Anna's worshippers are now doing what Butcher Bush did

While celebrities across the whole of India are being vocal about lending their support to Anna Hazare, Mahesh Bhatt stands out as a lone voice raising a protest.
Says Bhatt, “When I was a little boy, I used to see this advertisement of a pain killer that said that four out of five doctors recommend it. Even as a child, I had the intelligence and the instinct to question why the fifth doctor doesn’t prescribe that medicine.So, doesn’t the nation have the instinct and innocence to ask the same question in the context of this movement? Or is it wise to simply silence the person who is questioning it? I do not support Anna. But I support his right to protest peacefully. The government model is a monster and one should reject it. But I feel that the Jan Lokpal Bill is an equally big monster. It’s time the nation listens to what Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey have created and stated in the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information proposal. I would strongly urge people to examine the NCPRI model. These two people are the only ones who have given the only democratic proposal to deal with corruption.”
So, why does Bhatt have such a strong reservation against Anna’s movement? “In any democracy, the intent should be to empower people and not be a super-elite centralized power structure. I can’t be naive enough to believe that a superpower structure will uproot corruption completely and turn India into a purnabhoomi,” he says.
What’s shocked Bhatt the most is the way he has been branded because of his decision to question Anna’s movement. “Anna’s worshippers are doing what Butcher Bush did. They are following George Bush’s policy: If you are not with us, you are against us. When they have engineered the affection of a large number of people who are now seeing you as god’s warriors, I still have the right to have another point of view. They are calling Manmohan Singh and the UPA government fascists. But by tearing me to shreds because I have a different voice, they are only displaying that they too have the fascist impulse. The government never harassed me for not agreeing with its model. But look at the barbs directed at me for
having opposed Anna’s model. I’ve even been asked to leave this country and shift to Pakistan!”
What then is his personal opinion on Anna? “I don’t claim any deeper insight into his persona. I applaud Anna for bringing the issue of corruption to the forefront and I agree that people’s awakening should be channelized towards that. I like the fact that the movement has raised this nation-wide debate. But, now I am turning the mirror towards Anna himself and his warriors. If Anna calls Manmohan Singh power drunk, how about turning around and taking note of his body language and also the swashbuckling demeanour of his entire tribe?”
Who then is becoming a puppet in this whole movement? “I am shocked with this whole trend of calling anyone who questions Anna’s movement a puppet of the government or a corrupt person. I have a voice and I refuse to be threatened,” he says, before signing off by saying, “Even if I am the only man in the country questioning what 1.20 billion people are okaying, I will still believe in democracy and will always speak my mind.”