Himalayan Altitudes: RURAL PROTESTS The Seed And The Germ In India’s villages where graft is a daily reality Anna’s message does resonate, but only in pockets DEBARSHI DASGUPTA

SANJAY RAWAT

Say no Villagers at a chakka jam in support of Anna's campaign

RURAL PROTESTS

The Seed And The Germ

In India's villages where graft is a daily reality Anna's message does resonate, but only in pockets

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On its luckier days, Ghangauli village in Aligarh district gets some 12 hours of power. So there was nothing out of the ordinary in the fact that on the evening of August 15, when Anna Hazare had asked his supporters to switch off lights in protest, enthused villagers found they had no power in their bulbs to turn off! Still, their zeal did not fizzle out; the locals decided instead to put out the wicks in their lanterns. And on August 18 morning, when it became clear that Anna was going to fast at Ramlila Maidan, over a hundred villagers from Ghangauli packed themselves into two vehicles and headed out for the capital to keep the 74-year-old Anna company and help keep the anti-graft campaign going.

Sceptics of Team Anna's agitation may have dismissed it as an urban phenomenon supported by a disgruntled middle class. But the campaign has found a growing resonance in India's villages too. This is especially true of those like Ghangauli along the upcoming Taj Expressway (between Delhi and Agra) in Uttar Pradesh, where land was forcefully acquired at below-market prices by the state and later sold to the project's promoter, at prices many times over. "Land has been acquired this way only to fill the coffers of those who run the state. Isn't this corruption?" asks Jai Prakash, a farmer from Bhatta village that witnessed unprecedented violence in May this year over the issue. "We are fighting the corrupt acquisition of our land and that is why Anna's fight is the same as ours. We will support him with our tan, man aur dhan," says Krishan Kumar, another villager from Bhatta, from where around 300 villagers camped outside Tihar Jail on August 17.

For most of these villagers, corruption is a daily reality, whether it's to settle land records or buy seeds. The euphemism for it is suvidha shulk (convenience charge). Nagender Singh from Ghangauli says that he has to pay Rs 900 for a 50 kg sack of fertiliser that carries an MRP tag of Rs 606. Scorn for those who govern in general and the land acquisition process in particular keeps reappearing in these conversations. "The babus and MPs have increased their salaries many times over but they haven't bothered to update the Land Acquisition Act that dates back to 1894," says Ramesh Chand, also from Ghangauli. Another local, who didn't wish to be named because he is employed with the central government, adds, "If the Jan Lokpal Bill comes into force, around 60 per cent of corruption can be curtailed but if the government version becomes law, it will actually increase corruption."


	"This man with a Gandhi topi on TV, it appears he wants to be a minister. But how can he get the chair without even winning an election?"

RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal had in fact visited Bhatta to solicit support from the villagers, perhaps why most villages along the highway (which have comparatively high literacy rates) are already updated about the proceedings. Locals follow the news on Hindi channels—whenever the erratic power supply permits, that is—and in the newspapers. Many villages also have locals who have moved out to cities for employment who have helped spread the word. In Parsaul, near Bhatta, which was also paralysed by the May violence, Pradeep Malick says the debate over the PM's inclusion under the Lokpal has exposed Manmohan Singh. "He's like a puppet. He wanted his post to come under the Lokpal but was overruled by his cabinet," he says. "Rahul Gandhi may get some votes because of his padayatra here but at the national level the Congress is going to lose many votes because of the way it has dealt with Anna and corruption."

It's not just in the Hindi heartland, Anna's charm has spread down south too. In Mogalgidda village in Andhra Pradesh's Mahboobnagar district, students of a local college organised a meet to support Anna where an activist's message was read out: "Ours is a society that lives, breathes and eats bribes. Right from the ward member at a gram panchayat to the prime minister, everyone is corrupt. Fight for your future, a corruption-free one." Some students even mentioned how women's self-help groups supplying mid-day meals have to bribe headmasters to get paid. "The government does not realise that mid-day meals in several schools have stopped because of this," cried out a student at the rally.

That's our song Bhadwai village where Peepli [Live] was shot. (Photograph by Tribhuvan Tiwari)

In Madhya Pradesh, Bhadwai, the village where Peepli [Live] was shot, the ripples that Anna's campaign has sent out has some resonance. As local Gaya Prasad says, "The government gives money for the poor but nothing reaches here. If some of it does, it goes to the people who can bribe the officers and not the poor. Loan for making houses goes to the people who have houses...the homeless still can't get a loan." A village troupe, the sort popularised by the film, has even prepared a song in support of Anna. Every night its members gather and sing the song along with the villagers (see box for lyrics). Some of them even came to Delhi to meet the man.

In Maharashtra, in Anna's own home ground Ralegan Siddhi, the locals are naturally fasting in support. Colleges at nearby Jalgaon and Sangamner shut down as students held rallies and listened to speeches about the "second freedom movement" and how Hazare is a "living example of non-violent power". Some here have even termed the ongoing agitation as a "panacea to get rid of all corruption, even farmer suicides". Farmers also trooped into Kolhapur for a protest march with the town witnessing a "bell protest", a rally during which temple bells are rung continuously.

In all this, though, there are still pockets in the country which Anna's campaign seems to have bypassed. Expectedly, these are regions where the English and Hindi language media do not have a strong hold. While other language media are covering the issue, it hasn't quite gained the same intensity elsewhere as in the English and Hindi press where it's almost saturation coverage; ask Rajanna, a villager in Solur village, Chikkaballapur district, around 58 km from Bangalore. As he puts it, "This man with a Gandhi topi has been appearing on TV with his supporters. It appears he wants to be a minister. But how can he get the chair without him winning an election?" When told he is fighting corruption, he replies matter-of-factly, "Then he should come to our taluk office. They demand between Rs 50-150 for various certificates. If you want to get a 'katha' done for a house, then you have to shell out a few thousands."

In West Bengal, in the mostly agrarian village of Dhapdhara, about 60 km from Calcutta in Hooghly district, most people have heard about some "andolan (rebellion)" going on in the capital but are not aware of what it is all about. "We have heard of Hazare through TV and newspapers but in the villages we are not exactly sure what it is that he wants. I get the sense that it is a pro-people movement. But then, if they want to make it a success they have to include the poor people by coming to us and explaining it to us. If they want to make it a mass movement, they cannot remain in the city," says Samarendra Santra, a farm-hand himself and a respected elder of the community.

In the more remote Joyramibati village (about 100 km from Calcutta), even fewer people—not even those who are "educated"—have heard about the movement. Sharmilla Biswas, who teaches children in her neighbourhood "everything from history to Bengali", has not heard about Anna Hazare. Nor has her father, Ramkrishna Biswas. "In the villages, we are too busy with our own lives to worry about what's going on in the outside world," he says. As her busy daughter-in-law Shobita jokes, "As you can see, we work in the cowshed. We are trying to clean up the dung. We don't have time to clean up corruption...." Mainland India, you may want to take notes.

By Debarshi Dasgupta with bureau inputs

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