Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Are You Supporting Anna Hazare?

I honestly don’t know how to react when I am asked that question. People support a lot of things. I support Manchester United (Yes, I do know it’s not what it used to be, but… UNITED FOR LIFE). When I say I support Manchester United, I know what I am supporting. Anna Hazare – I don’t really know what the noise is all about. 

I can’t understand what it is that Anna Hazare and his supporters are trying to accomplish over here. They seem to be of the opinion that corruption exists solely in the political circles. That – as any thinking brain will confirm – is NOT the case. My suggestions for dealing with corruption are way way off from all this nonsense.

A couple of scams have come out – CWG, 2G and god alone knows what else. Obscene amount of money being said to have been pocketed. What I can’t understand is – what exactly will be accomplished by Anna Hazare fasting along with 40-50-100 thousand people?

Does Anna Hazare and his idiotic team of supporters believe that with their march and protests they will be able to topple the government? Ok, let’s just assume that they are able to, then what? The new government WONT be corrupt?

Arrey paagal ke bachche – corruption is not an isolated epidemic / disease affecting the politicians or just one particular political party. Corruption is everywhere. The change has to come from the PEOPLE and does not necessarily have to start from the head of government. The change has to start from the people who are rallying behind you without even understanding what they are rallying for!!?

As hard as it may be to believe / understand / accept – The Prime Minister of the country has a lot less control over - you handing a 100 IRS note to the peon at the passport office, to expedite your file - than you do. Think about that for a minute. Read that line again, slowly and it WILL make sense.

That is not all that’s bothering me. The guy wants to go on a hunger strike with a bunch of idiots – arrey go ahead. What difference does it make? I don’t understand why the government or the police have a problem with it. I think it’s wonderful news. All the jobless idiots gathered together for days in one place and the rest of Delhi has significantly reduced traffic on the roads. Great news for those who actually have things to do.

Welcome him and his supporters with a smile and say please go ahead. Take whichever ground / venue you want – (I would even suggest to charge them rent) and then make sure that there is 24X7 media coverage as well. Shouldn’t be a problem considering how many dedicated news channels we have who make an exclusive out of just about anything. Let’s make sure all these people are actually on hunger strike.

If he dies while fasting – what’s going to happen? Another statue won’t make a difference. In my opinion, the police and / or the government should keep out of this as long as it’s a peaceful assembly of idiots.

Why do I keep calling them idiots – well here is why:

A while back, I was listening to BBC – World Have Your Say, where Kiran Bedi was acting all pricey with comments like – “I am in the middle of the movement and I can give you only 15 minutes of my time”. Wow. Why bother even coming online? It wasn’t as if she shared some insightful comments or gave information that wasn’t already available.

Just a while before that, on one of the Indian comedy news channels, a correspondent was talking to a protestor / supporter who had come with his entire family for the hunger strike. When asked what him and his family were doing there, his response was “we are here to support Anna Hazare”.

The correspondent presses on as to what exactly he is there for and the supporter responds “we are on hunger strike in support of Anna Hazare”. When asked AGAIN what’s the agenda / demands and what they seek to achieve, the supporter simply replied - “I don’t know”.

Dikhaawon pe mat jaao… apni akal ladaao.

15 Opinions:

puzzling heart said...

atlast i found someone talk sensibly on the anna hazare issue.... you are right. as prime minister said on independence day , he doesnt have a magic wand to just erase corruption...some people just want to make some noise, for what, god knows, even they dont know... may be anger, frustration with life...etc ..etc....

Anonymous said...

my thoughts exactly.....i said this to someone i had a discussion with,let him die make a statue,declare a holiday,thats what ppl need.........life goes on!!what is gonna get accomplished,while he is fasting, will corruption disappear from political corridors??if u wanna protest against corruption,stop bribing ppl at the lowest rungs to get ur work expedited,files pushed around....go thru red tape....stop doling out bucks....stop bribing....what is this fast gonna accomplish,and why doesnt the govt want him to go on a fast???beats me??
i have been fasting all of ramadan in my home,i dint call the media,nobody's stoppin me....iss desh ki janta ka kya hoga,god alone know!!
Bewakoofo ki kami nahin hai..........

pride

L o r d R a j said...

Hello Puzzling Heart and Pride.

Thank you so much for your comments. You have absolutely no idea how comforting it is to read your comments and realise that I haven't lost my mind and there are other individuals who are also confused about the events.

lol @ i have been fasting all of ramadan in my home,i dint call the media,nobody's stoppin me.

GOOD POINT, Pride (kicks himself for not having thought of that and included in the blog post).

@Puzzling Heart - I am not a congress supporter or Manmohan Singh supporter. I seriously couldn't care less who the Prime Minister is (honestly, I just don't care - it doesn't make a shit of a difference. They are all equally incompetent).

It's not that I feel the need to defend the government. I just don't understand the logic behind Anaa Hazare's ' movement ' . There is no plan of action or agenda or point. Similarly, I don't understand the govt's reaction. Arrey, bhookha marta hai, to marne do! itni footage kyon dete ho!!

Blaise said...

Lord Raj i never supported Anna Hazare now that you have openly critisized his actions i fully agree with you. One f my friend settled in the US last week sent me a link to vote and support Anna. I replied you are well settled in the US so how does it affect you so leave the Indians alone. Lord Raj just let your BLUNT comments be heard of.

L o r d R a j said...

Blaise,

Thanks for your comments. Honestly speaking, it's individuals like Pride, Puzzling Heart and yourself who provide some (much needed) assurance that there is still some common sense left in the world.

Otherwise, it just seems like the blind leading the blind. Or in this case - the dumb leading the dumber.

