If Anna Hazare wins, I'll never vote again

The UPA government is, without doubt, one of the most corrupt administrations in recent memory. Maybe it is because they actually stole a lot more than their predecessors or maybe they just suck at hiding the loot. But one thing we can all agree upon is that something is definitely wrong somewhere when certain ministers have stolen what is nearly the operating budget of Uruguay.

Enter Anna Hazare with the Jan Lokpal bill. India’s knight in his shining white Khadi armour. Him of that iconic pose where he has his hands on his chin and his eyes fixed on an imaginary plane in the sky, with a sly smile spreading across his lips as if he got reminded of the mile high club just as the photographer was about to click. To the Anna army, this is what we call a harmless joke so keep you pants on.

Indeed Anna Hazare does have an impeccable record of well meaning social service. Even the UPA government’s attempt to tarnish him fizzled out. But does that mean he can march in there and demand that the government rewrite the laws and spell it the way he wants? Let me tell you why I have a problem with him doing that.

I am not going to debate on the Lokpal bill as that itself is a can of worms right there. I would rather focus on the present ‘Anna revolution’ ably supported by sections of the media (understandably going wet in their pants at the thought of all the ratings their coverage is going to garner).  

They tell us he has the support of the entire country. Well, he sure as hell does not have mine so that is the entire country minus one. And if there is me, then surely there is bound to be more. So the only logical way forward is to take a headcount of the number of people who are actually involved in the 'revolution'. You know, the ones whose fasts don’t end with an Ifthar.

You have one lakh at Ramlila Maidan. Heck, let us assume that 9 lakh more are aware of/actively support the Lokpal and his fast for it. That brings us to a sum total of a million people. Quite a sizable number but sadly, around one in twentieth of India’s population. My calculator tells me that is 5%.

So we have 5% of the population trying to force the government to accept their views on something that the other 95% either does not agree with, or can’t be arsed about because they have more important stuff like feeding the kids to worry about.

The preamble to the constitution guarantees me equality. It tells me that I do not have to have somebody else’s views forced down upon me unless there is a democratic election and I am on the losing side. Now if the Govt were to agree to their demands, then these 5% will have forced through their demands through an undemocratic process and hence will have proved themselves to be supercitizens, demoting the likes of me to being a secondary citizen of India. Are they going to issue a separate passport to me? Can I sue my Social Studies teacher who told me I was as equal as the other kid whose dad had a Benz though mine had a scooter?

If Anna Hazare were to take the decent path, contest the elections, manage a majority and pass the Lokpal in the parliament, then I cannot complain. It would, in the process, have brought Lokpal to the attention of the general public and would have initiated a debate on its good and bad aspects. But if he passes it through like this, he would have made a mockery of all the people who elected their representatives and tasked them with framing laws. And I would not let that happen to me more than once. If Anna Hazare wins, I’ll never vote again.