Editorial

A voice for Asia's restless masses

Arundhati Roy notwithstanding, Anna Hazare is an authentic Asian hero entitled to a fair hearing from all those who care about the country in which they live and the responsibilities of those who rule over them.

The 74-year-old Hazare, who hails from India's Maharashtra state, is a campaigner whose demand for honesty in public life is attracting tens of thousands of supporters from across the length and breadth of India. He first came to public attention with his demand for an ombudsman who would have the power to investigate the conduct of all politicians, including the prime minister, as well as the senior members of the judiciary. These demands have the support of a restive public that cheers his populist, anti-graft sentiments: 'We believe we have got independence, but we haven't. The same corruption, same loot, same terror is going on.'

Hazare's campaign has taken off in the wake of a string of scandals, including fat cat contracts awarded for  last year's Commonwealth Games and the more recent allegations about a mobile telephone licensing scam in which a senior cabinet minister was allegedly involved. Small wonder that in a recent public opinion poll carried out in New Delhi, 96 per cent of people said they felt the powerful are able to get away with most things and the government is breeding a culture of non-accountability. In addition, 88 per cent of those surveyed said the government was apathetic to public grievances and 84 per cent spoke of their frustration over unfulfilled promises by politicians.

Award-winning author Roy, however, has objected to Hazare's agenda because of its 'aggressive nationalism' and 'draconian demands'. She also appears to believe that the creation of an all-powerful ombudsman would merely duplicate to no purpose the existing 'bloated, unaccountable and corrupt' administration.

Yet Roy and other critics have missed the larger significance of Hazare's initiative. In the first place, he represents an honourable tradition of non-violent protest that was given shape, form and legitimacy by none other than Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the modern Indian nation state. It was Gandhi's non-violence movement that helped speed the demise of the British Raj and generate a new type of protest that spread far beyond the boundaries of India. The late Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela are among the international human rights campaigners whose admiration for Gandhi led them to emulate his tactics. Within India the late Vinoba Bhave, who persuaded rich landlords to give up their properties, and Jayprakash Narayan, who called for political fairplay, were both part of the rich Gandhian tradition. They are still remembered and widely admired.

But Hazare is important for other reasons as well. Not everyone identifies with his agenda of flogging alcoholics, but he has a blameless private life and he seeks no personal or political gain for himself. This combination of selflessness combined with a call for far-reaching political reforms and accountability resonates with ordinary men and women standing up for their rights — not just in India, but also from Egypt and Syria in the West to Myanmar in the East. They all share a longing for a responsible and respectable public figure like Hazare behind whom they can unite to press their demands for a better society.

India's ruling political elite may distrust Hazare's methods and intentions and even his backers. Indeed, Roy and others look with distaste at some of Hazare's declared supporters, such as Narendra Modi, the extreme right-wing chief minister of Gujarat state. But whatever the reasons for their distaste, no-one can deny the powerful message that Hazare embodies. He is, for the time being at least, an important new face of Asia's restless masses. Better to listen to him and respond with constructive counter-proposals, than to arrest him and risk igniting a fuse that will be impossible to control.

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