Why we need dreamers?

I have huge problems with those who say that the Lokapal Bill, however strong, cannot rid the country of corruption.

There could be two reasons for this pessimism. First, these people are practical, have seen life, know well the way our government and society work. They know only too well the enormous capacity and ingenuity of the Indian mind to improvise, to find ways to beat the system by discovering new loop holes in it. They, therefore, are somewhat justified in dismissing the Lokpal Bill as yet another law that will sooner than later become ineffective.

Second, then there are those who perhaps do not want corruption to be removed completely. As Shri Arun Shouri had said over two decades ago, “Every Indian wants corruption to end, but only after he or she had got his son/daughter admitted into a Medical College, only after his promotion/transfer or whatever was through. Such of our fellow citizens who really believe that it would soon be business as usual might be in for a shock. Some, no doubt, would try to wiggle their way out of laws and regulations but I strongly believe that if a truly deterrent law is brought on the statute and the Lokpal is indeed successful in expeditiously acting against corrupt individuals it is not too much to hope that corruption would be a thing of the past. The younger generation thinks it is cool to be honest and that is a huge catalyst. There are after all a few countries where corruption is almost non-existent. Why can India not join their ranks?

Here we must also acknowledge the role of the bribe giver. If we refuse to give bribe, lodge a complaint, and genuinely do not try to ‘jump the queue’ then it should be possible to eradicate corruption and weed out corrupt individuals. There is thus a huge responsibility on us ordinary citizens too. This would require immense patience because rail reservation queues, for example, will not diminish soon nor would all the touts. Ration Cards, Passports, Driving Licenses, Pollution Under Control certificates and a whole host of other ‘permits’ will need time and all of us will have to learn to patiently wait for the process to be over.

When we doubt the efficacy of the proposed bill we are in fact betraying a kind of disbelief in our own capacity to shun corrupt ways. It is exactly like beating an old habit or addiction. Only the fear of punishment might help us get rid of our addiction which in any case is more out of impatience than a genuine impulse to break the law.

Another Appeal to Dear Anna

Respected Annasaheb,

I have been a great admirer of your work for over twenty years. Last night, I was greatly pained to see you on TV. You do not look well. We the citizens of India are worried about your health.

You and your team have rendered yeomen service by bringing the corruption issue to public consciousness. I believe, it is now very difficult if not impossible for the government to ignore public anger. I am sure the Hon. PM will address all our concerns without standing on procedures and formalities.

Former Chief Justice of India Shri JS Verma has written an open letter to Hon. PM urging him to break the impasse. Many other eminent and well meaning citizens of India also feel concerned about your health.

In view of the above and the grand success of the movement, I request you to please discontinue your fast. I am sure millions of Indians want you to remain fighting fit to lead them in this noble endeavour. We do not want you to take ill. With warm regards, affectionately, Ramesh Phadke

Do'nt Waste Time

We Indians are known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We are always late in taking decisions. Our government seems to have now woken up but the pace and scope of conversations with Team Anna to resolve the impasse are too slow and tentative.

What young Chetan Bhagat said was really cool. The youth of India thinks, 'Its cool to be honest'. What a great and inspiring thing to hear. We oldies who thought it was not cool to be honest are suddenly in fashion.

The usual suspects have again shown their true colors. The Shahi Imam of Delhi has told Muslims to stay away from the movement. Not many will listen to him this time.

Some have spoken of their reservations. They are suddenly shedding tears for our democracy and worse law makers. Oh yes, that reminds me the great FM, the trouble shooter for all seasons has said, "The civil society people are behaving like legislators!!!" What a faux pas. Is he paying a compliment to Team Anna or criticizing his own kind?

Nanadan Nilekani who had little or no contact with any government functionaries until he was made in charge of the UID project a little over a year ago, says he finds politicians are good, smart and wise. See how quickly association changes our thinking. "Sangat' as our parents told us continues to be important.

Lord Meghnad Desai's suggestion that like the British parliamentarians, our MPs should sit nonstop for 60 hrs and debate the bills and pass the law is great but would anyone listen to him?

Some known and highly respected individuals have also disappointed us. They say they are against corruption but do not like Anna 'blackmailing' the government. Fast unto death to them has suddenly become blackmail. We now know whom to trust and who will stand by us, the people, when the chips are down.

Fali Nariman, that doyen of our judiciary was great when he reminded us that the Constitution begins with, 'We the people' so whats wrong in people telling the lawmakers that they are extremely unhappy. Is participative democracy such a bad thing?

The young Arvind Kejariwal asked the most pertinent question. "Has any MP or MLA ever bothered to ask anyone what he or she wanted or expected of the MP or the government?" Has the government ever made a policy in consultation with the people? Rotting grain, crumbling infrastructure, potholed roads, scam ridden schemes like NREGA and JNNRUM Rural Health etc. clearly prove how every law, scheme or legislation is designed to make rent seeking easier. Peaceful protests outside MP's houses is a great idea.

