Ramdev and all the drama!

I am amazed at the level of anti corruption agitation going on in the country. The middle class has a reputation of being self centered, self obsessed, uncaring, corrupt, and completely disinterested in the political affairs of the country. However, with the kind of scandals that rocked the country over the past one year, the middle class has been shaken from its slumber and forced to go out in the streets against the government apathy, and often complicity, in not being able to tackle corruption.

Anna Hazare's anti corruption movement was broad based, supported by the secular civil society and centered around a rational demand - i.e. establishing a Jan Lokpal, whose office would be able to investigate and prosecute corruption amongst the high and mighty. There was some legit criticism to the movement and its demands, inasmuch as the risks associated with the concentration of power, and who gets to be in the Lokpal (politicians are the only people who can claim to be elected even though the middle class despises them). However, all that criticism aside, nobody questioned the impeccable personal integrity of Anna Hazare and that the ultimate aim of the movement was to weed out against corruption. His fast received saturation coverage in the national media, and some in the foreign media even called it "India's Egypt moment". The government obviously relented and proceeded to establish a committee with 50% civil society members, which shall oversee the drafting and enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill - a unique first in Indian democracy.

So far so good.

Now Ramdev comes along. Sensing the mood of the country, he throws himself into the anti corruption bandwagon, but - here is the bad part - with questionable motivations and ridiculous demands.

While the Jan Lokpal committee is still working on the draft bill, Ramdev has declared an "indefinite fast unto death". His demands? Declaring black money stashed outside to be a national asset, death penalty to the corrupt, and prohibition of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes!

A friend of mine shared this Tehelka article with me, and people with a mature mind may read it and understand how ridiculous this 'Baba' sounds!

First of all - he claims that by bringing back the black money to India, we will become rich! 1 rupee will become equal to 50 dollars!!

No wonder he is uneducated!

The black money stashed outside of India represents the opportunity cost missed had the money been used at a proper time. By bringing it back here, we are just bringing back the currency notes (whether USD, GBP or INR - it's essentially a piece of paper). The industries that could have been set up here long time ago, will still take time to set up. Having 100bn$ to spend or $1 tr to spend doesn't change the fact that India won't be able to become a power surplus nation for at least another decade!

Believing that bringing the black money back to India will solve our nation's problems reflects poorly on the Baba's intellect and understanding of modern economics.

Second - what exactly does the country stand to gain by hanging the corrupt ? The backwardness of the institution of capital punishment being kept aside, it makes no economic sense to hang the corrupt. Death penalty is considered abhorrent by most of the civilized world, and India would open itself to sanctions if it were to violate the human rights of its citizens so brazenly. Death for corruption would make India look like the most regressive nation in the world, and undoubtedly it would be struck down by the Supreme Court if enacted into law.

Third - while I agree that high currency notes assists the corrupt to easily transport money into foreign lands, we mustn't forget that due to high rates of inflation, the value of money decreases. By the time we are able to get rid of Rs 500 notes, its value would have gone to the Rs 100 of today.

The demands made by Ramdev are all superficial to the problem of corruption, and do not strike at the root cause, unlike the Jan Lokpal.

But what does Ramdev care about it? He is just enjoying the free publicity that he is receiving 24X7 on all of the daily news networks. He is using and abusing the good work done by the secular civil society in tackling corruption, by bringing forth his religio fanatic politics. As opposed to Anna Hazare who is a man of austerity, Ramdev owns and controls a yoga mega empire and has even bought a Scottish island. He is a power hungry megalomaniac with an ulterior, yet increasingly evident agenda of converting India into a right wing, theocratic Hindu fundamentalist nation, devoid of any personal freedoms that we take for granted right now. For that, he is willing trample on the human rights of people who do not 'conform' to the notions of morality of the majority by ordering for them capital punishment (or other harsh penalties), such as but not limited to the 'crimes' of adultery, cow slaughter, homosexuality, consumption of alcohol, pre marital sex, etc. He is a dangerous reactionary who wants terrorists and rapists to suffer the death penalty, without for a minute trying to understand the long term consequences of such actions.

Despite all this, I feel he has a right to promote his views, unless he violates any law of the land. His personal liberties are protected by the Magna Carta, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Indian Constitution as well, even though he wishes to destroy the very same document that protects his freedoms. In such a scenario, the Government's action against his protest was highly despicable and even borderline illegal. It smacks of the Emergency era excesses and does nothing more than add fuel to the fire.

It might backfire and turn the Indian middle class further to the right.

As such, I am afraid that he will emerge stronger after having played all this drama.

I am afraid I might witness the rise of a dangerous fanatic of the likes of Adolf Hitler in my lifetime!

I am afraid......... I am properly scared!