I will not forget this man who I saw during the ongoing agitation for Jan Lokpal in Chennai. He was a quiet old man who had come there to support Anna Hazaare. He never uttered a word unlike others who were raising slogans or singing patriotic songs, instead he just sat in a corner with this peaceful look of his and fasted. There was something in his simple face which attracted me immensely. I will always remember him as my version of the face of the revolution by Anna Hazaare - an ordinary common man with the simple resolve to bring a change, quietly....
As Anna sits through the 5th day of his fast and thousands of his followers and fans all over India march in different sort of protests, there are many voices which call Jan Lokpal impractical, Anna a blackmailer and this whole thing a tamasha. They say its undemocratic to protest and fast and the only the parliament should be supreme.
To such voices, I want to convey that its not the parliament in the Democracy which is Supreme but We, the people, are the ones who are supreme. If we can make the lawmakers, there is no reason why we cannot decide on a law by ourselves, especially if this law, like the RTI, has a direct conflict of interest with the parliament which is supposed to protect the Democracy and instead thrives on Mobocracy.
Further, leave Jan Lokpal alone; its not even about Lokpal. This protest is the collective show of the middle finger to the corrupt, shameless and servile government of India by the people of India. This is the outburst of anger of the average common man who sees his nation getting looted with glee by the corrupt politicians and all the government agencies entrusted with protecting his interests, siding with the rich and mighty instead. So those who dismiss this as a tamasha, are either being myopic, or elitists - frowning at the masses taking matters in their own hand, or just plain ignorant. They fail to see this agitation for what it is - the Indian, Gandhian, Jasmine.
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