AAP-What next?

AAP Arvind Kejriwal - Fascism and Hitler. Paradigm or Enigma?

Robert Paxton argues that fascism is "a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."

Not being an academic nor a political historian, I was intrigued by similarities, albeit partial, between the subject under discussion and Hitler. AK exhibits some similar characteristics and convictions, mainly, that he alone has been ordained to solve the problems faced by the helpless people of India.

AAP and Hitler's workers Party which later was better known as Nazi Party, exhibit similar strains of fascism-exempt militancy for now. I say for now, as I did notice signs of militant behavior among the AAP senior echelons - Bharti is a good example.

When a former Ambassador, who happens to be a lady, goes public with her discomfiture with the "Militant" men of AAP- the inner circle- and their patronizing attitude, it says it all. One can reasonably assume that she has had many occasions to deal with all types of men while discharging her duties as a diplomat and that there must be good reasons to go public on her strong objections to the conduct of members of AAP. Until then she was a well-respected member of the core team of policy drafters.  Their articulation on merits of Khap may substantiate her claims.

When tens of thousands of people chant "Arvind, Arvind" and shower their affection through a show of faith, very few leaders can remain with their feet planted on Mother Earth.. It is an addiction that drives the subject of adoration to believe them. Public show of swearing-in, mass contact programmes, and frequent Media interactions for sensational revelations are all symptoms of a disease that is known to convert an ordinary well-meaning individual into a megalomaniac. Arvind would do well to note what    Ashutosh Varshney wrote recently in an OPED column, which suggested that there is a great difference between popular will and popular sentiment - sentiment can quickly change. It is the people's sentiment that needs watching.

The early days of Hitler were full of some of the above characteristics. Germans wanted a change. They thronged in large numbers to his sessions of public ranting and raving. He began to believe in them and they in him. History is replete with instances of such leaders, who from heroes became hated despots over time.

While the militant part of AAP has not been on display, an occasion that needs serious introspection is when AK threw an invitation to the Delhi Police to shed their uniform and join his agitation on Raj Path. Sedition is more serious than militant behavior. AK also threatened to disrupt the whole Republic Day parade, even as he went on to question the sentiments of Indians and the need to participate in an elitist display of marching columns. It exhibits a poor understanding of the implications of such actions and utterances. There is thus a reasonably good chance of turning a peaceful demonstration (repeatedly emphasized by Anna during a mass gathering of IAC) into a violent and destructive event.

Why would a group of fully educated and well-experienced scholars, diplomats, bureaucrats, industrialists, and others not advise and guide a relatively less experienced engineer turned bureaucrat on negotiating land mines on his path. It may well be the haste with which AAP wishes to fully capitalize, on what they perceive to be a historic window of opportunity.

 Running before learning to walk first can be an exceptional occurrence in individuals gifted to compress time-related activities. Movements and reforms need time, careful handling, nurturing, and above all selfless leadership. The Arab Spring, Libyan attempt to correct decades of misrule, and the Egyptian political experiment in haste, give us enough material to introspect.

AAP needs to consolidate, learn to govern under a given framework of law, respect laws of the land before attempting to rewrite them, and finally show the way to reform an arguably decadent system." A good leader should also be a good follower", is an axiom worth reflecting upon.