Time Person of the Year: Anna doesn't win, The Protester does

If you were expecting Anna Hazare to be named the Time Person of the Year, then you were wrong. In one of their unique announcements, Time’s choice for its Person of the Year is ‘The Protester’. “There was a lot of consensus among our people. It felt right.” Rick Stengel told the TODAY anchors as he revealed the magazine’s cover. Time chooses its Person of the Year keeping in mind the impact a person, group or a thing has on the world, and it could be for the better or for the worse. [caption id=“attachment_156347” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Revolts in Africa and the Middle East spread like wildfire as dictators toppled. Reuters”]  [/caption] The protests, it seems, have worked for the best in most cases. The last 84 years have seen groups or concepts like The American fighting-man, American scientists, Baby boomers and the Whistleblowers announced as the person of the year. 1982 even saw The Computer win it. 2011 saw a host of protests breaking out across the world, most notably in Africa with Libya and Egypt successfully upstaging their rulers and also in Syria which saw them suspended from the Arab League. Even India saw a revolt led by Anna Hazare against corruption and for the Lokpal Bill, an issue which is still being debated in Parliament. It is still to be seen whether Anna won or not, but the common protester who made the government bow down to his demands has seen recognition with the title of Person of the Year, even though it is not considered as an accolade. Also in the running as 2011 nominees were late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Rep Gabrielle Giffords and the SEAL Team 6, who killed the world’s most wanted man- Osama bin Laden, during an operation in Pakistan. Their leader Admiral William H McRaven though, came in the second spot. Newly crowned Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton came in at number five. “Gabrielle Giffords is in the magazine and Steve Jobs is in the beginning of our farewell section. Admiral McRaven captured bin Laden, and the Duchess of Windsor captured our hearts,” Stengel commented. The Protester also fits for the people who petitioned for the release of Ai Wei Wei, the Chinese artist who helped in the designing of the Beijing National Stadium for the previous Olympics and who was repeatedly questioned by Chinese authorities last summer. With mass movements against tyrannical dictators, untrustworthy leaders and the Occupy movement in America, the image of the Protester has been captured in great essence in 2011 and is a fitting tribute to their actions. “There’s this contagion of protest, these people who risked their lives… I think it is changing the world for the better,” said Stengel.