Smelling jasmine at India’s Tahrir Square—Jantar Mantar. I am going there. Are you?” This was one of the many social media posts that called upon people to join the agitation launched at Delhi’s protest hotspot a decade ago, to demand the enactment of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Comparisons with the “Arab Spring” were apt, for Jantar Mantar saw a rare flood of people, especially the youth, bringing to mind the series of anti-government protests that had rocked the Middle East in the preceding months.
It became more appropriate as spring had arrived in India’s capital when veteran activist Anna Hazare took the stage at Jantar Mantar, demanding that a law be passed without delay for setting up an anti-corruption ombudsman. It was on April 5, 2011, that Hazare, who was till then not so well-known in Delhi, started his hunger strike. The timing was perfect as the Congress-led ruling dispensation at the Centre was struggling to free itself of numerous allegations of scams. In response to the pressure built up on his government by the civil society, the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had added to the season-inspired description of the situation to say, quoting English poet P.B. Shelley: “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
Singh’s response was misplaced since the all-too-brief spring is a season of transition, followed in the northern plains by a punishing summer. And, Anna Andolan, as the IAC movement came to be popularly known as, heralded a summer of discontent.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 18, 2021 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 18, 2021 من THE WEEK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Ram temple not an issue in south
Much has been said this election season about the alleged north-south divide.
Haute and sweaty
In Mumbai, where I live and work, there is a severe heatwave going on. The highest temperature this month has been 40 degrees, sweltering and humid for the coastal city.
MOVE AWAY MARY!
In many parts of the world,unique names are becoming popular
CALL OF THE WILD
Tejas Thackeray, the younger son of former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, shares his passion for wildlife conservation and photography
CEPA and beyond
Bilateral trade between the UAE and India has grown almost 16 per cent year-on-year, touching $84.5 billion
Brash and raw
When I chanced upon Raj Narain, who humbled Indira Gandhi
Lone voice of dissent
“I am keen to invite Parakala [Prabhakar] to Mumbai… What do you think? Do you know him?” A friend asked. No, I don’t know the man. And no, it is not a good idea to invite him, unless you want to invite trouble, I replied.
Modi and the Muslim syndrome
I have long been intrigued by the prime minister’s desire to hug every passing sheikh and sultan and his contrasting contempt for the ordinary Indian Muslim.
Assam Rifles not trained to guard borders; need separate force for Manipur border
Imphal is blanketed in darkness. The sun has set a little too soon in the valley, but N. Biren Singh is yet to call it a day.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE SENTINELS
Manipur government wants the Assam Rifles replaced, but the Union home ministry is focused on upgrading infrastructure and connectivity before deciding who guards the state