Illusions and Reality of Agitation Against Corruption: Slogan-Mongering to Divert Public Attention!

These days most of the agitations and slogans of anti-corruption movement are seems on hold. May be corruption fighters are on the way to make some plans for future agitations. So, it is a good time to think on the topic of corruption in detail, because when facebook posts and blogs are flooded with anticorruption slogans, at that time most of the people who flow with this flood don't try to listen anything from others. Neither these people try to understand any logical points on the whole movement, nor do they try to understand the final result and outcome of all these agitation. So, now, when everything is calm and the anger of Indian middle class against corruption is in the process to cool down, it is right time to put a critical analysis of the anti-corruption movement leaded by social activist Anna Hazare and Kejriwal team and Yoga teacher Ramdev and his supporters. Still we can see a lot of anti-corruption statements and slogans in newspapers, in facebook, and in other social networking sites. It is a signal how deeply this slogan mongering is influencing middle class people. During anti-corruption movement its organizer were talking about some problems, giving some facts and figures, and trying to influence people on their slogans, and finally drawing conclusion that corruption and black money are the two root cause responsible for every other problem, which are daily faced by crores of malnourished, unemployed and poor people. But, if we analyze the national situation with some logic we will find that corruption is also one of the many problems, which are continuously taking birth in the present capitalist system to serve the interest of the profiteers. But, this whole movement blames that policies of the present political system need "enhancement"; and people who are implementing these policies are not doing their work with "honesty", so they need some monitoring for "proper" ruling of the system. And finally, it gives slogans to mobilize middle class people for "enhancement" of these policies to rule the system, and suggest another institution (Lokpal) to regulate the people who rule the system. Within this system these anti-corruption activists (who claim themselves as the representatives of the public!) never blame the system where everything is decided, ruled, and regulated on the interest of profit and ownership of the capital, where masses of the working people are indirectly as well as directly forced to work in the conditions, which are like animals. Only because they have nothing for their livelihood except selling their labor power to some property owner, same as other commodities are sold in the market. We can see a lot of example in the whole country

where masses are living and working like animals to produce more and more profit for their owners. These "leaders" never expose this profit driven system before the eyes of public. They never tell that accumulation of resources in the normal process of capitalist mode of production and exchange is leading to the centralization of resources and means of the production in the hands of few people, who finally regulate every decision of the state with their interest with or without corruption. Final aim and slogans of these people is to upgrade policies and bring honest people for the ruling of this system based on the exploitation of masses by few people for profit. At the same time across the world whole capitalist imperialist system is facing the challenges of crises, and public protests are on rise against the anti-people policies of the ruling states. At this condition, when England was burning in the anger of public unrest and people of U.S.A., Egypt, Greek, Italy, France, Russia are protesting against rising unemployment, poverty and social insecurity, anti-people policies of the state; in that situation in India, everyday headlines of newspapers and TV channels were flashing with the slogans of anti-corruption movements, and statements of the members of "Team Anna" and their holy supporters. With these flashing all issues of the public, like unemployment, increasing rich-poor gap, inflation, poverty, inhuman work conditions, unavailability of healthcare and education etc. were made hidden behind omnipresent carpet of the anti-corruption movement. What better advantages can the present rulers of the capitalist system can get from the slogan and arguments of the "Team Anna" or "Team Baba"!! If we see the class structure of the supporters who initiate this type of movement, they belong to middle and higher middle class. These people see corruption as the main threat to the "development" of the nation. As they are getting most of the special privileges and rights in their daily life, but sometimes they get direct interaction with the bribing in government bureaucracy and administration, and then most of these people think that bribing is the principle form of corruption and main social issue of the country. This belief of these people also made stronger by our media with the help of continuous grumbling slogans of 2G scam with A. Raja's name and CWG scam with Kalmadi's name etc.. And finally it proved before public that these few "people" are the only culprit for all loss of the nation. After getting this type of nutrient from the media, these middle and higher middle class people took their stand against corruption. Most of these supporters also think that due to this "moral degeneration" of government officials and their involvement in the bribing country need privatization of all government organizations for the "development" In the hands of corporate families who race with each other for more and more profit with intense exploitation of labor, or say workers, or can be said that 80 percent of the public, and

