On ignoring Ramdev officially or why that reaction was not employed

How hard is it to ignore Baba Ramdev?

Why didn’t the government ignore Ramdev? Was the drama engineered to shift attention away from the Lokpal Drafting Committee. Say what we will, the point remains that this is for the first time (?) that there is direct participation of a section of civil society, backed by a not insignificant amount of mass support, in the drafting of a legislation on an issue that has received significant reaction from various sections of population-that of corruption. There are a few things that stand out in the situation that has been unfolding over the past several weeks, starting with Anna Hazare. 

One, that the government has attained new depths of trust deficit, not just from local struggles in far away forest lands, but even in the cities of privilege. We may and should debate and critique the nature and sociology of this particular anti-corruption movement, but we cannot and should not discount the issue and movement that aroused significant numbers of city dwellers in cities. After all, our major political parties like to pretend that India begins and ends with the likes of Delhi and Bombay.

Two, that this anti-corruption movement has managed to force a negotiation with the government (which speaks volumes about the radical nature of the demands of the movement-or lack thereof) that which led to a concession to the demands of the movement. Even this small concession is already being regretted by the Government it seems- so habituated has it become in its UPA II avatar of being unchallenged in the mainstream political sphere of its arrogance and violent neo-liberalism. This is a government, after all, that feels confident enough of its power and the support to its policies by the visible and elite populace of India to have its Planning Commission declare that Rs. 20 is the cut-off point for poverty. 

Conflicts in the Lokpal drafting committee are different from conflicts in the NAC; the latter can be- and is being- sidelined owing to the fact that it is an extra-constitutional (?) body with only advisory powers. It seems to me that one way for the government to draw attention away from the emerging problems of this small concession to democracy is by engaging in the bizarre Ramdev drama. Who stands to gain from the mid-night crackdown? The Congress does. The multi-ministerial reception and consequent police excesses gives the entire Ramdev tamasha a gravitas that it would otherwise have never gained. Ramdev, I strongly suspect, is not and does not have the support base of Hazare. The former had to install coolers, purified water and other comforts at the Ramlila Maiden to ensure participation. (Based on what I read about Hazare’s camp, I don’t think similar luxuries were included) His Hardwar fast/camp today was a big fail, only populated by members of his peeth/yoga hospital.  The role played by Ramdev for the Congress Government is over. And now in Delhi, the Second Act begins, as the Congress and BJP accuse each other of various things, while the LokPal standoff continues. 

My thoughts on this are very much fluid and will remain so till the drama ends. The conspiracy theorist in me is equally ready to believe that the BJP made the first move in this political game by tricking a reaction out of Congress. Or they could both be in collusion: political bargains and exchanges made for the larger neo-lib agenda. 

Three, that genuine people’s uprisings, as is evident from history, cannot be orchestrated and planned. It would be arrogant of us to predict the outcome of a movement that starts out as anti-corruption of a certain kind. We can’t know what limbs Hazare’s mobilisation will sprout, or even the Ramdev mobilisation. We may wish that like Spain, France and England, or Wisconsin, our uprisings and protests start with being about cut backs in State expenditure, and attacks on labour rights and education, but if wishes were horses...