Can Anna and JP ever be compared

(Book review of "13 days that awakened India)

Recently, i completed reading a recently released book which was written on Anna Hazare, titled "13 days that awakened India" written by a famous face of Indian TV channel, Ashutosh, Managing Editor of IBN7 ( a well know Hindi news channel). Throughout the book he made several attempts to compare Anna with Jay Prakash Narayan, the hero who was behind the removal of Indira Gandhi, former Indian prime minister who dared to impose Emergency in a democratic country like India. JP as what he was called as run a movement in Bihar popularly called as "student's movement" which witnessed the wrath of the people of the country against the dictator and finally was successful in uprooting the dictator government and was responsible for the establishment of the very first non-Congress government at the Centre for the first time in the history of India.

In his 226-page-book which seems to be written by a die hard follower of Anna was basically a compilation of the events and some scenes behind the screen. In his book he targeted Chidambaram and Sibal and almost tried to portray them as villains who were allegedly the real hurdles in the process of Lokpal Bill. At some point of time he also tried to deal with some issues like that of Rahul Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.

But the point that amused me and i thought will astonish many others was when he went on to compare JP and Anna and ultimately declared at last that Anna's movement was far mightier than that of JP. He says, "I know by this i am inviting the wrath of many JP followers but without hesitation i think...."

According to me these kind of statement can be passed only through people who had never known the movement and ever tried to understand the intensity and the emotions imbibed into it. For me it is unthinkable to compare JP and Anna and their movements. Even i think no two movements should be compared ever.

But let's talk more about the comparison he attempted to made and supported through some of his arguments. Starting with this,I would like to compare the era in which the both incidents occurred. JP's movement was a story of 70's. In 1975, when there was hardly any private news channel, pre-occupied to convey their views rather than news and accordingly there were hardly any news anchors who were ready to impose their ideas through their aggressive representation of their views cum news.

Of course, we are talking about an era where there was no concept of bombarding the public with breaking news, no matter how authentic they are. That was an era when we knew only about a black and white idiot box known for Doordarshan and a small black transistor known as radio known for All India Radio (AIR) which were public broadcasters know to convey only news minus views.

Moreover, we are also talking about an era when we hardly had any computers, laptops, ipads and internet. Things like Facebook and Twitter must be a fantasy at that point of time. Letters were the only mode of communication besides newspapers and even telephone was not that developed not to mention there were no place for mobiles and not to talk about the facility of SMS and all.

So imagine, if someone plans a movement how effective they could plan when they know their restrictions related to communications and even to some extent transportation.

At last but not the least, the most important time, JP movement took place at a time when Emergency was imposed in India, thanks to the then PM Indira Gandhi. During emergency it was a well know fact that there was no freedom of press, editors were jailed if they dared to publish against the government, from democracy India went into dictatorship government.

Point noteworthy, during that critical time, the student movement flourished which was led by JP. People were eager to giving their helping hand without ever bothering what they would get in return. There was no TV, no internet, no SMS, no facebook, no online campaign, no SMS campaign, no missed call campaign..but it continued, may jailed many exploited. Note that they were not given the respect Anna and his team got in Tihar Jail, thanks to the 24x7 news channels cameras where every steps of the administration were monitored. People were beaten black and blue. Do we have a single example when an Anna member was beaten by the Police rather, they were given immense respect like a son-in-law.

Moreover, when we talk about the aims achieved, there cant be any comparison. JP's movement uprooted the Indira government and the so called "dictator" but what Team Anna achieved?? Even Anna's demand was a childish thing..He demanded on August 2011 that the government has to pass the law before Aug 30.. Was it practically feasible, also did the Gandhian had the simple knowledge that its not the government but the parliament who passes a law, then comes the Rajya Sabha and the Opposition is equally responsible for the same...

There are lots of things which can be narrated to support my statement but ending it now..will add more when will have ample time..

