deep is the faith in this hero that the believers dream of making him the PM of India ever since his party and he clinched the runners-up trophy in Delhi's electoral race. The story of the believers and the hero of the revolution is, in every way, classic romance, with the trust, the promise(s), the thrill, a hero, and many... many villains!!
Arvind Kejriwal (AK) was an enigma when he appeared on the scene, favoured by history through its absence. As the interest in the character grows, more and more facts are coming out. These facts would not paint a picture of piety to the lay, but the true believer will not be perturbed. Love finds a reason to grow where there is none!
Detractors charge AK with working for national interests, albeit of nation(s) other than India. There is this blog-post with some documentary evidences which suggest that vested interests (Read CIA), have cradled AK through his career and are now seeking the fruits of his labour. Believers can completely overlook this accusation, because the "idea of love" makes one blind even to the obvious. Oversights are understandable, not to mention that a detailed investigation has not been done, as it will require state intervention and that has not come through yet. ( A PIL to this effect has been filed in the Delhi HC ) Apart from alleged CIA links via one Shimrit Lee, the calls for India's own "Tahrir Square" have not gone very well with thinking Indians. The fate of the Arab world caught up in the Jasmine Revolution and the interference of world powers attempting to make footholds and dictate internal affairs in each of these nations has added to speculations. To the love-lorn believers, however, the romance with a revolution is very much alive and AK, still a hero.
The faith of many of those who saw promise in AAP and AK was further shattered with the now well-known issues with the funding of Manish Sisodia's NGO Kabir, of whose governing body, AK is a member. This case (if proved) establishes these founders of AAP not only as corrupt but also anti-national. There are other celebrated members of the party who have established reputations contrary to the "Crusaders for justice", "New age patriotic" and "Dry honest" image of itself that the party sought to project. Allegations of shady land deals on Anjali Damania and Mayank Gandhi are all too well known. The midnight raid by Somnath Bharti did not help the party's image. Somnath Bharti's murky past as a world-champion spammer, a pornography domain name vendor and his false statements have made him unpopular with netizens as well as Delhizens. Over the last few months AAP has added to its fold, terrorist sympathizers, naxal sympathizers, separatists and perceived anti-nationals of various hues and shades. While AAP becomes the parking lot for an increasing number of activists and intellectuals evoking national disgust, well-meaning Indians who had joined AAP believing it to be an act of patriotism, are leaving the party by the hundreds everyday. Though many believers stick on!!
It would be fair to say that AAP has established that it can efficiently crusade for causes. They have the tactical wherewithal and ideas to bring up issues and create a traction on them. They have displayed their ability to manage the media efficiently and build useful connections. So much so, that many well known journalists are considering it as a viable career alternative. There have also been "krantikari" revelations about the intimacy some journalists share with AAP. Cases in point are, Ashutosh from IBN7 joining AAP as a full time politician and the infamous interview fixing with Punya Prasoon Bajpai. Also widely circulated on SM is a video where CNNIBN erases a small part which could have shown AK in poor light. There are many more speculations, not without good reason, of specific TV anchors / channels / editors favouring AAP. Obvious questions arise as to whether the favourable image of AAP in our minds was assiduously manufactured through sustained media sympathy, or maybe a strategy!! Belief is rife that it is a well thought strategy. This positions AAP as a vote-cutter, in favour of the ruling elites, the Congress, which has earned them the nickname of the "Congress B-Team". Of course, to the believers, these are non-issues. The un-professionalism of journalists is a response to the call of "kranti", the favourable news is the truth and everything else is Ambani's / Adani's / Modi's conspiracy. Love finds no wrong with the darling and is readily at war with the wide world!
People are also disillusioned with the now apparent left leanings of the AAP in general and AK and his close coterie in particular. In an age when the world has realized that the left better be left alone, AAP's emergence is a promise for a future not very different from the not-so-favoured past. The moods, methods and rhetoric of this party are predominantly leftist. The opposition to everything, the efforts to infuse and diffuse the notion of victimhood, the positioning of business houses as true villains and covert kings, the call for "total revolution", and the idea of a magical world post revolution, are typical to AAP as they are to any flavour of leftist thought. Someone on SM phrased that the AAP's ideas "belong in a museum"! As is wont with adherents of any left ideologue, the believers are driven to such hopelessness and desperation that violence is the only visible alternative to them. This violence is manifest in the believers' conduct on SM, their propaganda, their proposed solutions and exceedingly in the mood of their protests as evident from the recent attack on the BJP HQ in Delhi and a general lack of remorse in them after the attack. The believers probably look on any non-adherents to their preference as villains and as in any romantic-action movie, the body count doesn't matter when the "pyar ke dushman" (enemies of love) are being eliminated!!
The saga of AK's broken promises and U-turns is now in videos, on blogs and has been dealt with in detail on certain news channels, whom the believers now claim to be "Ambani's agents". A major casualty of these U-turns is a general decline in faith on activists and activism. AK has made the task of crusaders for causes of the present and future much more difficult by his conduct. Activism cannot succeed without people's participation and participation without trust is a dream in a dream! Of course the believers dream the dream in the dream and any of them reading this blog will vociferously attack this inference.
A nation gearing up for a journey to the future needs vision, performance and achievements. Governance is the keyword! Unfortunately with AAP, the stated intent (details of which are yet not clear but broadly described as "nek irada" (good intentions)) notwithstanding, their idea and any experience in governance are non-existent. They jacked their one chance at developing and proving their prowess when they worked hard to dissolve their own government eyeing a larger pie. The average believer would drag me by the ear for having said this, for (s)he thinks ending corruption is all that is to governance and that everything else falls in place automatically. The fact though, is that corruption is a symptom of poor governance, but try explaining that to a believer!!
A symptomatic view of the nation's ailments has also made the believers ignore completely, the quality of leaders AAP is throwing up, as also the motivation of those joining AAP. The much touted candidate selection process has turned Chinese - good to look at but does not work!
In the Delhi elections, AAP scurried to raise candidates to tap the mood of the state for a change of guard. The fact that hitherto unknown faces were propped up, were in line with AAP's rhetoric of giving power to the "Common man" and worked to its advantage. People soon realized that power best be given to the "capable man". "Commonality" is neither a necessary and far from sufficient qualification of a representative. The over-enthusiastic, inexperienced, elected AAP candidates did some monumental goof-ups with their new found power and privileges. Delhi's wounds turned sour when they were neither corrected nor held back. Rather their idiosyncrasies were promoted!!
The AAP put up a good show in Delhi in terms of winning seats. It now harboured LS ambitions too. In pursuit of its lofty dreams, it out-rightly refused to put time and efforts to identifying and bringing up good leaders. All these factors combined with a gross lack of options ensured that the next lot of leaders joining AAP are those who see an easy opportunity to "try a hand at politics". Then there are those disgruntled existing politicians, who did not find favours with their previous political parties. Quality of candidates is not something that AAP can boast of. Visibly, quality of candidates and governance records are non-issues for AAP. It is either being plain ignorant or too clever at that. However, it is a critical to the cause of governance! The believers, it seems are inspired to think that "governance" is another high-flying concept and that, with a Janlokpal and sans corruption, clerks and typists are all who are required to run a country. As (if) they, who are in love say, "Love is all we need... food is a luxury"!!
"Love is a beautiful feeling... it seeks no reason!", some say. It was some idiot who said it!
Kill reason in the name of love and you shall live stupefied!!
I can only hope and pray that the revolutionary, romantic, love-lorn, believers open their eyes to reason and distinguish what is, from what they see. I leave readers with words which might be of help:
Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder
respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
-George Orwell
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