Media - (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh) & Anna - Scribido Magazine

Anyone who’s following the news lately or not cannot ignore Anna Hazare and I couldn’t resist writing about it. We have been given the facts about Anna Hazare and his work in real India i.e. the Village (Ralegan Siddhi, Maharashtra) that he has adopted and made into one of the best agricultural and economical revolution models. By the way the village he has adopted has adopted is self-sustained & guess what they don’t sell any alcohol or tobacco (which is one of the first to drive consumptions where there is prosperity). Which is quite an achievement as the Consumption of tobacco in Maharashtra hinterland is probably one of the highest in India if not the world and it claims over 800,000 lives in India every year. Alcohol which is the sole cause of suicides in the deep Vidarbha region of Maharashtra and causes a lot of poor farmers killing themselves and their families under the influence of alcohol. These are not some of the things that the media ever mentioned or told me it was what I have seen from my travels on the ground. There is stark difference for Ralegan Siddhi from its neighbouring villages. Anna Hazare Salute.

His stand on the real Lokpal bill and what he and his team have been able to create a quite a stir with the people of India (so much so that it motivated me & many like us to actually miss work to attend to rallies across India).

But where was he when the scams of the Last 20 years were breaking out? I’m giving him the Benefit of doubt that he was rooting for a revolution by first working for a village & then for the country. When did a man whose story says he gave up all his materialistic wants and lives on the Gandhian principles to build a new & prosperous India start giving unlimited news bytes and start calling press conferences like politicians Businessmen & Failed Actors. Wasn’t working for the betterment of the nation his only criterion? He was on a television show, where he tried to be there for the children of India and appreciate the children for their singing on the contrary all he did was stop and tell the world about his achievements. Good publicity stunt in front of the gullible Indian Middle class couple of days before the protest against the weak Lokpal bill?
It’s more like a Bollywood Masala movie for me having grown up on it not to fear this being politically driven. I mean he’s come out of nowhere. Is it all the creation of the media where it’s now acting as The Creator (Brahma)?
Then there was a Mr. Chetan Bhagat’s (voted as one of the most influential Indians) editorial in the paper supporting him and urging the youth of India to actually fight and support Anna in this drive against Corruption. Well I’m not saying we shouldn’t support but why should we be listening to a guy whose sitting pretty with a Hefty job with one of the premiere banks in the world sitting in a third country (Hong Kong). I mean if he feels so strongly for it why doesn’t he come home and does what he urges us to do? It’s ironical that we consider him as one of the most influential people in our country when all he does in our country is repatriate money to stock markets for his personal gains. He even claims to have shifted base to India to concentrate on writing but why is he still on payrolls of the Investment bank?
Then there is a Baba Ramdev who was created by the media, the media became the protector of Baba Ramdev by giving him sound bites & News time. He then shocked the world community by saying he could cure cancer with yoga & now supports Anna Hazare (in his fight against corruption) because he wants to start a political party? But why now so many so-called celebrities caught onto his bandwagon, maybe it’s cool or selfishly driven?
I don’t even want to start mentioning about the two Magsaysay awardees (Ms. Kiran Bedi &Mr. Arvind Kejriwal) because they too have been at it for some time. Are they all acting like Vishnu (The Protector)?

My question is why I have so many questions for someone who’s fighting for the betterment of our Nation.

One recent example is where Baba Ramdev is being questioned by enforcement directorate over ‘unaccounted’ cash. Believe me the media is here & soon they would be alleging a scam of the biggest order and finally acting like Mahesh (The Destroyer).

All said and done my head has too many questions but my heart doesn’t want to believe any of this and I shall keep supporting you Mr. Anna Hazare in our struggle for getting politicians to book (by implementing a strong Lokpal) and working for the people by all means. Anna you are our last hope in front of this Limbo Government and I wish and pray on behalf of every Indian that may you emerge stronger & no one can be Mahesh (The Destroyer) in front of Anna.

