published by Financial Times. June 10 2011. 

When a saffron-robed yoga guru landed in Delhi clutching a list of demands to clean up corruption, he was received with a fanfare that would be the envy of any visiting head of state. Even for a multimillionaire holy man, it was quite a welcome. Yet only a few days later, Swami Ramdev was forced to flee the Indian capital disguised in a woman’s white salwar kameez to his ashram in the holy city of Haridwar. His 100,000 strong followers were dispersed by police brandishing sticks and firing teargas into their vast tented “yoga camp”.

If ever there was a story that went to the unruly heart of modern India, this is it. The turn of events has reminded the leaders of the fastest growing large economy after China of the timeless power of the Hindu ascetic to create turmoil in the world’s largest democracy. Just as Mahatma Gandhi infuriated British viceroys with fasts and marches, he has tied New Delhi in knots with a hunger strike, and left it, like earlier rulers, struggling for a response.

Usually feted for tolerance, India has invited comparisons with China and its hardline responses to protests. The speedy resort to force has highlighted the vulnerability of a listless state to social protest, READ MORE….