While putting the issue of corruption in the public domain, social activist Anna Hazare has, in the process, narrowed its discourse to giving and taking of money and imposed a personalised point of view. In a movement marked by “petty bickering” and hero worship, there was need to “deepen” the debate on corruption, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt said at a press conference, organised by the Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra here on Tuesday.
Mr. Bhatt charged the movement with being silent on “communal corruption” and concerns of the marginalised sections.
In August, Mr. Bhatt voiced his differences with Mr. Hazare's movement and it drew the ire of the supporters of the latter. “We need to deepen the debate on corruption. What is this petty bickering the corruption debate has been reduced to,” Mr. Bhatt asked.
Highlighting the issue of “communal corruption,” he said: “It is a socio-political injustice. Why are Dalits and tribals not there in our civil society? Minorities and tribals have to be a part of the movement. I am a lone Indian, who disagrees with Anna Hazare. He, who claims to be a Gandhian, but does not talk of communal corruption, cannot be my representative.”
Mr. Bhatt said the Sachar Committee spoke of 63 years of institutional bias. “So I feel reservation is right. Weaker sections have to be represented in the Lokpal. In this I agree with the stand of the Left and Lalu Prasad.” The movement, he alleged, was individual-centric. “A human being cannot be made bigger than the movement.”
To a question, he said he was opposed to “any Bill that creates a police State.” “Safety of a democratic society lies in the distribution and decentralisation of power,” he said, endorsing the versions provided by Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey.
Mr. Bhatt also brought under the scanner the Gandhian credentials of Mr. Hazare. “[His] is a discourse of petty bickering, not Gandhian. For instance, when Sharad Pawar was slapped, he said, ‘Only one slap?' “Does it behove an elderly person to say this.”
Mr. Bhatt noted that an “absolute thought” was not healthy for a country and society as plural as ours. “When you reduce everything to a single narrative, you falsify things. There can be many points of view. There can be disagreements. Last time, when I called his movement fascist, his supporters came to my house. Why? They burnt my effigy, etc. What did they want? A fascist though does not allow for any other discourse. If he does not allow me to have my point of view, should I not call him fascist?”
Mr. Bhatt called for listening to Parliament debates on the Lokpal and forming an opinion after due thought. “There are 543 members in Parliament to fight for us. If they don't we will put them to test once again.” He said he had no objection to Mr. Hazare being backed by a political party or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. “I don't have any problems if you are linked to the RSS. It's a part of society. I differ from them, but [links to RSS] is not a crime.”
