The duplicity of civil society

One cannot but draw comparisons between various events occuring in our country, for instance,

The Baba Ramdev episode,which is currently unfolding,

The Binayak Sen life sentence in Chattisgarh on charges of sedition

Do we live in the same country? Consider the following :

- Binayak Sen, an eminent doctor, gave up the choice of a lucrative practice and a cushy life, in order to provide public health care to the tribals in the deep interiors of Chattisgarh, doubling up as a human rights activist, gets charged for sedition and is sentenced for life.

- Irom Sharmila of Manipur has been fasting for the last 10 years in for the  repeal of AFSPA in Manipur, margainlised, her cause remains completely ignored, and consigned to 'no action required' status by the central and state govts.

- Maverick yoga guru Ramdev decides to launch an agitation to get black money stashed away overseas back to the country, by going on a fast unto death, gets the red carpet treatment from the central government.

The list is endless, the inequities in the two India's we live in, the disconnect between the rulers and the ruled cannot be greater, and growing. There is a complete erosion of a sense of balance, and we are governed by double, triple,& quadruple standards. The same law is interpreted in many different ways to suit the situation or person it is being interpreted for. How else can you account for Irom Sharlima languishing 10 years, and a lunatic yoga teacher being accorded a hero's welcome? Binayak Sen being handed down a life sentence for merely possessing some maoist seditious literature, which anyway is in the public domain?

The government, the keystone of society, is supposed to discharge its duties by good governance, protecting its citizens by maintaining law and order, dispensing justice, managing the economy and strengthening its institutions. It is only when they fail in their duties, that peoples movements come in to fill the vacuum, and in this case it it what we euphemistically call 'civil society'. However civil society in its attempt to correct the wrongs of a government that has abdicated its role, adopts the very same attitude they came to oppose, i.e. that is of authoritarianism and intolerance. Anna Hazare's fast for instance, was glaring example of intolerance. Holding a gun to the head of a confused and shaky government, he pushed his demands through on the Lokpal bill, without any locus standi. Ramdev also, with no people's mandate, can be best classified as  grate crasher to the party, hoping to cash on to the wave of self righteousness that has engulfed the middle class Indian. He too, is displaying a brand intolerance and authoritarianism, making his agitation sound ominously like a banana republic with kangaroo courts, when he suggests quick fix justice such as death sentence to economic offenders and a yogic cure for sexual deviant  preferences.

Civil society by definition is an abstract concept. Disparate groups claiming ownership of 'the' civil society, and offering their brand of solutions to perceived problems, now emerging as a trend is dangerous. Such groups flourish under conditions of a lack of rule of law and weak governance. The challenge now is to restore the rule of law, and expose the duplicity of the ramdevs, claiming to be torchbearers of 'civil society'.

In the meanwhile, the protests continue, a confused yoga brand is attempting to repackage and relaunch itself, ramdev Ver.2, June'11 is releasing - hold your breath, and close one nostril !