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Satheesh Namasivayam & Sivaram Bandhakavi

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Feb 10, 2012 | Closed

How Anna Hazare has become a mass leader

According to you, what went wrong with Anna's movement? Why didn't we see the support which we saw with Anna and his Team during initial days during the second time around in Mumbai? Asked by: Rohit
We believe that the Mumbai fast is a tactical error on the part of Mr Hazare and his team. Mr Hazare’s indefinite fasts in April and August significantly contributed to the movement because they helped focus public attention on Mr Hazare and the corruption issue. When you are trying to “lead without a licence” (without holding a formal office), the one thing you lack most is the attention of the people who you would like to influence. And in such cases, resorting to extreme actions – such as an indefinite fast – is a strategic leadership act that focuses attention on you and your work. But the last fast in Mumbai is different on two counts. Firstly, people did not perceive it as an extreme action because it was a limited 3-day fast. There were no uncertainties and mounting tensions at that time. Second, extreme actions cease to be extreme when repeated often. Importantly, you need people’s attention so that you can redirect that attention on the problems to be solved. In the case of the Mumbai fast, the work to be done – passing the Lokpal Bill – was in progress in the Parliament. The debate in the Lok Sabha was lively; perhaps the liveliest since the one on Nuclear Energy Bill in 2009. So when this work was going on, Mr Hazare’s best course of action might have been to focus public attention on this parliamentary work. By fasting when the parliamentary debate was going on, Mr Hazare contributed towards diluting public attention on the debate. Instead, if he chose to sit in the visitor’s gallery of the parliament and watch the debate live, he might have been able to focus public attention on the Bill far more. Having said this, we do not believe that this is the end of the movement. The Bill is yet to be passed and further debate in parliament has been postponed till the next Parliament session. Mr Hazare can utilize this time to keep the sense of urgency alive, promote healthy debate on specific clauses and maximize the chances of a strong Lokpal Bill in the next session.
Was it not the media who propped him up courtesy the celebs, Kiran & shanti bhusan. Asked by: sundar1950in
Sure media played a huge role. Has there been any movement in this world that has succeeded without media attention - be it Gandhi's salt movement or Mandela's movement? History teaches us that media played a huge role in all these movements. Similarly, social media has played a huge role in the recent movements around the world. Do you think media focus alone would have made the government respond the way it did, if it not for the Anna movement's success in mass mobilization of other key influencers of Indian public such as movie stars, spiritual leaders and people associated with the Judiciary?
What do you think the Team Anna should do to revive their movement and get the people's support for them like they got during initial days of their movement? Asked by: Rohit
The movement, in our opinion, should work on getting a Lokpal passed in the next session without further disruptions from their side: by engaging with MPs from different parties, trying to bring them together to resolve on specific clauses holding back the legislation, etc. – and importantly, by yielding as necessary. When leading, being firm is great, but yielding is also critical in keeping the movement alive and ensuring progress. Remember, Mahatma Gandhi led the salt satyagraha demanding complete independence. It is one of the most successful mass movements in history, but the talks that followed the movement did not result in independence. In fact they did not even result in the abolition of salt tax. But they paved the way to greater Indian representation in the government, which was an improvement in conditions and a step close to self-governance. And, it took 16 more years to get independence and Gandhi tackled many more issues in the meantime. After passing the Lokpal bill in whichever form, the movement should then galvanize the energies on other critical corruption-related issues such electoral financing, corporate corruption, etc. They cannot afford to focus on Lokpal alone.
Hi Satheesh, First of all congratulations for authoring this book and for choosing one of the most relevant topics of recent times... I was curious to know, how did you come up with the idea of writing this book? Rohit Asked by: Rohit
As we said in the answer to a previous question, we both are academically trained in the field of leadership and prefessionally work with leaders. While much has been written about the Anna movement with political, legal and social lenses, we felt that a pure leadership perspective of the Anna movement was missing in the public domain. So, we decided to write a book that takes an exclusive leadership view of the movement, compares it with others leadership stories, and extracts lessons for our everyday practice of leadership.
With the mass following and image that Anna Hazare has created for himself, is it time that Anna Hazare took to active politics ? Will he be able to garner the same support as a politician because if he can things in this country will change dramatically. Asked by: nairkaran@in.com
To lead without licence is one thing. To lead with authority is another. There were very valid reasons why Gandhi did not run for office. So, one cannot extrapolate one's success in leading a movement to his/her ability to lead a country by attaining political power.
Is it difficult to co-author a book? is there a clash of thoughts?? Asked by: parimal
There are always clash of thoughts when you co-author. But, we found enrichment in those clashes. If you can live with those clashes, attain more clarity in the collective thoughts, and not turn into a personal conflict, then go for it.
what kind of research did you do for writing this book? Asked by: Ruhi
Both of us have professionally been consulting in the field of leadership for more than a decade across the globe. So, we brought to bear research from other movements around the world, and our personal and professional observations of other leaders.
