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Street battle for power over Parliament by GS Mudur
The burgeoning movement against corruption set off by social activist Anna Hazare appears to be turning into an undemocratic battle for power without votes or elections, sections of Indian economists and sociologists have said.

Tens of thousands of Indians across the country have pledged their alliance with the movement led by Hazare —from schoolchildren yanked by teachers out of classes to slogan-shouting municipal workers, from preachers to actors to lawyers.

But some sociologists believe that while the clamour against corruption is justified, the movement itself has grown to represent an effort by sections of India’s middle class to assert their authority over India’s elected representatives.

“This has become a battle for power with Anna Hazare in the front — the middle class and corporate groups are trying to assert control over elected representatives,” said Narendra Pani, an economist at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, who studies the role of Gandhian philosophy in contemporary policy-making. “The entire focus right now appears to be on corruption in government and among politicians.”

Pani and others said the movement has conveniently overlooked corruption elsewhere. “When the bulk of our society is corrupt, how can the government or politicians change that?” Pani said.

The Lok Pal Bill that the Hazare movement is seeking is intended to create a mechanism that can investigate allegations of corruption in public offices and pass judgement on India’s elected representatives.

“There’s this notion in the middle class and civil society that we’re morally superior,” said Kushal Deb, an associate professor of urban studies and sociological theories at the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.

“But there are so many things people within the middle class have done that border on corruption — from jumping queues through favours to paying capitation fees for college admissions to demanding cash when selling houses,” Deb told The Telegraph.

Some sociologists also see a possible link between the massive support that Hazare’s movement has evoked over the past three days to the end of the World Cup matches.

“There was so much of excitement during the final days of the World Cup. When it ended, the public’s emotional energy needed to be directed somewhere,” said Deepthi Shanker, an associate professor of sociology at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar.

“I think this is one factor that can explain this enormous support,” Shanker said.

But, she said, the growth of the movement is significant because it questions for the first time something — corruption — that had come to be accepted as normal. “It is a good thing — young people are being sensitised to the issue of corruption.”

Some social scientists also caution that while the idea of getting representatives of civil society to investigate corruption in public office appears attractive, it is still unclear what might emerge from such a system.

“Civil society organisations may also have authoritarian streaks,” said Deb.

Shanker said social movements pass through multiple stages — and not each stage may be perfect. “This one is still in its infancy — it may have some flaws, but we’ll need to see how it evolves over time.”