Anna found this out the hard way when the fight against corruption in Mumbai clashed with an all important cricket match. That is all it takes. Kejriwal is finding it out now, as each successive effort to do an expose sees media covering more reactions than the expose itself - originally, they covered him, his people extensively, then did own investigations and brought up more data, etc. Witness the Vadra expose. Fast forward to the open letter to Ambani.
The government makes a point of stabbing protests in the back. Be it Kudankulam, be it Kashmir. Be it the Janlkpal Andolan or the rubbish ordinance following after Delhi Gang Rape protests. You confront, govt ducks and weaves. You take a breath, and kaboom.
Protests will not achieve anything.
What we need is clearly defined battles.
Also, fighting corruption is going to take subverting it and destabilizing its foundations. If we can get the corrupt on the back foot and looking over their shoulder for traps, that is the largest part of the battle. If we can get small but concrete victories to serve as precedents, that will be definite progress.
This cannot happen with declaration of war and meeting head on. We cannot fight organized power and come ut victorious. All we can achieve is putting a dent in already dented reputations.
We need to act quiet and precise and very, very specific. In the sense of replacing "I will end corruption Raj" with "how can I make this one illegal builder's life miserable? How can I teach people that associating with him in any way will rain unwelcome scrutiny?" or "Hw can I subvert this one undesirable process? In how many ways? How can I get people to treat t like the plague?" Then, as resources allow, add causes or people.
That doesn't take too many people.
Vidyut
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