Anna's political move face-saver or inevitable?

New Delhi, Aug 5
Was Team Anna's announcement of foraying into politics a face saving arrangement, a sign of a failed movement or was it always political, choosing the right moment with 2014 in mind to convert into votes the support it holds amongst the urban populace? The answers are as diverse as the response to the anti-corruption movement, which stepped into a new phase Friday with Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and others calling off their hunger strike at Jantar Mantar by declaring that they would enter the political mainstream. While some experts feel that Anna Hazare and his team were "itching" to get into politics and shifted strategy because they failed to get the expected response from the crowd and government this time, others feel they could put into use their resources - their ability to raise funds and gain media coverage - and might even win a few big "scalps" at the next hustings. "Team Anna had really no choice but to call off their fast as it was not going anywhere," Mridula Mukherjee, professor of modern Indian history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, told IANS. Terming their latest move a sign of failure, Mukherjee said this time the response from the crowd was "weak" and there was no response from the government and the opposition parties. "These factors last year were important in keeping the momentum going, and were missing this year." In her view, Team Anna had to give a credible reason for calling off the fast, "and the decision to go into politics was their reason". "They have to have a reason for forming a political party; fighting against corruption is just one aspect, it can't be a single issue platform," Mukherjee, former director of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, added. Nisar-ul-Haq, head of department political science at Jamia Millia Islamia, agreed with her that the movement was a "complete failure". "They have moved from fighting corruption to other issues, to that of 15 ministers, and are going on to ask for something else every day. Their entire movement is a complete failure," Haq told IANS. "People have not accepted them at large, and they are trying to challenge institutions that are near and dear to the Indian people, like the parliamentary system, democracy," he said. "Even among the character of the civilian people in the movement, individual integrity has not been achieved. If one is not honest, how does one expect the movement will bring an end to corruption." According to N. Bhaskara Rao of the Centre for Media Studies, Team Anna's political alternative is "more a face saving arrangement to wriggle out of a dead end". "They made a tactical mistake of changing course - from starting with Lokpal, to corruption, and then to ministers, and along the way they have alienated more people. As of today, people don't know what is Team Anna," Rao told IANS. "There are some elements in Team Anna who wanted to get into politics, and two or three were itching to get into politics..." "From today onwards, Anna Hazare is not part of Team Anna, they are looking for another mascot, a political mascot," added Rao. Taking a different view, author and academic Mukul Kesavan said Team Anna is an organisation that "raises many issues quite well and has shown considerable fund raising ability". He feels the political party Team Anna floats would in 2014 contest seats "in large urban constituencies where their message is saturated, and it is not out of bounds of possibility that they will do well in them." "I think even if they win, at least half a dozen seats at the national level it would be a satisfactory debut," he said. And if they "gain a few scalps" by defeating heavyweights like P. Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal "they could demonstrate that their movement could be politically successful", said Kesavan, a professor of social history at Jamia Millia Islamia. "Hazare and his team have tapped very well into the surge of feeling - of genuine rage" among people against what they perceive as a corrupt political establishment, added Kesavan. Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar said Team Anna's earlier movement against corruption has changed and "now a different movement is there". "Now it is political in content and I wish it should take lots of other activists and NGOs with them, and become a bigger platform."

World's second coldest inhabited place gets first ATM

Dras (Jammu and Kashmir), Aug. 5
Locals in Dras, the world's second coldest inhabited town, can finally get access to instant cash with bank authorities installing the first ever Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in the area. The ATM was installed by the Jammu and Kashmir Bank here on Sunday. Interacting with reporters here, locals lauded the efforts of the bank and expressed their happiness over the installation of the ATM. "I am very happy with the installation of the ATM as earlier we used to face lot of problems in transacting money and had to travel to far flung areas. We had to stand in long queues to get money directly from the bank, making it inconvenient. All of us are happy as we can save time and still get our money," Hussain Ali, a local, said. The bank's branch manager, Gulzar Ahmad, said that the installation of the ATM would prove beneficial for the Army personnel and tourists. "People in the area had to face lot of problems as there was no ATM here. The bank used to be flooded with people all the time. The installation of the ATM has made it convenient for all to transact money. People often urged for setting up an ATM and I am happy that it has been finally done now. They had to go to Kargil earlier to get instant cash. I am happy that the bank has taken this step," Ahmad said. Often called as the 'Gateway to Ladakh', the town remains disconnected with rest of the valley due to incessant snowfall, blocking one of the major connecting routes, the 'Zojila Pass'. The second available ATM is approximately 70 kilometres in Kargil district or at Sonamarg in Ganderbal district, also at the same distance from Dras. India's highest ATM lies at a height of 13,200 feet in Sikkim.

12 killed, 40 missing as rains pound Uttarakhand, Jammu

Dehradun, Jammu, New Delhi, Aug 5
Twelve poeple have died, nearly 40 are missing and hundreds are trapped after torrential rain led to flash floods, cloud bursts and landslides in sub-Himalayan Uttarakhand and Jammu, offficials said Sunday. The incessant rain is likely to continue, the met office reported. Rescue operations are in full swing in both the regions. While 12 people have died in Uttarakhand due to flash floods and landslides, officials said, hundreds were left stranded in various places in Jammu where the rains caused landslides. In Uttarakhand, Garhwal, Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts are worst-affected. Personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), police and army are searching for 19 labourers who went missing at a hydel project in Assi Ganga in Uttarkashi, about 180 km from here, late Saturday, officials said. Officials told IANS that as many as 40 people were missing across the state. The water levels in Bhagirathi, Alkananda and Yamuna rivers are running at danger levels, officials said. Met officials in New Delhi said incessant rains would continue in both the regions for another day. "We had given a timely warning to the state agencies so that evacuation could start in villages and remote districts. Rains will continue for the next 24 hours," an official from India Meteorological Department (IMD) told IANS. There were about half a dozen landslides on the 300-km Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, considered a lifeline to the Kashmir valley. Highways connecting the mountainous districts of Poonch and Rajouri in northwest Jammu and Doda and Kishtwar in the northeast also reported similar landslides. In the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, over a dozen people were rescued from Samba district where the Basantar river flooded its banks. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headquartered in New Delhi, has not yet sent any rescue team to Uttarakhand since the state government assured it of having enough manpower for rescue and relief. "We have a 45-member team ready, but the Uttarakhand government has said they have enough ITBP personnel to take care of the situation," K.M. Singh, an NDMA member, told IANS. "We are in constant touch with the government. If they want any help, we would immediately send our team," he said. Three state-run hydel projects in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand have also been damaged. Major hydel projects have been stopped. The state's disaster management teams are working on restoring communication lines and providing immediate relief to pilgrims on the annual Char Dham yatra stuck on isolated routes. "The downpour has slowed. But we are still working on restoring communication lines and helping victims in pilgrimage areas," said an official from the emergency control room in Chamoli. The yatra to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath has been halted due to landslides and washing away of roads, said officials.