The message is more important than the messenger.

At a time when the entire country was getting very agitated and frustrated about the financial scams in the country as well as the issue of money stashed in foreign banks by Indian politicians and the issue of corruption becoming a topic of national debate, certain vested interests were very successful in almost deflecting the issue and making it a debate on Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev.

Anna Hazare said that "The government is drunk with power and corruption...it is for the people to make it sober". Mr Hazare and activists who have joined forces with him hope that the Jan Lokpal Bill will serve as the antidote to systematic and governmental corruption. The bill which would only do good for the country is facing a lot of road bumps created by the Congress party. Anna Hazare and his supporters got so frustrated with the process that they gave an ultimatum to the Government that if the bill is not passed by August 15, they would have no choice but to go on fast unto death.

Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev today broke his indefinite fast at Uttarakhand's Himalayan hospital after 196 hours. Baba Ramdev had started his fast-unto-death on June 4 at New Delhi's Ramlila ground demanding central government's specific actions to bring back the black money stashed abroad.

Whatever their background is and I do not want to get into the details of it, there is no doubt in the minds of all Indians that the issues raised by both resonate with all of us. The modus operandi of them to achieve their goals and objectives might be up for a debate but the goals and objectives in itself is not in question at all. The Congress machinery was obviously given the green signal by the high command and Pranab Mukherjee, Kabil Sibal, Digvijay Singh and others went ballistic and called these two people...who were raising the most important issue of corruption in India...all kinds of derogatory names.

I do not know that what is the agenda of the Congress party in opposing them, but by doing so, they have definitely planted the seed of suspicion in the minds of the Indian public. There is a very strong belief that if the names of Indians having foreign bank accounts are revealed, the Congress party would crumble like a house of cards. How can the Congress party oppose the populist movement against corruption? They have to realize that 2014 is not that far away when all the political parties would have to face the voters. India has more than 50% of its population below the age of 25 and more than 65% hovers below the age of 35. It is expected that, in 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 years. This segment of the population have no fancy for the name Gandhi, Advani and others and the only thing which really matters to them is good governance and deliverance.

It is imperative for all political parties to grab the bull of corruption by its horn and do things which the Indian public wants them to do. We have a lot of people in our society whose level of education and talent is not in sync with their desires. If they have the capacity to make Rs.1,000 and the desire to make Rs.10,000, they have no other choice but to please other important people and use them as a ladder to move up. It is for the important people to be very careful and wary of these kind of people. A lot of times, these kind of people make the important people more corrupt. All the political parties have the moral responsibility to deal with the issue of corruption. They can defame the messenger (Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and others) but the issue of corruption would be very toxic in the minds of the Indian people. They can defame the messenger but the message would be very much alive and kicking. The success of the efforts of Team Anna and Team Ramdev is imperative for the success of India. If these efforts fail, India fails.

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