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OpinionColumnsSainath

Published: June 17, 2011 01:45 IST | Updated: June 17, 2011 03:09 IST June 17, 2011

The discreet charm of civil societyP. Sainath

Social Activist and Member of Lokpal Bill Committee, Anna Hazare, addresses a press conference in New Delhi. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. But there is a problem when groups not

constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation.

The 1990s saw marketing whiz kids at the largest English daily in the world steal a term then invogue among sexually discriminated minorities: PLUs or People Like Us. Media contentwould henceforth be for People Like Us. This served advertisers' needs and also helped shut out

unwanted content. As the daily advised its reporters: dying farmers don't buy newspapers. SouthMumbaikars do. So the suicide deaths of a couple of fashion models in that city grabbed more

space in days than those of over 40,000 farmers in Maharashtra did in a decade.

February 2011 saw one of the largest rallies staged in Delhi in years. Lakhs of workers from ninecentral trade unionsincluding the Congress party's INTUChit the streets to protest against

rising food prices and unemployment. This was many times bigger than the very modestnumbers at Anna Hazare's fast and larger than Ramdev's rollicking yoga camp.' These were

workers and unions not linked to the state. Not market-driven. Not corporate-funded. Andexpressing clearly the interests and values of their members. In fact, fitting some classic

definitions of civil society.' The rally was covered by the BBC, Reuters and AFP but was mostlyinvisible in mainstream Indian media except when attacked for creating traffic jams.

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Perhaps the whizz kids were on to something larger than even they knew. At least one dictionaryhas since added this entry under People Like Us: A subtle reference to people of the same

socio-economic class. Only, there was nothing subtle here. The Indian elite play the PLU gamelike few others do. Entry into the club is by birth or invitation only. And getting certification

from the classes that matter takes some work. Your own background can be surmountedhowever, even turned to advantage, if there are enough strong PLUs around you. Anna Hazare

had this. Baba Ramdev did not have it. Both claimed to speak for civil society.' A mediaapplying that word with reverence to those around Anna Hazare, denied it with scorn to those

they saw as Ramdev's rabble.

Sections of the media embarrassed by Ramdev point, in contrast, to the many fine people'around Hazare. Most of them part of the Delhi elite with indeed impeccable records of service.

Yet, how did their approach differ in principle from Ramdev's?

Both were self-selected groups claiming primacy over the elected government. Both assertedthey knew what was best for the nation. (Rather than an electorate they scorned as sold on a

bottle of liquor or a hundred-rupee note). Both had no qualms about breaking down the wallsbetween the institutions of state. Never mind the Constitution, they sought a body whose

members they would largely appoint. A super organ above the legislature, the executive and thejudiciary. Take the government notification on the drafting body for the Lokpal bill. It uses the

words: The five nominees of Anna Hazare [including himself] are as under When have suchvital national appointments been made by and in the name of one individual, however noble?

Both felt they had the best solutions for fighting corruption, which is fair enough. Both, however,demanded that their fatwas be written into law. That their will prevail in the writing of the bill.

That the Constitution assigns this right to the legislature mattered little. Both saw themselves asmore representative of the nation than its people. In months, they would succeed where in 62

years the nation had failed.

Electoral democracy drew special contempt. In this, they were at one with the top tier of PLUs.Who takes all that stuff seriously? asked one celeb on a television panel discussion. Well, it

seems people do. Voting in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu crossed 75 per cent in May 2011. InWest Bengal and Puducherry, it edged towards 85 per cent. Tamil Nadu in May 2011 saw its

highest turnout in 44 years. And voters there showed how vital the issue of corruption was tothem. Money power has surely corrupted the electoral process severely. But does the electorate

deserve the scorn poured on it by civil society?' If the latter has struck a chord at all, it isbecause of the deep concerns of the former.