Anna may you become The Anna (The Big Brother of India).

chanakya

I agree that bringing ramdev into this movement was a massive blunder among many others and also about Chetan Bhagat being one of the most influential people in India (which he is certainly not). I have no respect for him as a writer but i dont understand what his means of income has anything to do with the movement. Also, you stated that alcohol was the leading cause of suicides in Vidharba region, could you plz cite your source for this, because i am given to believe that poverty and debt (banks and landlords) were the leading reason for farmer suicides.
http://aniruuud.blogspot.in/ Delusional Repoter

well I don’t agree with you on many points. first of all asking where was Anna 20yrs back isn’t fair for times have changed drastically and situation has become worse. you need patience, position and the public support to start a movement of this magnitude.
Before Anna did anyone had the guts and ability to come out and garner huge public support? no! since the JP movement none came forward to address the grievances of the people and now when an old man, who has absolutely nothing to gain and achieve, a retired ‘first woman’ IPS officer, an IITian, senior most Supreme court Advocate are fighting for the betterment of the people and what these so called ‘pseudo intellectuals’ are doing? DENOUNCING them. Sadly all they can do is find some petty readers but would never find pragmatic people who understand the gravity of the cause they are fighting for
Bharat Nadkarni

okay.. first of all i dont understand your intention behind writing this article… you are criticizing and at the same time saluting people who are working for the nation. I completely agree with chanakya.. in the sense alcohol is not the reason why farmers commit suicide.. it maybe a catalyst, but not a reason. on the other hand, how does it matter which people support the movement and which people dont. it seems like you are jealous of chetan bhagat’s other country paycheck! why? and how does it matter? how is it related to supporting the country.. where is it written that you must renounce everything to work for the nation? and for god’s sake, to each his own! no body is forcing anybody to listen to anybody! people must have their own opinion on things.. that is the main problem with people of today.. no one has their own thoughts and blindly follow people based on something that has caught their eye… phew! we are doomed..
Tarun Kishnani (K.T)

Hi guys,

Sorry for a deferred reply, but have been travelling. Thanks for sharing your views on the subject.
@ Chanakya: There was a debate in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly over the ban of liquor in the Vidarbha Region, which stirred quite a row considering it was proposed by Narayan Rane (the then Revenue Secretary). There are a lot of NGO’s and women Rallies in the Vidarbha region to ban alcohol Production & Sale. The report by Yavatmal Collector Mr. Sanjay Deshmukh states that there has been an exponential growth in the Liquor Sales in the last Five years. What I fail to understand is that Vidarbha a predominantly agrarian economy, which has a huge debt ridden farmer base, has seen an explosion in Liquor Consumption.
I would also like to quote one of the farm Activists in that region Mr. Kishor Tiwari who runs the Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti & has been fighting for farmers’ rights who has been supporting the ban in liquor saying “People tend to go to extremities in distress and liquor takes its toll in these circumstances”. For more so Articles from Times of India, Indian Express & Mid Day maybe able to give you a view on the same. Problem is all these articles are buried in miss able corners of the daily.
One such link: http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/jan/300111-20000-woman-morcha-vidharba-alcohol-deaths.htm
Sadly there’s Poverty across the country but mixing it with Alcohol is a deadly Cocktail.

@ Delusional Reporter & @ Bharat Nadkarni : Since both your questions are intertwined I would like to share my opinion.
Anna Hazare has led a lot off moments for the betterment of the Indian people.
Some of his little known protests 1. Electoral reform movement 2. Campaign against liquor from food grains 3. Regulation of Transfers and Prevention of Delay in Discharge of Official Duties Act.

Why we don’t know about this is the Media~ hence the article which states they have cherry picked an issue and given Anna Hazare the floor not because they want to work for betterment but because it suits them.
It was news to me that Anna Hazares RTI Document was considered the base to the Right to Information Act 2005, Enacted by the Union Government. For someone whose been following the social developments in India for a decade now this is a very big piece of information to miss. Given the scenario one of the premiere political and news channels in our country proudly claims to have had given RTI the biggest support and boost.

As far as the Mr. Chetan Bhagat is concerned I would just like to say one should always practice what one preaches.

Media – (Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh) & Anna

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