I think some people add some masala in their book to add revenues..same tactics was applied here too when he dares to compare Anna and JP and also when he takes on Arundhati Roy and Ramchandra Guha when they went against Anna and says it is the problem of their class..

Bihar Medical Colleges: Where caste speaks louder than virtue

(Published in Deccan Herald on February 18, 2012 in open-editorial page)

Manish Kumar

Most selfish politicians of Bihar seemed to have mastered the art of exploiting the ‘caste’ issue for their personal benefit in the past. However, with Nitish Kumar’s ‘Sushashan’ (good governance) gathering enormous support from the common people of all castes and creed, it was believed that the state will soon be rid of the blot.

Of late, with more youths preferring to stay in the state for studies, the situation was even perceived as hunky-dory by many outside the state. However, there is a lot more than what meets the eye. If you also begin to think that the well-educated youths of Bihar will ensure a new era of progress and development in the state, be ready to get flummoxed.

Visit any government medical college of Bihar and you will find that the young and educated minds have equally imbibed the caste-based approach like many of the selfish politicos in Bihar -- a herd mentality of believing in the caste-based classification distinguishes them from their counterparts in other states. Interestingly, they get the passive support of the college administrations, which seem to have turned a blind eye to the whole situation, even though the future doctors are gradually losing morale and ethics right under their noses.

Favourite wards:

The trend of nepotism and college staff supporting their ‘favourite wards’ is not uncommon either. The practice also scares the medical aspirants, more than the mortuary in many government medical colleges of the state. Asks a first-year MBBS student of Darbhanga Medical College (DMCH), “Cracking medical entrance exam was like a dream come true for me. However the prevailing situation in the college brought my euphoria down only within a few weeks. During my first encounter, seniors asked me about my ‘phylum.’ Before I could read about the word phylum in my biology coursebook, I realised they were asking about my caste! Isn’t asking about one’s caste and not the name during the first meeting strange?”

Surprisingly, this is the scene in most government medical colleges in the state. Freshers need to identify themselves first by their caste. Rest of your identity matters less. As per the ritual, once you tell the seniors your identity (caste), you will be welcomed by your ‘sympathisers’ belonging exclusively to your caste. Willingly or unwillingly, you then enter a community whose members assure you that you will be safe in college as long as you have their blessings.

But all this doesn’t come for free. You get the Hobson’s choice of complying by the community norms. “Seniors of my ‘phylum’ gave me a list of norms on Day 1 of my college, which I was later forced to follow. The list included restriction on me from taking help from other caste people or talking to the members of opposite sex of different caste,” says another young medico from Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH), Muzzafarpur.

Same is the story in most of medical colleges. Customs classified on caste basis are also being followed unabated in Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), Patna, which incidentally, have the reputation of being the best medical colleges in Bihar.

Point to note, keeping in mind the escalating cases of suicides by college students of late, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had issued letters to various colleges in the country to put an end to caste-based discriminations. However, things are far from satisfactory here. Also, the discrimination is not just restricted to asking caste and favouring those belonging to same caste. The situation can get worse in some cases.

Few years back, a local TV channel had exposed the existence of ‘caste-based kitchens’ in SKMCH. Even though they shared the same classroom, students from different castes visited different kitchens. The then health minister Nand Kishore Yadav had ordered a probe into the matter, but the overall scenario hardly seems to have changed.

Dr S N Sinha, principal, DMCH, Darbhanga also subtly confirmed the existence of such practices in the medical colleges of Bihar. “I agree that such practices existed even in our college five years back. There were reports of teachers favouring wards belonging to their caste. But ever since I joined, I did not come across any such complaints or practices,” he claimed, assuring to take strict action if any such cases were brought to his notice.

Asked for his views on the matter, SKMCH principal Dr D K Sinha, got irked and hurled a straight reply: “Do one thing. Go and speak to the chief minister over the issue. Don’t trouble me.”

