Article/Link: Anna writes to PM, says his team will not campaign against Congress by NDTV Correspondent. Published: Nov. 01, 2011; Accessed: Nov. 02, 2011.
Oh, no! Tragedy strikes! Breaking News: Anna Hazare is going on a fast! ... again.
Really? That’s what we’re reduced to for headlines? It isn’t news if everyone knows it’s going to happen. If I were working for The Times of India – or any Indian newspaper for that matter – I think I’d just copy-paste the news on Hazare, replacing only the dates. However, the monotony is not what is getting to me. I’ve just never quite understood fasts. You don’t eat…and the world changes for the better? So starving to death is a good thing. I’m a bit confused – exactly what is the message in that? Pro-anorexia (I must let my Health Class teachers know)? Or that the world is better off without you?
I have the utmost respect for Gandhiji, I do – which is why I am not going to launch into a series of criticisms of the entire institute of fasting. I will, however, pause to admire Hazare’s many, many, and far too many strikes.
Hazare has recently sent a message to the Prime Minister saying that Team Anna will not campaign against Congress in any upcoming elections. He insists that he is not trying to target any particular political party. Which is all very well, but he sent this missive in writing. No, not just for the sake of convenience and common sense. Hazare is currently in the middle of a maun-vrat, or a ‘Vow of Silence.’ He is silently protesting against…I’m not entirely sure against what any more. Oh, yeah – he’s still campaigning to get Parliament to take action against corruption. What’s the problem with that? Senior Minister Ambika Soni sums it up quite nicely: “We have said many times we will bring a strong Lokpal. I can’t understand why the repeated warnings, where is the need?”
I suppose Hazare is proving that silence speaks louder than words, because India is certainly responding. Team Anna was recently given 2.9 crore rupees in donations. Not content with merely shutting up, Hazare has also decided to deprive his body of food. Well, maybe he’s just going on a diet. He’s trying to turn into Gandhiji.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Hazare threatened another hunger strike if the Winter Session of Parliament does not pass the Lokpal bill. As the author of this article puts it, “And, says the 74-year-old Gandhian, he will fast again.” Oh. No. Not again. Yeah, I really care.
Silence is golden, but remember, duct tape is silver. And food is fodder, but no fodder at all is fodder for campaigns. Words to live by.
Vocabulary:
- Ombudsman
- “Named for a new ombudsman agency that it creates, the Lokpal Bill is meant to combat corruption among public servants.”
- Ombudsman: An official appointed to investigate individuals' complaints against maladministration, esp. that of public authorities. 1959, from Swed. ombudsman, lit. "commission man" (specifically, in ref. to the office of justitieombudsmannen, which hears and investigates complaints by individuals against abuses of the state); cognate with O.N. umboðsmaðr, from umboð "commission" (from um- "around" + boð"command") + maðr "man."
- After a series of complaints against history teachers, an ombudsman body was created to look into the school’s administration’s hiring policies.
- Spurn
- “The team will tour states headed for elections and will ask voters to spurn corrupt parties and politicians and vote for those who stand for clean governance.”
- Spurn: reject with disdain. O.E. spurnan "to kick (away), reject, scorn, despise," from P.Gmc. *spurnanan (cf. O.S., O.H.G. spurnan, O.Fris. spurna, O.N. sporna "to kick"), from PIE base *spere- "ankle" (cf. M.Du. spoor "track of an animal," Gk. sphyron "ankle," L. spernere "to reject, spurn," Skt. sphurati"kicks," M.Ir. seir "heel").
- The school has continued to spurn any advances or offers made by CLEAN employees.
- Emphatically
- “In a recent Lok Sabha bye-election in Hisar, Anna's close aides campaigned emphatically against the Congress, drawing much criticism for singling out one party.”
- Emphatically: forcefully; clearly. 1708, from Gk. emphatikos, variant of emphantikos, from emphainein
- The students emphatically refused to go through another week of torture like that.
