Every year, there is a handful of luminaries or dark horses who grace the forefront with either actions or words that set them apart from the rest of the landscape. These newsmakers gain equal parts attention and notoriety, sometimes unwillingly and other times otherwise, but they define the year that is to be and more often than not shadow the rest of the wannabes - such is their staying power while new names crop up every year, some of them continue to make news year after year after year. Here are 2011's top newsmakers.
1. Anna Hazare
2. Mamata Banerjee
3. ‘Amma’ Jayalalithaa
4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
5. B S Yeddyurappa
6. Lal Kishanchand Advani
7. Kiran Bedi
8. Osama bin Laden
9. Sushil Kumar
10. Honourable Mention: Irom ‘The Iron Lady’
1. Anna Hazare
The face behind the Lokpal movement, Kisan Baburao better known as Anna Hazare is considered by many netas and babus as their biggest nemesis and a hindrance to their aspirations. His crusade against corruption has grabbed headlines all over and inspired the common Indian to demand for a Jan Lokpal Bill that would hold politicians accountable for their actions.
Even though his growing popularity surprised many, Anna Hazare has been a social activist for over two decades, relentlessly working towards social and political reforms in the country.
Born in 1937, Anna Hazare joined the army in 1963 and it was during one of his visits to his village of Ralegaon Siddhi that forced him to retire from the army and to dedicate his life to rooting out problems that the villagers were facing.
His biography says Anna Hazare accidently came across a book by Swami Vivekananda and as he began to read it he realised that the ultimate motive of human life should be service to humanity and thus he decided to devote his life to public service.
Always seen in white, Anna Hazare lives in a single room within the village temple compound.
This Gandhian hails the Lokpal movement as India's second freedom struggle. Leading a frugal life with integrity and honesty, overnight he has become a role model for India's middle class.
Anna has resorted to many hunger strikes to make his demands heard, a fact that doesn't augur well with his critics as they have labelled him a blackmailer and an armchair fascist.
2. Mamata Banerjee
The 34-year-old regime of the Left front finally crumbled to a feisty Mamata Banerjee, making her the first woman chief minister of West Bengal when her party won the assembly elections this year.
Mamata clad in a white sari and rubber slippers managed to do what many in Bengal thought was undoable till a few years back. Her angry denunciations of the Left administration made her an instant hit with the struggling Bengali. She systematically mounted protests against forced land acquisitions in the state by the then Left-ruled government.
During her short stint as the union railway minister she showered Bengal with railway projects which in turn gave Bengalis a glimpse of what she can do for their state if given a chance.
In 2011, Mamata gifted new trains and several new projects to six districts in north Bengal and didn’t let it go unnoticed by adding, "Railways have invested more funds in the six districts than the State has done for development of north Bengal". A smart move any time of the year.
'Didi', or elder sister as she is fondly called, strategised her campaign against the Communists in a manner that depicts the political scenario of India today. She stands against all that is wrong in Bengal- from wrongful land acquisitions, bad infrastructure to corruption and stagnation in the state's economy- she has gone to the aam junta with these issues and promised to make things right.
Moreover, what has appealed to the voters this time is Mamata’s humble background and her will to succeed and to put Bengal on the world map, just like it was back in the 19th century.
(skipped to the tenth in the list)
10. Honourable Mention: Irom ‘The Iron Lady’
Even though she doesn't strictly fulfil the newsmaker category, this iron-willed lady of Manipur has waged a long and lonely battle against an apathetic government the only way she can. Thanks to Anna Hazare's fast, Irom received some media attention this year, starved that she was of it for the last 11 years.
Irom Sharmila Chanu has been fasting for 11 years to seek the removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA from her state, Manipur. She has the grit to try and persuade the government to repeal a law that empowers the security forces to arrest without a warrant, and shoot anyone at sight.
Dubbed as the Iron Lady of Manipur, Irom began her fast in 2000 after she witnessed the killing of 10 people by Assam Rifles jawans at a bus stop. For the past 10 years, she has not eaten a single morsel, resulting in her being force-fed by a tube through her nose.
Irom hopes one day the Indian government will recognise her and her fight against human rights violations in the north east. She has also urged Anna Hazare to visit Manipur and see what is happening there.
Although she has won international awards, Irom's cause has never managed to strike a chord with the otherwise vocal middle class. Very few know or care about what is happening in Manipur, and how people in the state are being constantly bullied by the armed forces.
Irom's heroic protest and her voice for a better homeland are still being ignored. Next time you attend a candlelight vigil, say a silent prayer and light a candle for this extraordinary woman.
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