If the Congress and the morally-bankrupt regime it leads at the Centre had hoped that gross misuse of authority, as manifested in last Sunday night's outrageous brutalities committed by Delhi Police at Ramlila Ground, and loutish behaviour by its leaders, as witnessed in the unrestrained outpouring of vulgar abuse directed at critics, would together serve as a deterrent for Anna Hazare and his group of 'civil society' activists pushing for a radical Jan Lok Pal Bill to curb corruption at high places, those hopes lie shattered. Wednesday's day-long dharna by Anna Hazare and his team outside Rajghat was not only well-attended by citizens eager to see corruption being booted out of the system, but it also demonstrated that there is no flagging of popular rage against a Government that is seen to be collaborating and cohabiting with those guilty of plunder and worse to feather their nests. To that extent, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his Cabinet colleagues and the Congress's top leaders now stand isolated: It is evident that they neither enjoy popular support nor are people willing to believe them when they claim that they are serious about fighting corruption. If anything, the Congress's strong-arm tactics to frighten those protesting against corruption into silence have backfired and left the party looking more tarred than before. When the callous indifference of rulers turns into scornful arrogance, people tend to respond with greater vigour: The 'India Against Corruption' slogan has metamorphosed into an incipient mass movement which will continue to grow with each passing day: It can no longer be put down or rolled back, at least not by a regime that is seen to be bereft of morality and probity.
In a sense, Anna Hazare has stolen a march over the too-clever-by-half strategists of the Congress who convinced themselves into believing that bluff and bluster would help their party and Government overcome the crisis that stares them in the face. Not only has he made it clear that he will continue to participate in the discussions for drafting a Lok Pal Bill and pressing the demands of 'civil society' to bestow the Ombudsman with sweeping powers, but also that he would launch another round of agitation if the Bill is not approved by Parliament by Independence Day. That places the Government in a Catch-22 situation: It can neither dump the 'civil society' members from the Joint Drafting Committee nor bulldoze its way through the framing of the Bill by excluding those clauses which it does not approve of. As for the Congress, having declared its commitment to fight corruption, it cannot afford to be seen to be dragging its feet on the issue. More importantly, the Congress and the Government can never really get out of the jam in which they find themselves. Corruption has all along been the party's Achilles' heel — in the past, every time it has gone down in the popular perception, it has been on account of corruption charges. Hence, it is unrealistic to expect the Congress to sidestep similar disaster by doing what is morally and ethically right, not the least because in its present avatar the party stands denuded of all vestiges of honesty and integrity. Anna Hazare is fully aware of this fatal weakness of the Congress; it would be silly to expect him and his team to give up their campaign at this stage.
