The greatly viewed Anna Hazare protest was much talked about, widely appreciated and supported, while it lasted. But its culmination led to the rise of many questions, about our government, the people, the judiciary, the validity of such extra-constitutional protests and most of all, about the role of the media in our great democracy. Even the otherwise righteous judiciary put it in very un-judicial language, saying, “What the hell is going on???”
So at a recent debate, on the topic - 'Anna Hazare’s Fast Became More of a Televised Spectacle than a Social Issue’, I expressed my opinion supporting the statement. Here it is-
My 5-yr old cousin knows who Anna Hazare is. He knows exactly what he did in April to fight for his demands. He just missed out on a small detail. WHAT did Anna want. Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen. I, Vibhor Mathur, stand here today to sincerely support the notion put up by the House, ‘
What we are debating here today might hurt a sensitive nerve with all the ideological fundamentalists in the room. And hence I want to clarify before I begin, that I’m not against Anna Hazare or against his cause. I do not doubt his credibility, his intentions nor am defaming his fight. I am only against the sensationalisation of news by the media, diluting the very substance in the issue.
My first point, is the fact that the media's portrayal of the movement was hyperbolic yet, ignored important aspects related to the protest, such as what was really happening about the Jan Lokpal Bill. For example, on the 7th of April, Dainik Jagran ran a huge report about all the film stars who reached Jantar Mantar to support Anna Hazare. They all talked about how important this cause was to them. The newspaper had absolutely no mention of the developments of the bill in the Government. India TV repeatedly broadcast images of Anna Hazare lying down, exhausted by his fast, in order to generate sympathy from the viewers. With due respect to the crusader, I find it highly exaggerated on the part of the media to run these clips or articles in an overdrive. The media compromised its professional values by bringing in their biases in this ambitious war of TRPs. For the record, he was far from ill at that time. He had lain down just to get the routine medical check-up done on him! The man deserves all the credit for what he did. But all that the newspapers talked about was the people who came, or what Anna’s Blood Pressure was, how he was the Modern Mahatma Gandhi etc. I just want to ask my worthy opponents one question, how is that in any way helping in our fight against corruption?
Secondly, like I said in the beginning, what matters is what he demanded. How he fought for it, though inspiring, is not as significant as what he fought for. People’s failure to understand this nullified the intensity of the impact of the protest, by giving it a garb of frivolousness.
Thirdly, I feel that most of the support provided was hollow and not substantial. We all wore T-shirts with slogans, wrote fancy Facebook statuses, had animated discussions, all in support of his protest. But how many of us are even aware of the demands made by him for the Jan Lokpal Bill? Do we realize that the Lokpal we are fighting for so blindly, would actually have immense power and control, making him a potential candidate for corruption and despotism!
My main cause of dissent from the whole ordeal, ladies and gentlemen is the fact, that despite all the hype and mobilization the media created, what people supported was the Bill. Not the fight against corruption. While people went to Jantar Mantar to shout slogans in support of Anna Hazare, they would’ve bribed the policeman when they jumped the Yusuf Sarai Red Light. The problem is that most people didn’t really take a pledge to combat corruption throughout their lives. Most of them supported the bill as it was the latest social fad. The widespread support that the campaign got was the result of being a part of the very trendy anti-establishment attitude.
I know that when I go back, people would accuse me of discrediting Anna Hazare’s sacrifice. I, on the contrary, cast the same aspersions on the media, for having defeated the cause Anna and his followers represented.
Thank You.
