Why Anna Hazare's movement is first of its kind?

I am amazed that Anna had been able to achieve what no political party or movement has ever before been able to do -- create a national focus, says Col (retd) R Hariharan [ Images ]

This is the first poser that comes to mind when we see thousands of people in whom he raised hopes rejoicing in the streets. The answer depends upon how we see Anna Hazare's campaign. We can answer the question better after understanding what he did achieve and what he did not. Here is my take.

I have been listening to cliché-ridden sanctimonious speeches of political leaders delivered in a monotonous tone that put me to sleep for nearly four decades now; the latest one of this genre was Dr Manmohan Singh's [ Images ] Independence Day address. This painful exercise coupled with watching corpulent Parliament members walking in and out of Parliament on non-issues with feigned indignation beamed on Lok Sabha TV has turned me quite cynical about our "democratic process". This cynicism had been further reinforced after watching our lawmakers in disorderly conduct on the floor of the House with increasing frequency. In fact, I advise parents not to let their kids to watch our Lok Sabha proceedings lest the young minds consider them as standard parliamentary procedure and perpetuate it.  

Daughter Desh Ki

By Shahana

It was a rainy midnight in July in an exhausted little city called Poona. I was fast asleep when all of a sudden I heard someone breathe very heavily, almost choking with utter shock and bewilderment. I woke up with a start only to see Maa staring at the television wide-eyed and terrified.

There it was —NDTV on full volume with Barkha Dutt reporting some flood, scandal, or some such thing which at that point did not matter. Maa pointed at the ticker, which was rolling the same news over and over, as if to make sure it was drilled deep into my cerebrum that the commanding officer of 22 Rashtriya Rifles has been shot in a terrorist encounter in the valley of Sopore. I stared in utter disbelief. One only knew people or knew of people who met with circumstances such as these, but knowing that this time it was my father at the receiving end of the bullet was just the one thing I could not fathom.

Sri Lanka: Getting out of the “Grease Yakka” syndrome

By Col R Hariharan

Sri Lanka is currently rocked by reports of ‘Grease Yakka” (Grease devils) suddenly appearing in rural areas and terrorising villagers. Traditionally a grease yakka is a prowler in the dark who attacks women; he is said to wear only a loin cloth and cover his body with oil to escape capture. Already five lives have been lost in more than 30 incidents of vigilantism against grease yakkas by paranoid villagers. In two recent incidents a policeman was killed by irate villagers and a traffic-cop beaten up and four others were injured. In one incident naval sailors and the public got into a fracas over grease yakka attack. What is interesting is most of these incidents have been reported from eight Tamil and Muslim minority inhabited districts. 

"A battle we must not lose "

Columnists of all hues had been working overtime to write about Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal Bill and anti-corruption movement. Many of these columnists have tried to interpret, what is surely a mass movement that has inspired IIT students the same way as it had done with Bombay Dabbawalas, from their own entrenched views and agendas. Among all these articles I think it is Pritish Nandy's piece given below appears to pragmatically explain what Team Anna is trying to do.  The Jan Lokpal Bill is not a movement against politicians or leaders or parliament but against corruption, lack of accountability and ignoring peoples problems.

Read on and make up your mind.

 "A battle we must not lose "

By Pritish Nandy

Forget Anna Hazare. The Jan Lokpal movement can go to hell for all I care. Let us just look at the issues over which the battle between the Government and us citizens is being fought. And then let’s decide where we want to stand, each one of us, on the issue of corruption.

Sam Bahadur is Bharat's Ratna

[Those of us who served under the Sam Bahadur will remember him for ever. But will the nation remember? Here is an article by Major General Ashok Mehta suggesting that the Bharat Ratna be conferred posthumously on Sam Manekshaw, India's only Field Marshal.]

By Ashok K Mehta

Around Independence Day each year, military heroes are remembered mainly due to the prodding by the media (one news channel did a special show, remembering the armed forces). Grudgingly the Government commemorates Vijay Diwas and only the Army celebrates the victory in Kargil, one of the most difficult and self-disadvantaged Infantry battles won by our soldiers. Yet warriors are forgotten quickly.

Cricketers on the other hand, are adulated 24x7, making cricket the de facto national sport and its players the idols of the country. Government Ministers, officials and others yearn to be associated with the game and its heroes as it brings fame, money and power. Cricket has been besmirched with corruption and market forces have overwhelmed the game. A young first time politician and potential Foreign Minister became its first hit-wicket casualty.

Pakistan's army: Divided it stands

[Recently I read a provocative analysis by Pervez Hoodbhoy on what is happening in Pakistan and how Pakistan army has contributed to the present state of disorder there. I am sharing it here with the readers. It presents a scary picture because an unstable Pakistan is a potential danger not only for India but South Asia as a whole.] 

By Pervez Hoodbhoy, 12 August 2011 

[Why is the Army getting weaker? The problem is not the lack of materiel – guns, bombs, men, and money. These have relatively easy fixes. Instead it is the military’s diminished moral power and authority, absence of charismatic leadership, and visibly evident accumulation of property and wealth. More than anything else, the Army has sought to please both the Americans as well as their enemies] 

Pakistan bleeds from a thousand cuts. If things had gone according to plan it is India that should have been hurting now, not Pakistan. The army’s 25 years-old low-cost, high-impact strategy of covert warfare would have liberated Kashmir and secured Afghanistan from Indian influence.

India - Independence: Partition

By Lt Gen SK Sinha (Retd.)

The Army’s contribution to India’s Independence and its role during the Partition of the Sub-Continent, have not received much attention. As one who served in the Army before and after Independence, as also witnessed the Partition holocaust, I would like to place on record my recollections of that period. My views on these two aspects of our Nation’s history are based on my personal experience and not on any erudite research.

Military losing its shine - Time to recast short service commission

Lt Gen Harwant Singh

In a developing economy, rapid industrialization and a country well on the road to prosperity, preference for government jobs tends to decline. This has not happened in India so far due to a number of reasons. One, government jobs offer unmatched security of employment, two, seniority overrides merit, three, mediocrity prospers, promotions are plentiful and finally, there is much rent to be collected with minimum risk. Government employees have still not shed the colonial era hang-ups of being masters and not public servants: ego and false notions of status persists.  

Sri Lanka Perspectives -July 2011

By Col R Hariharan

The month of July had been an eventful one for Sri Lanka both internally and externally. The three major developments included the thumping success of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the local bodies’ elections in the country except in the Northern Province, the building up of pressure on India-Sri Lanka relations and the fall out of Mrs Hilary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State’s visit to India and its impact on U.S- Sri Lanka.

Local authorities election

The ruling coalition United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, scored a thumping victory in the elections for local bodies held on July 23. The President’s continued popularity was underscored with the UPFA capturing 45 of the 65 local bodies for which elections were held. The main opposition parties the United National Party (UNP) and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) failed to capture a single local authority. This would show that opposition parties were yet to bounce back from their parliamentary poll defeat.