enjoy ultra luxury on their cost!! (Economic Survey of India 2011-2012). In detail present main problem in the government organization is not the individual bribing, but it is corporate control on the all resources and production machinery of the nation to exercise their control over political, judicial and bureaucratic institutions of the government as well as educational and cultural spheres of the nation, so that all working people of the nation can be kept in the service of profiteers (07 August 07, 2011 HT: PM's role 'questionable' in 2G scam, CWG). Even if illusions exists among people that capitalist economy with parliamentary democracy is the government -of-for-by-the people-, but truth is before all. At present, "elected representatives of public" are using all their authority of political and economical control to minimize (near to abolish!) public welfare and doing handover of more and more natural resources to the private ownership and pushing more and more people in to hell of poverty, unemployment and struggle for livelihood (Hinhustan Times, 17 May 2012: FM Says Austerity Steps Soon to Cut Govt Spending). In the recent budget, about Rs 5 lakh crore money is gifted mostly to the rich and the corporate classes in concessions on Corporate Tax, Excise and Customs Duties (The Hindu, 26 March 2012: To fix BPL, nix CPL). This is the character of present system. In this situation whole anti-corruption agitation is not only the demand of Team Anna or Baba Ramdev, but these people are representing the class interest of the corporate and higher middle class of the society as well. Middle class is blindly supporting these groups without having any proper understanding, just as a worshiper who doesn't think much about the impact of his worship on his material conditions of the life. This interest also becomes clear when Anna Hazare calls corporate world to donate funds and says that together with corporate they will end corruption, it was a flash headline of NDTV during Anna Hazare's Maharashtra visit (!!) (NDTV Correspondent, 01 May 01, 2012: Anna's campaign). This type of anti-people and reactionary approach regarding governing state is growing among middle class of the society, firstly because of their common interest and anti-worker character to become a richer, and second because all the "sources of their knowledge" about system are mostly television, internet and newspapers, which are mostly announce on the interest of corporate class who not only dictate on the material conditions of the people, but also with the help of these medium of communication and source of knowledge dictate on their mental thoughts. (Manufacturing Consent 1988: Noam Chomsky)

We should also analyze the class composition, demands and interest of the people, who are leading anti-corruption movement. With the development of agitation among middle class we can observe more and more pages on internet where many communal comments of Hinduism supporters can be seen. After liberalization and privatization reform of 1990s the whole society has become a place where open exploitation of the workers was permitted on the name of industrial growth and foreign investment, and all industrial laws were made so flexible that existence of any labor laws can be questioned. Now, the reality of the social composition is that millionaire and poor malnourished people and rich poor gap, all at the same time are increasing with the highest pace in India as compared with other countries in the world (Economic Survey of India 2011-2012). Among this situation a new type of middle class has grown in the society who dreams to become richer and who is indirectly bribed by the capitalist system to create a support base of capitalism among a stratum of public. Now, even a child can analyze what impact this whole movement will have on the nation and its people, where 77% (or 84 crore, according to the data of 2007) of the population is living on less than 20 rupees per day (NCEUS Report, 2007, by Arjun Sengupta). And where 43.3 crore of the workers (out of total 45.9 crore) are unorganized who are working without any job security, without permanent emplacement and without any industrial rights of the worker as a wage slave (Annual Report Ministry of Labor 2008-09: Chapter8). With these workers there are crores of the youths who dont have any work and searching for it, thousands of children daily die due to basic sickness and hunger!! In these types of conditions if masses of the poor working people don't have any other revolutionary option before them, they will surely march in the influence of these slogans made by these groups, who are directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally working for the interest of corporate class. If we closely observe the whole movement corruption is promoted as the root cause of every problem, but it is never exposed that capitalist system without any corruption still create the same conditions among masses as it is based on the profit driven production and distribution system with the exploitation of labor. And this "profit" driven system is the root cause, where everything is done for the personal gain by property owners on the cost of the lives of the property less people wage workers. These wage workers