Yoda to Skywalker -

I sense a great disturbance in the force.... yes... I sense a candle light vigil being organised by the supporters. Be strong young skywalker. The dark side is tempting but you must be strong.

Elegant Chic said...

Hats off Raj! :)
BRAVO!

Mahatma Gandhi said "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" and not "You must change others to see the change in the world."

Have a look at this: http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2011/08/14/faq-why-is-anna-hazare-wrong-and-lok-pal-a-bad-idea/

Saw this on a friend's FB wallpost: On a Notice Board: "Please put your cellphones on Manmohan Singh mode"

L o r d R a j said...

Elegant Chic,

Thank you so much for sharing that link!

Just went through it (going through the comments now) +1'd.

Anonymous said...

n just btw whats the guarantee that the members of the lok pal will not be corrupt too??woh bhi insaan hi hongey,devtaa toh nahin.............what a waste of time ,money n footage.........

pride

L o r d R a j said...

Pride,

EXACTLY!

Clearly Anna Hazare, Crying Kiran Bedi and the idiotic members of TEAM ANNA haven't thought this through. They have absolutely no idea what the hell they are doing.

Waste of time, effort and footage. Faaltu mein shor maccha rahe hain.

I say, the govt / police should just ignore all of this. When questioned by the media or in the parliament, there should be a simple reply - ' it's a free country. Anna Hazare is a free man in a free country and he is free to do whatever he wants to do - as long as it's within the law '.

Do that and just ignore him and Crying Bedi and the rest of the idiots.

Anonymous said...

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/aug/190811-Anna-Hazare-health-36-doctors.htm

what a waste of time and skills of doctors which are in dearth in govt hospitals where 1000's are dying due to lack of timely help by doc's!!
jago bharat jago...........

btw 3 kgs weight loss in 2-3 days,not a bad idea for ppl tryin to lose weight!!Haram ka kha kha kar jo logon key peth badh gaye hai unko yeh fast karna chahiye,kissi ka kuch to fayda ho!!

pride

L o r d R a j said...

Lol @ Haram ka kha kha kar jo logon key peth badh gaye hai unko yeh fast karna chahiye,kissi ka kuch to fayda ho!!

Just thinking about it some more. This is a waste of resources for sure, but not only of the docs. All those SUPPORTERS at the ground.. some of them coming up with sheets and water and what not - to help Team Anna with the fast!

Erecting temporary tents (to provide shelter from the heat / rain), spraying mosquito repellants to give some relief to the Anna supporters!!

If they were to stop a minute and think - if they really wanted to 'help' - there are plenty of people in india, in delhi itself - who don't have a roof over their heads. How about making a tent for them or giving them the water or giving them a few coils of mosquito repellants??

Don't they need a shelter from the rain? or are these individuals NOT the part of india that team anna is interested in helping out?

Activist - activist nahin - chootiye hain saare ke saare !

Considering these people claim that they want a better india - well they could put these resources to a much better use.

Anna - mar jaa yaar. nautanki khatam karo.

Jaago bharat jaago ... err.. ok - umeed pe duniya qaayam hai.... I guess.

Anonymous said...

do u even know what the bill is about.. ?? from ur blog looks like u r completely unaware of whats its purpose of bringing and u wrote it googling some essay on corruption or vague thoughts like i dont care.. it cant be ended so lets just write a page on it!

L o r d R a j said...

"
do u even know what the bill is about.. ??


Err... Well, IF you were capable of understanding simple english sentences, you wouldn't have asked the question, given that I have clearly mentioned 'I don't really know what the noise is all about'.

Actually it's not just me. Even the truck load of SUPPORTERS wasting away their time in the Ramlila ground have NO CLUE what they are there for!
_________________________________

"
from ur blog looks like u r completely unaware of whats its purpose of bringing and u wrote it googling some essay on corruption or vague thoughts like i dont care.. it cant be ended so lets just write a page on it!

Anyone with half a thinking brain will tell you that the lokpal bill is redundant.
'googling some essay' - why would I need to GOOGLE an essay on corruption to pen down my own thoughts on some idiot - with an ever increasing bunch of idiotic supporters - who have absolutely no clue what they are doing??

Anonymous said...

why do you have to say to everyone idiotic ,stupid like that.. wtvr u wrote is just for the sake of writing.. thats it! i used to like ur blogs but somehw u r just too obsessive about urself.. like why would i do that.. dont u understand english.. c'mon learn to take criticism!

L o r d R a j said...

"
Why do you have to say to everyone idiotic, stupid like tha

Well, If I think they are idiotic or stupid - I say it. It's supposed to be MY thoughts and opinions on my blog. Not someone else's. If I can't speak my mind on my own blog, then where do you propose I do that?
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"
too obsessive about urself

err... and how is that NEW information? anyone who does know me is aware of the fact that I am highly opinionated.
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"
learn to take criticism!

Well, if someone could learn how to CRITICISE, I would learn to take it. Criticism DOES have to make sense. It can't just be "ohhh, I don't agree with you, so I am going to criticise you without any valid point, and you will have to take it".
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"
don't you understand english

Well, If you DO scroll up to the previous comments, you will (hopefully) be able to understand the context in which that statement was made.

You put up "do you even know what the bill is about" and I merely highlighted the fact that it's not just me, but there are truck loads of IDIOTS (yes, I said it again, go ahead - sue me) who are SUPPORTING Team Anna and EVEN THEY are not aware of what the bill and / or noise is about.

It's just mob mentality.
___________________________

It's not that I am unaware of the corruption issue in the world (surprise surprise... it's not just in India). I am aware of it, but what TEAM Anna and the supporters seem to be thinking is:

There is a problem, something needs to be done.
This is something, let's do it.

That is NOT how one solves a problem.

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