Over the last couple of days, it seems like everyone has decided to 'support Anna Hazare'. I find myself in a very small minority who do not want to support Anna Hazare. Let me explain why, and hope you will think this through as well.
What exactly is happening here? Anna wants his version of the Jan Lokpal Bill to be implemented. No problem so far. Anna wants to fast unto death in New Delhi if this doesn't happen. This is a problem. Fasting unto death is not permissible by law, because it effectively becomes suicide - which is not permitted by law.
Moreover, this method of protest is unconstitutional. I quote none other than BR Ambedkar here:
"If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do? The first thing in my judgement we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us."
People are saying Anna is being denied his democratic right. That's Bullshit. He was never denied permission to protest - and that's all his democratic rights are.
He does NOT have a right to fast unto death. He also does not have unlimited rights to protest anywhere he wants, for any duration of time, and with any number of people. It is a free country, but freedom does not mean you have an unconditional right to do absolutely anything you please - you have to behave in a responsible manner. By refusing to comply with any conditions whatsoever, Anna is not trying to exercise rights that exist, he is simply breaking the law. It is especially ironical that he is breaking the law, to achieve the objective to getting his Jan Lokpal Bill being included in ... the law! This is sheer hypocrisy. And, everyone is supporting this?
Continued in comments
