My first post on ToI blogs: Arvind Kejriwal’s Coming Out Party..
Dear Friends, I am delighted to say that ToI blogs will now feature some of my posts on politics, history and related topics on their site. Here is the first one, which went live earlier today..Enjoy and pl do share any comments – either here, or over at the ToI blog. Thanks for your unstinted support and encouragement as always..Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
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ENTER THE POLITICIAN: Arvind Kejriwal’s Coming-out Party
Amid the high-drama, turnarounds and volte-face by key members of IAC in the last few days, one thing has become clear: that the “split†in the movement is not really a “splitâ€; It is in fact, a “coming-out party†of sorts for Arvind Kejriwal.
This is good news.
Good because fellow political activists (as opposed to those married to social causes or focused on improving civic affairs) can now talk to Arvind and his supporters, without the baggage of rhetoric, and without fear of being tarred by the “all politicians are crooks and evil†brush.
I wish Arvind good luck in his efforts to form a new party – and wish we have a thousand more like him – who realise that there really is no other alternative.
The surest way to keep a pond permanently dirty is to sneer at the dirt from the sidelines and dismiss those who are valiantly trying to step into the muck to clean it. Â With his latest announcement, Arvind has joined us in this muck-cleaning. This must be good news for all.
But more – a lot more – needs to happen. For one, Arvind and his team need to get rid of seemingly simple but positively misplaced ideas about corruption, poverty, “rights†etc.
Add the word “protests†to that list too.
What has unnerved me most the past few weeks has been the apparent readiness of Arvind to announce a protest every time he sees a “wrong†around him – whether it is the arrest of a cartoonist in Mumbai, detention of IAC activists in Bhopal or plans to generate nuclear power at Kudankulam.
Protests have their time and place – and indeed are a vital part of democracy. But if Arvind aspires to be a leader (which I am certain he can be), he does need to move beyond “protests†to policies.  And while he is at it, he also needs to think why in the world’s largest democracy, politicians and political leaders are treated with utter disdain and contempt.
For now though, there are more pressing matters.
Such as making it clear that the fight is not based on a single-point agenda. And a Lokpal bill is unlikely to make a dent in the mega-scandals that now come out with such “regularity†that we have become “immune†to them.
And matters such as “clarity of thought†– which is at the heart of every good policy. Clarity of thought that humans are not born equal; Clarity of thought that “equality†will always be a chimera. Clarity of thought that “Equal Opportunity†is what we must fight for; Clarity of thought that a government that essentially lets people be, is perhaps the best thing for people’s creativity and entrepreneurial talents to flourish.
And clarity of thought that the poor do not need pity; they are not weak, or stupid, or helpless; but they are chained by circumstances. Let’s focus on educating them, ensuring their health and imparting skills to them. If we do can do this, poverty in India can be wiped out in a generation.
Arvind now needs to show he is a true leader. A leader does not depend on surveys to tell him what course of action to take – a leader has clarity of thought.  That is what we expect of Arvind. I hope he lives up to his reputation and rises to the challenge.
Here are my final words of unsolicited advice to someone who has given all of us hope – and confidence – that change can come.
This is going to be a long war. It will be impossible to fight this alone. We will need clarity of thought, unflinching resolve and infinite patience, not to mention courage. Anger will generally not help. Joining hands will.
Let us work together. India needs you – more than India Against Corruption – and hundreds more like you. Together we can win.Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
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Related Post: “Usse farak padega kyaa?“
I think his decision is praiseworthy. We are with u. Keep it up.
Very well written and apt advice for Kejriwal’s team! Shantanu, you should have suggested Arvind Kejriwal to align with Freedom Team of India (www.freedomTeam.in) and vice versa. It is better to create synergies to succeed!
