THE SHELF-LIFE OF ANGER
Social movements throw up new ideas that are important for the evolution of democracy in any country. They counter-argue set formats of politics and policymaking and arm the common man with a weapon that can bring about political transformation. But like all powerful weapons, there are no guarantees that it is not misused or does not fall into the hands of anarchic opportunists. As Wilhelm Reich says in his book, The Mass Psychology
of Fascism, “Fascist mentality is the mentality of the ‘little man’ who is enslaved and craves authority and is at the same time rebellious. It is no coincidence that all fascist dictators stem from the reactionary milieu of the little man.”
In case the above quote appears to illustrate a crucial point about the AAP, let me instead look at examples from across the world to elaborate my argument. Take, for instance, the far-right political party in Greece, Golden Dawn. The movement is known for indoctrinating children with Nazi salutes, firearms and hate speeches. Golden Dawn’s leader Nikos Michaloliakos reportedly said, “They say that we nationalists are bad fascists. The truth is that they are not wrong. Our goal is not to improve those who are in Parliament today, to fix the political forces that are corrupt and at their end, but to finish them off, once and for all.” Today Michaloliakos is facing trial for criminal activities.
How did Golden Dawn, which garnered 18 seats in the Greek Parliament, become popular? By finding an enemy to blame for Greece’s economic crisis vis-a-vis the immigrants.
The economic crisis is also the cause for the rise of Pitchfork protests, a movement headed by farmers and lorry drivers that has rattled the Italian government. Recently, Mariano Ferro, one of the protest leaders, remarked that it was unfortunate that the movement has descended into violence, and blamed right-wing elements for the trouble. The current protests have underlined ongoing public anger against government policies aimed at trying to improve Italy’s public finances.
It is worth watching whether these movements go the Occupy Wall Street way, which started with high hopes and endless dose of angry cynicism and conspiracy but withered away without a concrete plan or clear agenda.
Politicians have always been blamed in India for the country’s sagging selfconfidence that often accompanies a difficult economic and social transition. Groups have attempted in the past too to harvest public angst that is born out of this make-or-break moment of transition. Such heady euphoria of sudden, disruptive movements often comes un- done because of the unbearable lightness of textbook idealism that it tries to whip up among people.
Anger can be a winning strategy the first time; it turns into incumbency after that. Anger, by definition, is mortal and has a definite shelf-life. Once in government, you cannot be a rebel without law and clause.
Protest politicians realise that pencil-pushing in government is a boring activity that does not attract cameras. But retiring from theatrics is easier said than done. So is it surprising that today Raj dharma is giving way to Raj ‘dharna’? The trick, it seems, is to keep shifting the focus of cameras from one issue to another, ensuring that people’s attention remains fickle. In the process, no particular issue gets the analytical focus it deserves and problems are not remedied.
This may appeal to those who seek to question the structure, but even they must realise that the object of questioning is to find answers, not abdicating responsibility.
In Delhi, even though 70 per cent voters rejected AAP, its emergence marks the birth of a new ‘pied-piper politics’ and a sabotage of ideology. AAP captured a moment of anger, created street protests by social media and TV, and capitalised on the situation that was compounded by the state’s elitist and traditional response to the snowballing outrage.
Voices like AAP, Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street start getting heard when mainstream parties cede space to them. In India, public outcry dominated the discourse for most of the last two years. And it did not help that the State remained passive. The Anna movement, the Ramdev agitation and the post-December 16 agitations coupled with unabated media bashing of the Government met with an unstudied silence from political parties. Thanks to social networking sites, this generation is used to constant interactivity and does not accept silence as a response. AAP, with no baggage of past performance, jumped in and filled this vacuum with their raucous guerrilla tactics and unconventional marketing technique.
For protest politicians and Internet activists, this is an opportunity to take a hard look at the mirror and replace disruption with delivery. For the rest, this is the time to reinvent and realise that no one party, no one election can be greater than public interest.
And as for those who struggle to convert angry slogans into solutions, it may be good to remember that those who protest in poetry should govern in prose, lest they end up as a limerick.