Satyagrah Of Words..

When Anna Hazare underwent an indefinite fast to promote the lokpal bill, no one would have thought that an action on similar lines would cause such an upheaval in the nation.
Perhaps it is the system or perhaps it is our frame of mind, but whenever an act ,however noble it may be, is associated in any way with politics or politicians, it loses most of its cause or the nobility. Baba Ramdev, who brought yoga closer to the common masses, who caught everyone’s attention through his sessions and his claims of curing diabetes and even some cases of cancer is now the talking point of the whole nation. Surf any popular news channel, you will inevitably see some new news related to him. We, in general, have a very bad habit; we don’t solve problems the way we should, we cook it up, add some spice to it and make a big issue about it, be it the roads in our locality during rains, or the electricity supply; same has happened in this case.
One thing should be understood here, baba ramdev’s intentions were never wrong, his motives were clear and were in the positive interest of the nation . But did he present his ideas in an equally clear cut manner, well that is something to think about.
Firstly let’s take a simple example, if you or I or any other common man decides to promote some agenda it won’t reach out to that large an audience. But if a superstar , say shahrukh khan or rajnikant decides to do so it would become an instant eye catcher. Same was the case with baba, he used the most powerful tool today to promote his agenda. He knew he was popular and he cashed it pretty well. Secondly, the prominent effect of BJP in baba’s ways and works did not help things either, not to mention the RSS . What should have been an honest and sincere effort to warn the government, turned into a political stage where people scorn at each other. Thirdly and this is the most important fact, baba ramdev made a fatal mistake by hiding from the audience the fact that an agreement had already been reached between him and the government the day before. So while baba and his supporters were rejoicing at their victory kapil sibbal was in another conference showing the paper that proved the aforementioned. What followed by both the parties was in no ways wise or in good interest of any of them. Fuming at the supposed betrayal, baba threatened to continue his fast, the police had to forcibly brake the gathering. There was a lot of unrest among all the supporters all over the country. But some questions still remain unanswered, why did ramdev hide the fact that he had an agreement had already been made the previous day. What is the role of BJP in baba ramdev’s protest. Government claims that baba ramdev was only questioned for 15 mins and then let go , on the other hand he claims a threat on his life and blames ‘sonia gandhi’ for that. The answers may not be clear but one thing is clear. What started out as an honest effort has now taken the form of a political issue. With the BJP using ramdev as a weapon and the congress in no mood to relent it seems it is the common man that will be at loss again.
We people are always fond of spicy things; spicy food , spicy gossip. This protest was plain, honest and simple, but the whole new political exposure has added a lot of spice to it. Let’s hope it’s just enough for us to savor.