do all their work for the property owners and every day face the questions of life and death due to job insecurity, unemployment and poverty. Whole anti-corruption movement at the one side supports the capitalist system by creating a ground to keep people away from real issues, and at the other side it has created a fascist base for future, so that when required crowd mobilization can be done against public. In other words it can be said that these people are trying to save capitalist system because it has reached to the condition where it is not able to even create illusions to fulfill the interest of masses, and continually widening the gap of rich and poor (Times of India Aug 27, 2008: New Global Poverty Estimates World Bank. Times of India, Jan 15, 2012: NFHS Report.) (The Hindu, 13 October 2010: India ranked lower than China, Pakistan in new Global Hunger Index). And most "surprisingly" for those who think that population is the problem there is no shortage of the resources as well as manpower! Misleading of the public anger and public interest to serve the capitalism is same as it was done during the great depression period of 1929 and 1930 which has given birth to the fascists like Nazi in the Germany. Economic crises of the present capitalist system are again creating same conditions, and capitalist policy makers are again searching for the options to fool the public for some more time. Until and unless we will not try to understand the composition of the system, nothing for future can be concluded and no long term decisions can be drawn for a stable and progressive change. If the point is only limited to work for self-satisfaction, then we should not misguide the youths with the illusion that everything is going to change. Only slogan mongering will not, and must not, do anything with the masses of the working people, the real public, deprived from peaceful life. It may possible that only few people who are enjoying the fruits of the others' labor will keep getting advantage of it, for some more time. The point is to change the world, present composition of the economical and social-political system, so that all things opposite things can be reversed in the right way. It is the time when capitalist system is becoming more and more parasitical of the working class, more and more people are deprived from a comfortable livelihood, more and more people are thrown on the streets without work, and more and more centralization of resources in the hands of few people is happening for excess luxury. In the present stage of world capitalist crises their policy makers are throwing their hands and heads here and there to mislead public with some patch works that don't have any impact. It is a time when should again organize public to demand the smash the parasitical system, and replace it with a scientific world outlook. This can be achieved in no other way than a socialist revolution, to lead all people and economic relations of

the society towards development for the fulfillment of the requirements of the people to live a comfortable in all spheres, without any disparity and without exploitation for individual greed of profit. To achieve this goal all people, who don't believe that anything supernatural will happen in future, and who believes that only their dedicated work can lead to the change, they need to go among that section of society, which is most exploited, who has nothing in their hands except their labor power, who is working and living like a modern slave, and where is the soil with the seeds of future society. Only slogans cannot do any change, real changes with the real demands will need real involvement of the working people who really create the world from their labor.

References: August 07, 2011 HT: PM's role 'questionable' in 2G scam, CWG India's Economic Reforms by Montek S Ahluwalia (http://www.planningcommission.gov.in/hindi/aboutus/speech/spemsa/msa012.pdf.). Monthly Review, Volume 52, Issue 10 March 2001: Global Media, Neoliberalism, and Imperialism by McChesney Economic Survey of India 2011-2012. The Hindu, 21 May 2012: The Austerity of the Affluent, The Hindu, 26 March 2012: To fix BPL, nix CPL NDTV Correspondent, 01 May 01, 2012: Anna begins 5 week campaign for strong Maharashtra. Manufacturing Consent 1988: Noam Chomsky Report NCE in the Unorganized Sector (NCEUS), 2007, chaired by Arjun Sengupta. Ministry of Labor Annual Report 2008-09: Chapter-8, (www.labour.nic.in/annrep/annrep0809/Chapter8.pdf) Hinhustan Times, 17 May 2012: FM Says Austerity Steps Soon to Cut Govt Spending. Times of India, Jan 15, 2012: NFHS Report.

Times of India Aug 27, 2008: New Global Poverty Estimates World Bank. The Hindu, 13 October 2010: India ranked lower than China, Pakistan in new Global Hunger Index.