[Reader-list] Crowds?

[Tapas Ray [Gmail]]

Not exactly new, but worth repeating, as it's worth remembering --

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/is-rss-working-hard-for-affiliation-with-anna-130483

Is RSS working hard for affiliation with Anna?

Rahul Shrivastava‎, Updated: September 01, 2011 00:31 IST

...

Through some visible and not so visible moves the RSS has tried to
associate itself to Anna's campaign.
On Tuesday, Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the BJP's parent body made a
rare public appearance in Pune and said that "people were just fed up
of corruption and they had no one to look up to and then came Anna's
agitation which restored people's faith and also gave a boost to their
confidence."

Less than a fortnight ago the RSS top brass had met in Ujjain and
cleared a 'Support Anna' resolution. Spurred by this BJP's Nitin
Gadkari wrote to Anna, pledging his support.

Old RSS hand and ex BJP Delhi Unit Chief Mangeram Garg - was heading
the Sangh's "ops-room".
At Ramlila Maidan, Anna's home during his 12 day fast, Sangh
affiliates posted hundreds of men in the crowd, who could be
identified by their chant of Vande Mataram.


Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/is-rss-working-hard-for-affiliation-with-anna-130483&cp

Kumar Vishwas, once a senior man within the RSS, was Anna's stage
manager at Ramlila Maidan and was often seen reciting poems and
introducing guests on stage. Coincidentally Vishwas was the stage
manager for Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev's aborted protests too.

Tejinder Pal of the Party's Yuva Morcha, which is the youth wing of
the BJP helped mobilize those who protested outside the homes of
Congress leaders to signal their dissastisfaction.

The free meals that were a big draw at Ramlila Madian were funded. by
the RSS' affiliate Goraksha (save the cow) unit.

But the RSS kept its involvement discrete.  Anna insulated his
protests from the saffron taint by forbidding right-or left wing
leader from sharing the stage with him.  In fact two BJP MPs who
visited Ramlila Maidan - Ananth Kumar and Gopinath Munde- to express
solidarity to Anna - were heckled by the crowd.

Team Anna opted to ignore the presence of RSS ranks among the
protestors and the criticism it drew.

"There was no direct financial support from the RSS to IAC (India
Against Corruption movement).  There were no direct links with them or
to funding, but they could well be part of the thousands and lakhs of
volunteers who were helping with food ...and there's nothing wrong
with that," said one of Anna's closest associates, Prashant Bhushan.

Anna has warned that he has other causes - like electoral reforms for
which he plans to campaign.  By affiliating closely with Anna, the RSS
and the BJP are hoping to gain political points as key states like UP
get ready to vote.




On 31 August 2011 12:02, Jeebesh <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:
> Perplexing why Partha Chatterjee (all entangled in corruption), Arjun
> Appadurai (fascist gathering), Arundhati Roy (came for reality show) in
> their argument against the stage/studio so contemptuous of the crowd. As if
> the connection between the crowd and stage is cemented. Is there no way to
> read excess, overflow, disconnect, escape in the relation of crowd to the
> stage? No fear of the Hydra headed crowd in the stage/studio?
>
> In Manesar Maruti factory the management has decided to get a "Good Conduct"
> agreement signed by each worker before they enter the factory. The conduct
> is to not engage in slow down, sit in, tampering, spanner in the wheel, etc.
> It is said that few of the workers went to the Ramila Grounds and cam back
> saying that they will sit on an "anshan". The management panicked and set up
> a 300 strong police post inside the factory. The 11 day sit in inside the
> factory in June is the background to this drastic move by the management.
>
> warmly
> jeebesh
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