 "Anna Hazare as Time Person of the Year?")
“Social crusader Anna Hazare is going places. He is soon expected to figure on the cover of the prestigious Time magazine, an aide said here (Ralegan Siddhi) on Saturday. Saturday morning, a team of Time photographers came and clicked Hazare from different angles at the Yadavbaba Temple complex where he lives,” reported The Times of India. The photo shoot happened in late November, barely a month before their big issue, the Time Person of the Year. “Time’s Person of the Year is bestowed by the editors on the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year,”
says the magazine
. Is Anna Hazare in the running for the ’title’? If so, he is in for some stiff competition from a number of people, events and movements who can push Anna off the cover. Some contenders include: The Arab Spring: On 14 January, the Tunisian government fell, with their President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali escaping to Saudi Arabia after 23 years in power. The Tunisian uprising gave rise to the ‘Arab Spring’. Tahrir Square: On 11 February, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resigned after Tunisia-like protests erupted, calling for him to go. The phrase ‘Tahrir Square’ has since become an international byword for popular protest. Fukushima: On 11 March, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit the east of Japan, killing over 15,000 and leaving another 4,000 missing. In addition to the loss of lives, the big story was the near catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear plant. [caption id=“attachment_142274” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Is Anna Hazare in the running for the ’title’? Reuters”]
[/caption] The Royal Wedding: On 19 April, more than two billion people watched the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge to Catherine Middleton in London. Bye bye, Bin Laden: On 1 May, US President Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden, the founder and leader of Al Qaeda, was killed during an American military operation in Pakistan. iSad: Steve Jobs died on 5 October. Do his considerable achievements at Apple make him a shoo-in for the arc lights? Libya: 20 October saw Muammar Gaddafi being killed in his hometown, Sirte, after 42 years in power. It is the end of an era. There are others in the running, including the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi, the first artificial organ transplant, News of The World scandal, and Occupy Wall Street, to name the significant ones. What chance does Anna Hazare have in this mix? As a starting point, let us question whether he has achieved anything at all. In a country that has a shameful reputation for dishonesty – as represented by corruption – Hazare’s principles and thoughts on corruption made him the cynosure of all eyes. The fact that he managed to bring corruption to the centre-stage, and has forced the political classes to commit to tabling and passing a strong anti-corruption bill, are significant achievements. The anti-corruption measure does not just impact India and Indians – it has a direct bearing on all the countries and companies who conduct, and want to conduct, business in India. Is the movement led by Hazare one that citizens in other countries will look at closely – and want to emulate, if successful? Considering that the Occupy movement, the eurozone crisis, the Arab Spring movements are largely tied to unhappiness with corrupt leaders or greedy capitalism and the inability of politicians to fight the machinations of big business, there is plenty of reason to believe that Anna Hazare’s idea can travel globally. The earthquake, tsunami and the Fukushima 50 tell a sad story, and unless Time sees this event as a trigger for the world to rethink nuclear energy, it’s not a story that travels. The Royal wedding is a feel-good story, but that’s all it is. The death of bin Laden has not done anything to make the world safer. The impact of Gaddafi’s death is being speculated, but there are no clear answers on where the story is headed. That leaves us with the Arab Spring movements, which, while having succeeded in removing unpopular leaders, have not, as yet, made life better for the common citizen. However, the overthrow of unpopular, autocratic leaders in a number of countries at the same time has certainly changed the face of the region forever. As a result, Arab Spring is a strong contender. Then there’s the death of Steve Jobs, who changed the way consumers, globally, see computers, the Internet and the mobile phone. … and Anna Hazare.
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.