Why I Support AAP

It is surprising to note that peaceful dharnas, are being ridiculed and called drama by the mainstream media and other political parties. Satyagraha had been a rich legacy of our freedom struggle. Peaceful protests were instrumental in getting freedom from British rulers. Analysts say, it was Anna's dharnas that have brought down the Congress government from power in the recent national elections. These means of protests give hope to those who are victim of various unjust practices and who believe in non-violence.

Satyagraha theory also influenced many other movements of civil resistance world over. For example, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in his autobiography about Gandhi's influence on his developing ideas regarding the civil rights movement in the United States, he writes, 

"Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was particularly moved by his Salt March to the Sea and his numerous fasts. The whole concept of Satyagraha was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time its potency in the area of social reform. It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking"

In a recent Obama visit, Obama confirmed that Gandhiji was an inspiration for Martin Luther King Jr. and for himself. It pains to note that our own people are ridiculing one of the most powerful means to fight the establishment through non-violent and peaceful means.

A couple of years ago, those in the government challenged the Anna's team to get into politics and solve the problems they are protesting for. As we know, this has resulted in few people deciding to take up the challenge. They came with a vision to cleanse the system. They started it by fielding candidates with no criminal or corruption cases against them. They came to give power in the hands of common man – Swaraj. They came to eradicate corruption, cleanse electoral system, stop the current practice of corporate helping political parties win elections and then these parties paying them back by doing undue favors.

It is a known fact that the current system is paralyzed, it does not serve the entire population in a just and unbiased way. In this system only the rich and mighty get the benefit. Rich is becoming richer and poor is becoming poorer. The common people are not able to live with dignity. Some of them got attracted towards naxalism, some who are non-violent are attracted towards those who are promising clean and corruption free government. 

Now let us ponder on the role of media that shapes the opinion in a democracy. As we know press is the 4th. pillar of democracy, I am sure here the reference to press is made to be as an independent one not the kind of media houses we have today. Most media organizations are owned by business houses, whose goals, as any other business is to maximize their profit. Ad revenue, paid news and PR are the most important sources for them to remain in business. Elections are the most important event for media companies. Congress and BJP has spent about 516 crores and 714 crores respectively. Almost all the traditional parties spend on advertisements except the AAP. It will be a heartbreaking event for the media companies if a party can win elections without paying them crores of rupees. It is just a common sense to understand, these media houses will never want a party to win an election without paying them. Now you can relate why there is a common stand by media to show AAP in a bad light. If AAP wins, all the traditional parties too will reduce paid advertisements and start doing the good work of serving people to get elected. Point to be noted is, when the same people were on dharna with Anna, the media covered them as rock-stars but when some of them got in to electoral politics, the media got threatened of loosing out on its plum revenue that comes from the political parties during election.

You and I know why media houses show AAP in bad light, I can understand when congress people ridicule the AAP, I can understand when BJP calls Arvind a Bhagoda. as if keep glued to the CMs chair and compromising on ideology is a good thing, I can also understand why rich and privileged people are against AAP, I can understand when those who want the country divided on the lines of religion or any other line or those who want India to be a theocratic state oppose AAP, remember in the human history it took centuries to get the governance out of the clutches of Priests, Pandits and Mullahs. I can understand why big businesses - who fund parties to win elections and then make them pay back from the tax payers money -, oppose AAP.

But I can't understand why an Aam aadmi would not support AAP who is standing for THEM not for its own self. Yes to Self Rule – Swaraj.

Khalid A Khan