Shouldn't you have waited for a while longer before fixing the title of your book? After all, it turns out that he ain't the mass leader as was made out to be? Asked by: Anirban Banerjee
Irrespective of where the movement heads, the fact will remain that Mr Hazare was successful in mobilizing a massive national movement in 2011, although he possessed no authority to lead. Anyone who wants to lead has a lot to learn from his success in 2011 movement.
Do you think Anna is truly a mass leader? or is it limited to the a few because of an emotional connect? Asked by: Chandni
In the book, we do not call Mr Hazare a mass leader. We call him a leader, who galvanized a massive movement. He is leading without authority. Hence the title, "Leading without Licence". While leading without licence, it is not easy to get the attention of the masses. In that, Mr Hazare succeeded tremendously, although he came from near obscurity.
why not indian government accept lokpal vidheyak? Asked by: varsha andhale
Anytime you force someone to evolve, they will find it painful. Because a lokpal bill will force the governing class to behave differently in their approach towards corruption, it is a difficult and painful process for the governing class to accept a version of Lokpal that imposes significant change.
Do you think Anna's mission has created an atmosphere against the congress and towards the BJP especially in the Urban sectors? Asked by: Abhinav
Not really. I think Anna movement has time and again clarified that it is not against or for any party. All sectors, urban or rural, will judge political parties on their leadership in delivering results on areas that matter to people the most.
Is the Indian government terrified of the incredible success of Anna Hazare's campaign through online medium ? And do you think this is the reason why it has started imposing rules and regulations on social sites like facebook ? Asked by: Praveen Kumar A.X.
Not necessarily. Indian government was mainly concerned by, and did respond to, the mobilization success of the Anna movement. But, that mobilization success did not come from online medium alone. Having gained the Prime Minister's attention and the attention of people through his announcement of indefinite fast, Mr Hazare also mobilized key influence groups (such as media, religious & spiritual organizations and judiciary). This generated enormous momentum that set the ball rolling on the Lokpal Bill. Online medium is one of the many factors that helped Anna movement mobilize people. So, one need not connect the Governmental response to Anna movement with its recent actions regarding social media.
Do you feel this movement will gain momentum or will its intensity stay the same, in the the next few years? Asked by: Wilfred
This movement has already achieved something very significant. There has been more progress in bringing young people into a movement in one year than what the country has seen in very many years. So, whether people’s inertness prevails over the movement’s forcefulness will depend a lot on where the movement goes next. The movement's success in the future will be a function of the choices it makes in the coming few months. In general, it should yield more on the issue of Lokpal bill that it mobilized people on. And, then lead on the problem of corruption - in its various other forms - beyond governmental corruption.
Hi, don't u think that it is the frustration of the common man on the issue of corruption which has crossed all limits in the past 5 years has resulted in Anna becoming a mass leader? Asked by: Shyam Vadalker
That was part of the reason. Picking an issue where people feel individual loss beyond their endurance limit is one key reason. As we explain in the book, there are several other reasons – the age-old principles of leadership that Mr Hazare is practicing – that has helped him sustain this movement. We would like to emphasize 2 key reasons. One – his selection of Lokpal Bill as the issue in anchoring the fight against corruption in India. When you try to mobilize people to solve a problem, you need to select the right issue to enlist action from your people. For example, having decided to launch nonviolent non-cooperation movement demanding Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi could have chosen from many issues – abolition of salt tax, issue of land revenues, ban on liquor, etc. But he chose salt tax and went on to lead a mass movement such as never seen before. Similarly, to lead on the problem of corruption, you could choose the Lokpal Bill as an issue or electoral financing as an issue. Mr Hazare and his team chose the Lokpal issue and that was a crucial contributor to the success of the movement. Two – the way Mr Hazare guarded himself and the movement against different types of distractions. As we explain in the book, distractions can come in different forms. If you fall prey to these distractions, you lose focus on your work, you are diverted and may make yourself and your cause irrelevant. Mr Hazare and the movement were indeed subjected to several such distractions – attempts at character assassination, attempts to sideline the movement as fringe, etc. But as we explain in the book, Mr Hazare responded to these distractions in a way that ensured its survival and success.
why not an youth leading this?why people hv a strng belive ovr anna ji?are u st Asked by: jangyadatt meher
Sure, a young person could have certainly lead a similar movement in India. Youth are leading around the world. If you go back to end-2010 / early-2011, the movement was fairly low-key and fringe till Mr Hazare wrote directly to the Prime Minister. In doing this, he definitely took a personal risk – risking his well-earned reputation in social service; and inviting ridicule and criticism. Through this, Mr Hazare focused the attention of the government as well as the public on the Lokpal issue. The Prime Minister wrote back to Mr Hazare because of his credentials, credibility and public standing. In this particular case, a young person leading a movement on governmental corruption will have to first reckon how he/she will get the attention of the government and people.
where are you from? Asked by: seeta
Two of us have co-authored this book. One lives in Chennai and the other in Hyderabad.