One could look at what Anna Hazare has achieved from his recent protests in an emotional, sentimental way; ‘the ‘What will happen to this nation but for people like Anna?’ way. One could also look at the whole thing clinically, in order to learn something. Here’s looking at this episode to derive some valuable PR lessons.
1. Personal credibility to power your words
Anna has that quintessential Gandhian credibility when such tags have long been forgotten, despite being only seven when India got freedom in 1947 and not having been part of India freedom struggle in any way. That perhaps is all the more interesting considering he has gained his Gandhian credibility by following the Gandhian principles in life, along with profound influences from others like Vinobha Bhave and Swami Vivekananda. There may be very few people in India who could claim such Gandhian credibility and Anna being one of them significantly helps his current protest. People and mainstream media seem to believe him more due to his well-preserved personal credibility.
2. Specificity of demands
Anna and his supporters were not demanding a broad range of anti-corruption measures. They had a specific demand – passing the Jan Lokpal bill, that has been evaded by successive governments for over 40+ years. This is considerably better than seeking the removal of a government or the removal of specific people within the government machinery. Those are demands that are bound to segregate people based on which side they may be. Seeking the passing of a bill (in this case, Jan Lokpal) was projected as a process that will aid fighting corruption in the long-run and such specificity helps people trust and believe they are supporting the right path.
3. Venue
Jantar Mantar. This is a PR masterstroke. If the revolution has to be televised, you need an impactful venue and backdrop to make it watchable on television. What better venue than Jantar Mantar, in the nation’s capital? India Gate or the Gateway of India could have helped too, in just in case you are wondering.
4. Timing
India won the Cricket World Cup 2011 on April 2, 2011. Mainstream media, understandably, was basking in the euphoria right from 2nd night onwards. Anna announced his ‘fast unto death’ on April 5, 2011, after the weekend and giving another day (Monday) for media to get over their initial sense of euphoria. The timing couldn’t have been better. Anna also announced the end of his fast minutes before the first IPL match was to start; news started trickling at that point that he would end his fast the next day. The timing, again, couldn’t have been better.
5. The tools used
Anna Hazare’s was not a social media powered movement – let us not be under any such pretensions. A more powerful tool used to gather visible numbers was perhaps the missed-call powered phone number where people could notionally register. Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools only amplified the feeling among those who were connected online. That there were people to set these tools up and manage them perhaps demonstrates the amount of planning that went into this protest, more than what people believed it to be a spontaneous, impulsive protest against corruption.
Now, for a few personal observations beyond PR.
There is nothing wrong in carefully crafting a protest if the demand is justified and impacts a majority of people. Irom Sharmila has been staging a protest for over a decade and the Government hasn’t accepted her demands yet, but Anna’s 5 day protest gets a Government nod. The broader Indian appeal of the demand and the fact that it was stage-managed expertly along with a plethora of TV-friendly spokespersons could perhaps be the reason.
But again, despite the broader appeal of the demand and the number and kind of people supporting the movement, there are no vocal questions yet on invoking Section 309 of India Penal Code (punishment for an unsuccessful attempt to suicide) on Anna Hazare, something that is invoked on Irom Sharmila once every year, like an annual ritual. The kind of broad support Anna’s demand received from citizens and the intense media gaze on the protest may have something to do with this.
It may become a PR nightmare for the Government if they invoke Section 309 on Anna Hazare particularly since some key states are facing elections right now. That’s a PR win for the Government in terms of sheer timing; the latest news that the Government is all for passing the bill ‘if the opposition supports it’ is another. The opposition will only end up winning the ire of the people supporting the bill and Anna if they oppose the bill being passed when it is tabled and the current Government would seem pro-bill.
The final point is on the method of protest that was clarified as not being a ‘blackmail’ by Anna Hazare but still seems obviously like a blackmail. Clearly, we (the people) are looking at the end purpose of this protest and not the mode adopted. As feared by many people already, this does set a dangerous precedent, but unless the cause has this broad an appeal and impact, I’m sure the Government would gladly invoke Section 309 on whoever else is planning any such blackmail-based protest. But, the selective nature of using the law by the Government is a significantly more worrying precedent.
Anna Hazare photo courtesy Reuters.