Sandeep Heble <[email protected]> wrote: [1] The Veteran Gandhian has fought many battles in his life and he will fight many more. Corruption is just one of them.
[2] Hunger strike is an instrument of protest which has been given to us by none other than Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation. It is a peaceful form of agitation. The Government has no right to suppress Anna's individual freedom or anybody's individual freedom for that matter. [3] The Government must stop behaving in such an autocratic and undemocratic manner. The Constitution must be followed in letter and spirit. COMMENT: I agree with much of what Sandeep has written. I am not sure, however, if I will classify Hazare as a 'Gandhian'. Perhaps, somebody else knows but I certainly do not know of any incident in which Mahatma Gandhi took the law in his own hands ....and had anybody "tied to a temple pole with help from the youth group and flogged, whipped and beaten black and blue with an army belt." Nor did Mahatma Gandhi say, “Doesn’t a mother administer bitter medicines to a sick child when she knows that the medicine can cure her child? The child may not like the medicine, but the mother does it only because she cares for the child." Much as I decry alcoholism, I do not believe that ANYBODY has the right to force the closure of 'bars' or administer corporal punishment to those who consume alcohol'. THAT, could not be said to be "following the letter and spirit of the Constitution". If the alcoholics are creating public disorder, the Constitution provides for a manner in which to deal with them. It certainly does NOT give any one person (from the public) the right to determine that. The next thing we can anticipate is that some 'disordeiros' will go to restaurants, pull out women who are sipping a glass of wine, and physically assault them - while claiming that this instrument of moral correction was given to them by none other than Anna Hazare. I agree with Sandeep that the Govt has NO right to suppress a competent adult person's right to refuse food and participate in peaceful protest. BTW: force-feeding is an assault on a person. The law does not even allow anybody to force-feed an Anorexic adult. There is a public order issue: What does a Govt do, IF a particular act creates a public order issue? The Govt is compelled to go to the Law i.e. the court. BTW: If the Constitution is to be followed, it must be followed by everybody.....not only yhe Govt. ps: Looking at how corrupt Goa/India have become ...over the past 50 years, I can safely assume that this Hunger Strike will be attract a lot of attention, create public disorder, perhaps cause the fall of Govt ....and then the Corruption will continue unabated. All this IMHO is a show ....like the Advani Yatra ....which eventually led to the "accidental" (Sure!) destruction of the Babri Masjid. jc .