Junior journos creating ripples in Bihar

(Published in Deccan Herald on January 15, 2012 in special features)

“There is no Hindi teacher in this area,” screamed a headline and the news item went on to highlight the hardships faced by a good number of students in the densely populated Vaishali district of Bihar. The news item was the lead story in a newsletter brought out by schoolchildren. Many said it’s just a wastage of time as a newsletter run merely by “amateur children” can hardly bring any change in society, but it could hardly break the assion of the young reporters who vowed to fight against all kinds of existing evils in their society.

Proving all such speculations wrong, the hard work of these kids proved fruitful. The state education department had to appoint a teacher hastily after it reported about the absenteeism. Buoyed by the success, it reported on how the teachers were playing truant too often at Shivnandan School in Rajapakar and the administration was compelled to intervene.

These were some of the incidents which were not reported by the mainstream newspapers, but highlighted by the school students of the district in their newsletter. The newsletter is brought out by the young journos taken up as a pilot project by Unicef and Supramental Foundation in Vaishali district in Bihar. Started in June 2010 with merely 60 members, the team now has 300 volunteers.

“We started with rags with a few volunteers, but now the circulation of the newsletter has notched up to 5,000,” Nipurnh Gupta, Communication Specialist, Unicef (Bihar), told Deccan Herald. In the district, children between the age group of 12-17 years have formed among themselves to what they term as “child reporter brigade” and they are on their toes 24x7 to highlight the problems plaguing the society. Myriad range of issues highlighted by these aware kids include child marriage, child abuse and environmental protection as well.

The young journos popularly known as “Mukul Bal Patrakar”, are engaged in the publication of a quarterly published broadsheet newsletter, named as “Hamari Baat, Hamari Awaaz”, which has given the budding citizens a platform to express their concerns and also to eradicate the pre-existing social evils in their area.

The volunteers of the child brigade are more than just happy with their active participation with the mission. For Kajal, an enthusiastic member of the brigade, it was like a dream come true. “We never ever thought we will get such a powerful medium which has the potential to change the world we live in. I always have seen many evils of society and always wondered if I could do anything for the society but always felt helpless. But with this newsletter, we got a voice, ample enough to transform society and bring a revolution,” says the 12-year-old child crusader. Surprisingly, the innocent but socially responsible volunteers, mainly hail from the backward and marginalised sections of society. These determined ones leave no stone unturned to ensure that they utilise the platform to the maximum extent to highlight the plight of their not-so-lucky friends.

However, their views are not just restricted to the problems being faced by some communities. Issues of the whole district find space in their newsletter and frequent impact reports published speak volumes of the children’s efforts. Reports penned by these kids have changed lives of many including the kids involved with the initiative.

“These young scribes are a bunch of matured children. Ever since, they joined the newspaper, there has been a massive transformation in their personality. They are far more confident now and not scared to write anything that is for the benefit of the society. Many were initially shy but gradually their pen’s flow compensated for the lack of words,” adds Nipurnh.

The project which targeted four blocks in the district got massive support from the district administration and also from senior local journalists who helped them in bringing out the four pages of the quarterly on time. Tending to work like professionals, the little scribes do regular editorial meetings to discuss issues relating to the publication in which the local primary schools also come in support whole-heatedly besides the technical support provided by the state division of Unicef.

Also, there is a warm support from parents as they have noticed positive changes in their children. The initiative which had won all-round appreciation has focused on the most backward region and most vulnerable social groups to uplift their condition. The four-page attractive newsletter focu­ssed on places like-Jandaha, Rahapakar, Biddupur and Hajipur. Also, it was ensured that a large number of girls participate in majority. Accordingly, the ratio of girls and boys in the team is 53: 47, ensuring females are given fare chance to develop and make their presence felt. Interestingly, the project is expected to be taken up in other areas too in the days to come.

The broadsheet also has helped in educating the local community on several evils of society and made them ponder over many community related issues. Setting an example for the others the project now awaits some other revolution.