So who do these versions of Indian civil society' represent? Do we take the World Bank'sdefinition? Civil society would then be: a wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit

organisations that have a presence in public life. And which express the interests and values oftheir members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic

considerations. The European Commission states flatly that there is no commonly accepted or

legal definition of the term. It also does not make a distinction between civil societyorganisations or other forms of interest groups.

The U.S.-based Civil Society International raises the question of whether the media should beincluded in civil society.' More so when they are privately-owned and hyper-commercial in

character. It points out that some notions could render both the League of Women Voters and theKu Klux Klan part of civil society. In India, the RSS is a large voluntary organisation claiming to

be cultural and non-political in character. Ergo, civil society?

Theory aside, civil society in India seems defined by exclusion. It is crowded with human rightslawyers and activists, NGO leaders, academics and intellectuals, high-profile journalists,

celebrities and think tank-hirelings. Mass media debates never see landless labourers, displaced

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people, nurses, trade union workers, bus conductors being asked to speak for civil society.'Though, indeed they should.

Marketing minds would define civil society more clearly as a prime PLU platform. They'd be

right, too. Who else do we see out there? The PLU syndrome goes way beyond the Lokpal bill.When Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser to the Finance Ministry, called for a certain class of

bribes to be legalised, civil society' simply shut its eyes and brain. The National Campaign forPeoples' Right to Informationa flag bearer of civil societymaintained a studied, shameful

silence. Professor Basu was not pushing this idea in his private blog. He put it up on aGovernment of India website. Yet, thundering anchors who skewer' politicians in television

interviews uttered not a squeak. Had this insane idea come from a Ramdev, or even a LaluPrasad, and not from a certified PLU member, imagine the fun the media would have had

trashing it. As for the NCPRI, it might have begun a special desk to campaign on the issue. True,an individual associated with it did write a mild critique of the economics of Prof. Basu's folly

evading its moral degeneracy. But the NCPRI let itself down (and all those who support the RTImovement) with its craven silence.

The same media now trashing Ramdev came out snarling in his defence when he clashed with

Brinda Karat in 2006. That was over the exploitation of 113 workers thrown out of the pharmacycontrolled by Ramdev's Trust and facing false cases. The media brushed that aside and slammed

Ms Karat. In the PLU food chain, workers are a low form of pond life. (Oh yes, the PLUsyndrome has a strong caste component, too. But that's another story.)

Ramdev had carved out a base in sections of the elite. He also counts some media ownersamongst his followers. Though not, perhaps the more anglicised anchors of television. He even

has a following in Bollywood. He had attained the celebrity status so vital to gain any mediaattention at all. And had done so by using television itself for his b rand' of yoga. But he

overplayed his hand when the desired A-level' certification from the south Delhi elite was still

pending. Otherwise, his claim to represent civil society' is no weaker than that of the group

around Mr. Hazare. The my-civil-society-is-more-civil-than-yours' squabble has begun. Andboth groups have failed to pin down a corrupt, bungling government that made such a pig's

breakfast of the Ramlila event.

There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. Not a thing wrong in governments consultingthem and also listening to people, particularly those affected by its decisions. There is a problem

when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based,democratic agitation. When they seek to run the government and legislation no matter how

well-intentioned they are. Pushing a coherent vision is a good thing to do. So is demanding thatthe government do its job. Beyond that lies trouble.

Meanwhile, a section of Platinum tier PLUs have become champions of the parliamentarydemocracy they actively helped undermine during the past two decades. They cheered loudly for

giant economic and financial decisions taken outside the budget, bypassing Parliament. So long

as the destruction of institutions favoured corporate power, they welcomed it, collaborating withcorrupt governments such as this one wholeheartedly. The Ramdev route would have done muchthe same in time the Baba himself is a spiritual corporation. But he just wasn't one of us.

These new champions of parliamentary democracy have no qualms when the groups dictatingterms to the government are CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM or their ilk. They didn't like it when the

bypassing of institutions came from Mr. Hazare. They hated it when it came from Ramdev.Dumping democracy is, after all, the privilege of the Platinum PLUs.