Aruna Roy: People's movements will catalyse the political establishment
Aruna Roy , social activist and founder of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana (MKSS), has been a powerful force behind agitations for NREGA and the Right to Information (RTI). Speaking withManoj Mitta, Roy discussed the Lokpal agitation, the disbanding of Team Anna - and how the anti-corruption movement can proceed:
Do you see Team Anna's disbandment as a vindication of the reservations you had over its approach to the Lokpal Bill?
Anna Hazare's team has decided to become a political party for bringing 'total revolution'. The switch from a campaign to a party will bring a different set of dynamics. A party cannot be uni-focussed - a campaign can. With this shift, the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill is dependent on their winning elections.
The Lokpal issue continues to be important for the National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information (NCPRI) and others. We're convinced that fighting corruption needs multiple legal measures, years of committed work and a plurality of efforts from the village upwards.
Why do you think this anti-corruption movement lost its mass appeal so suddenly?
All sustained campaigns have to budget for years of hard work, continual engagement with the people and numerous battles with the establishment. This campaign lost hope much too soon and it didn't seem to take into account the whimsical nature of popularity.
Movements should be gauged by their capacity to sustain a campaign through multiple modes, a lesson the NCPRI-RTI campaign learnt through 11 years of struggle. Even after its enactment, the mass appeal of the RTI movement continues to grow through struggles against corruption and the arbitrary use of power - but without drawing large numbers of people to one location.
What is your view on the fast-unto-death as a means of protest?
Every campaign has a right to choose its mode of protest. The MKSS, after two hunger strikes in 1990 and 1991, came to an understanding that in the current climate, this is not a prudent tool. It puts great pressure on protesters with little impact on an insensitive and intractable adversary. We understood that we do not have the stature of Gandhiji. We also realised the democratic pro-cess of advocacy, based on truth and logic, is overtaken by concerns of an individual's health.
Is the collapse of Team Anna's campaign a setback to social movements in India?
Social movements are dyna-mic and India has a strong living tradition of social movements. For instance, the Ekta Parishad's been walking through thousands of villages on the land issue since October 2, 2011. An estimated one lakh villagers and tribals are expected to march to Delhi later this year. Many thousands of local efforts, the mainstay of social movements, continue to exist.
We need to recognise that social movements like the RTI have brought transparency and governance issues to the threshold of a new accountability regime, without taking recourse to electoral politics. People's movements will continue to catalyse the poli-tical establishment and bring accountability to the system - before, during and after elections.
With the Lokpal Bill pending before a select committee in Parliament, what is your strategy for the 'basket of measures' you espoused?
The NCPRI's campaign for these measures has made significant progress. The Grievance Redress Bill and the Whistleblower Bill should ideally be passed in the monsoon session. We must all hold the government to its assurance that the Lokpal Bill will be enacted as soon as possible.
We will intensify our campaign, dialogue with all political parties and continue to build popular pressure to demand effective accountability and anti-corruption legislations.
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