Arvind Kejriwal's propensity to negate greys and see everything in stark black or white

By Vistasp Hodiwala*
People who we thought should have known better have failed us. There is no other way to put this. Nothing has been so bloody disillusioning in a long, long time. My insides are churning as I write this with a sense of disquiet and disillusionment. From the time this mid-spring madness has been unleashed upon us, there is just one question which has bothered me the most: Arvind Kejriwal's absolute refusal to say a word on this episode.
Even accounting for the fact that he is hurt, his steadfast refusal to be drawn into this doesn't make sense any longer. Especially in the light of recent developments. Is that hurt going to extend all the way to seeing them off? Is that hurt bigger than the dreams and values of the party's founding principles? Can he not be the large-hearted man we have felt he always was, by coming out and finally putting a stop to these inanities? Or is the writing already on the wall and he is merely trying to keep his hands in the clear by posturing that this is just a party decision?
Even accounting for the fact that Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan may have misrepresented him in closed door meetings or with journalists, is the show of magnanimity too much to ask for from the party's tallest leader? To sit like a sphinx and not say a word amidst a whirlpool of allegations and counter-allegations is what we have credited Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi with.
How is this any different in terms of a response? It's indeed a herculean task for genuine supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party to not take a stand or sides in this crisis... and this is because of the paradox of lack of information or too much information.
At least Yadav and Bhushan have spoken a few things which make sense, made the right noises even after this debacle and shown a mood for conciliation, but I don't see a shred of that spirit of give and take from the other side and I don't mean the Sisodias and Kumar Vishwases. Aam Admi Party (AAP) lit the flame of hope in all of us because of the men we believe Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan truly are.
But one lead character is missing from the picture at the moment. All this needs is a grand gesture from Arvind Kejriwal himself. But he won't oblige, is it? And my hopes are receding with every passing day.
I also think it is too easy to make these distinctions that all the propriety rests with Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, and all Arvind Kejriwal wants to do is win the elections. If one episode can make us think like that about Arvind Kejriwal, then we have a bigger problem in the thinking that inspired us to believe in him in the first place.
This propensity to negate all the greys and see everything in stark black or white from the respective supporters has made the situation on the ground even more tougher for the average supporter who is neither close to all of them nor is blinded by their halos but just believed in the base motivation of why we needed an AAP like party to raise the level of our national polity in the first place.

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