We already know something about this new political party’s ideology and policies. If the words uttered by Prashant Bhushan on capitalism, globalization or liberalization of the indian economy or the kudankulam project are any indication, this is another boring socialist party with no real idea on how to create wealth for the nation. Socialists are uniformly unimaginitive with their ideologies about wealth redistribution. What Bhushan wants is for us to go back to license permit raj where government decides who gets what and who can do what.
if u go through the history of all political parties they ll be same as like that of arvind’s new party (in one way or another)…….
all the political parties should change their course of action and their though at one time because of the political compultion…..
and it is not different to arvind party……
according to me the power of democracy lies in peoples right and their decition to elect a party which is minimum corrupt(the fate of indians has become like that)…….
Even if one doesn’t agree with his economic ideas, I think I do admire his courage in taking on the system and the corrupt politicians without worrying about his own safety. God bless him. I heard him today telling Salman Kurshid that he is not the law minister for his party but for the country and the country should come first. Needless to say, Kurshid left the panel.
Friends-
Arvind Kejriwal’s entry into politics has to be celebrated for what it is.
The road ahead is tough for him (and many aspirants) who aim to contest elections for one- each new entrant into 2014 will eat into the anti-congress vote. So smile Kapil Sibal and Co (for now); but in due course the “glue†that would bind each of these independent would be MPs needs to be strong and their individual strengths need to feed off each other.
One may have many misgivings about individual policy viewpoints e.g idea of Lokpal etc but the principal objective as I see it of all the individuals that I know are preparing for the “new civil services exam†is the idea of a more fairer, prosperous India that lets people be and for that I say “shubhaste panthanaha”…
If I try to “analyse†any of the individual political/policy perspectives of Arvind, or for that matter anyone who has committed to fighting elections- I could find many areas of disagreement but that would be confusing the woods for the trees…if it is a change we seek we should not go overboard in analysing the change agents…go on Arvind, Go on Shantanu…
This is wonderful news Shantanu. Couldn’t be more happier that the much reviled main stream media will now be a little bit better because people like you are involved! Good luck!!
Regards,
CC
“The surest way to keep a pond permanently dirty is to sneer at the dirt from the sidelines and dismiss those who are valiantly trying to step into the muck to clean it.”
You have said it perfectly Shantanu. Gem of an analogy.
Shantanu ji,
I have to disagree on Kejriwal.He is playing a dangerous game.If he succeeds(I hope not) and no one will get majority then there has to be another coalition which might include IAC party.Due to ideological differences its gonna go down again and again.This is the recipe for another Nepal.
Kejriwal is into mudslingling and forgot that his associate Damania facing the same charges levied against Gadkari.Prashant Bhushan is ready to give away J&K may be he doesn’t understand J&K is not only integral part of India it’s also a very important strategic location.If we lose J&K the juggernaut of China and Pak will roll and it’s very difficult to protect the remaining parts of India.
For me Kejriwal his using the same strategies as a Maowadi would do.
Kejriwal has’t proved or investigated anything.He went by India Today reports against Khurshid and Damania without any investigation by himself.
He made charges against Modi too but on investigation it was found out that Congress’s former CM of Gujarat was responsible.If Modi gets more than 120 seats in Gujarat he will become front runner for PM.Other than allegations Kejriwal have nothing against Modi.Supreme court monitored 14 SITs(Special Investigation Teams)have given clean chit to him.Even Teesta Setalvad has facing charges of coercing witness and sought a anticipatory bail.
I would like to see Modi vs Kejriwal.
I’m totally against all powerful Lokpal.Why because giving all powers though controlled by different layers of protection to not get his(Lokpal)way what he wants it still can be cracked.
For example let say an enemy country plots to take over India it just have to get corrupt ministers or bureaucrats and compromise the different layers of protection of Lokpal by introducing corrupts into the Lokapl system and finally putting a puppet as Lokpal.It can be done operationally in 5-10 years or more.
Give limited powers(necessary ones) to Lokpal,don’t club everything into Lokpal like seperate Judiciary from lokpal,etc.
And most importantly he never made any charges(may be one or two in public appearances) against Sonia Gandhi.IAC made a list of 15 Ministers with their Corrupt activities then why they haven’t included Sonia Gandhi’s name.The information is available in Supreme Court they just have to apply RTI and get info.Why he spared her again and again that’s beyond me.