Anna Hazare with Irom Sharmila : Noting the distinction
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 02 2011 -

Irom Sharmila produced before the Court of CJM Imphal East on August 30 2011 - Pix :: Bullu Raj - Poknapham

It is only expected that a gesture should be reciprocated, especially if it conveys the message of common cause and the lady that she is, Irom Chanu Sharmila did not disappoint and extended an invitation to Anna Hazare to come down here at Imphal and join the campaign against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

Sharmila's invitation came in response to the earlier invitation sent by Team Anna to join the hunger strike at Ramlila in New Delhi to demand for a Jan Lokpal and the fact that she had to turn it down should have no bearing on the future campaign against AFSPA. Herein lies the interesting question.

What is to be under- stood as joining Sharmila in her campaign against the said controversial Army Act, which has been dubbed inhuman by no less than GK Pillai, the former Union Home Secretary.

The Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission more or less said the same thing, though the choice of words may have been different, and why not.

One was speaking in his personal capacity while the other made his comments in a document that was already under the public glare even before the documentation process started. It is against this backdrop that Anna Hazare will land in Imphal, that is if he decides to accept the invitation from Sharmila.

While the Jeevan Reddy Commission laid down its observation as far back as 2004/2005, after it was constituted in the winter of 2004, Pillai aired his thoughts only very recently, thereby giving the impression that maybe he was merely waiting to be freed from the shackles that tied him as a Government servant.

Eleven years is a long time and from the day on which Sharmila launched her indefinite fast to the present, the world has seen some dramatic changes. Bin Laden became the most hunted man in the universe and probably one of the most familiar faces, maybe even more so than the man who first declared war on him-George Bush.

The United States saw its first ever Black as the President of the country in the person of Obama, 9/11 occurred to herald the dawn of the deadliest challenge before mankind, terrorists took practice shots at the Parliament in India, Mumbai was rocked by one of the most audacious terror attacks and Tata introduced the cheapest car to the world in the form of the Nano.

These are but some of the more remarkable changes that the world has witnessed and in as much as there has been rapid changes between 2000 and 2011, the mindset of the political leaders has doggedly refused to change. Far from building bridges, Delhi has been busy constructing walls, that too soundproof walls to silence the voice of the North East people.

And so AFSPA continues to be in force only in the North East region and Kashmir and while Delhi continues to be stuck in the remnants of colonialism, which is AFSPA, Sharmila's campaign too has remained unchanged. She continues to fast and looks all set to proceed further. And no flash bulbs have started popping.

It is in the backdrop of these social and political realities that Anna Hazare will land at Imphal, if he decides to honour the invitation from Sharmila.

This brings us to the earlier question of how joining the campaign of Sharmila should be understood. Will extending the hand of solidarity to the Iron Lady be confined within the understanding of meeting her at the security ward of JNIMS and addressing a gathering or two or will it mean living up to the expectations laid down by Sharmila, which is to fast along with her ?

An answer to this question will take time, for Anna is probably not in a position to take the journey to Manipur right now, given his just ended fast of two weeks or so. In other words the answer will become clear only when Anna actually flies down to Imphal. Other than this, the other crucial question is how Delhi will respond to the situation, if Anna Hazare actually decides to join Sharmila in her fast.

Will it be another case of looking the other way, as it has been doing for the last 11 years or will it send the political leadership into a huddle ? Will Anna's presence here force Delhi to see AFSPA in a totally different light and add substance to the widely held perception that this Act has been in force because the 'license to kill and rape' is valid only in the North East and Kashmir and not mainland India ?

Or if giving legitimacy to such a perception is too high a price, will it stand and watch Anna plunge into the fast along with Sharmila and in the process attract the attention of the media based in Delhi and Mumbai ? It is early days yet and risking a guess at this point of time will be hazardous, but the choice before Delhi is extremely limited.

In fact a mature political move would be to do something concrete before Anna is constrained to take a decision. The rider rests on how Hazare understands the invitation to join the campaign against AFSPA and herein arises the room for political manoeuvring which may well include playing the emotional blackmailing card via Hazare's past as a driver in the Army.

Given the moral attributes of the political class in India, this cannot be written off at all. These are all speculations, but realistic possibilities, if Team Anna decides to respect the invitation sent by Sharmila.

The axis on which things will revolve in the coming days rests on the decision of Anna, but here it is extremely important to note the point that Anna's decision can impact only on the Government and of course the media from mainland India but not on Sharmila and her mission.

This distinction should be kept in mind.