Action not Surprises

The government spokesperson Shri Singhvi has said that the Standing Committee may yet surprise everyone. What could such a cryptic comment mean? Is it simply to defuse the current empasse? People want action not surprises.

The Lokpal Bill Movement is at a very crucial stage. A 74 year old Gandhian is on indefinite fast and there is no time to waste. A quick overview of comments made by some wise persons as also the gist of the interview that Shri Prashant Bhushan and Shri Arvind Kejariwal gave to STAR News Hindi at 4PM to 4:45PM on Sunday clearly shows that if the government wants to sincerely resolve the issue it will have to withdraw the old toothless bill and introduce the Jan Lokpal Bill draft and agree to have a debate in the parliament. For obvious reasons many parties might not like to discuss/debate the bill in public but they must be compelled to make a public commitment that they are indeed against corruption and truly want to punish the corrupt. Put your money where your mouth is.

Merely depending on the Standing Committee may not work. Some very prominent and knowledgeable commentators have often argued against handing over Cabinet responsibility to the so-called GOMs or Groups of Ministers who invariably play the role of delaying decisions instead of expediting them. The general public is understandably wary and even suspects government 'bona fide'.

As brought out in the interview, the government must agree to sincerely work towards passing an effective bill. As Shri Anna Hazare has already indicated, he has many other issues on his agenda such as electoral reforms, right to recall, laws governing land acquisition and the like. If we do not move forward on the Lokpal Bill it is very likely that the general public would view government attitude as unhelpful or worse anti people. Surely, no one wants that outcome. It is imperative that the government acts now if it really wants to address people's grievances.

Govt Explanation

The press conference by the Mr Chidambaram, Ms Soni and Kapil Sibbal appeared to be a belated attempt to engage in 'legalese'. Being eminent lawyers, they could glibly explain their way out of the current predicament; or say they thought. They may be legally right but the whole question is political. Why cannot the government forward the Anna version of the Bill also to the standing committee of the parliament? The main sticking point is that although there is agreement on 34 of the 40 points or principles, the six points rejected by the govt are the ones that totally dilute the provisions of the bill. Yes others may have an opinion but surely no one would like to bring a 'toothless' Lokpal Bill. Let the parliament reject or modify 'Team Anna' suggestions. What is wrong in bringing senior bureaucrats, ministers, the PM and even the judiciary under the Lokpal? Let it be debated in parliament and rejected through a democratic process. Why is the govt pre-empting the outcome? Do not forget; the people are fed up of corruption and also the namby-pamby ways in which successive govts have handled cases of corruptions. I would request the Home Minister and Shri Sibbal to give the people of India just one simple answer. They know that most (not all) MPs and MLAs declare their assets before contesting an election. We have noticed and the govt can check this that in most cases when we compare the figures over five/ten years, there is a huge increase in their assets in just five years. What is this magic formula by which an MP or an MLA leave aside ministers make so much money when he/she is supposedly busy serving the people of the country? Will the PM like to try answering that? Will you share this magic formula with the Aam Adami? Why when the US and many other European governments have managed to get all details of moneys stashed in Swiss banks, it is only the Indian govt that finds it so difficult and gives lame excuses such as absence of bilateral treaties? I think the govt and many other well informed people have completely under-estimated the extent and scope of people's anger on this issue. If they do not find some effective ways to address people's grievances, our society could face very serious difficulties and our democratic system might come under threat.

Who is afraid of Anna Hazare?

Unlike numerous other protests that we see in India, the one spearheaded by Anna is not merely raising a regional issue like Gujjar, Telangana, Amarnath Yatra land allotment or even Bhatta Parsole land dispute or Adarsh in Mumbai but one on widespread corruption that has found resonance across the country and across all classes which means that it threatens the status quo and questions the legitimacy of our governing classes. No doubt the UPA has been democratically elected and has every right to continue to rule the country so long as it enjoys a majority in parliament. What the civil society activists are asking is to include their version of the Lokpal Bill for consideration of the parliamentary select committee. Why is the government scared of including it even for consideration is not understood unless it thinks that its mere inclusion would raise uncomfortable issues that will shake the very foundations of our democracy. The simple question is: What does an average citizen do if she or he is unhappy with the way the government is addressing her/his legitimate grievances? How can the government insist that all those who want to protest must first become members of the parliament? Does this mean that an average citizen cannot raise his or her voice against the ruling coalition? Yes, tomorrow, the UPA may arrest all these people for breaking the law but would that resolve the issue? The judiciary will in all probability strike down the government ruling and the civil society activists would once again be free to start their agitation. Would some one explain?

A Lost Cause?

When Shri Anna Hazareji began his fast unto death on the 5th some thoughts began to nag me. First, I thought all these candle carrying middle-class urban protesters would disperse sooner than later without achieving very much as happened in the aftermath of the tragic 26/11 attack. Second, I thought the government might not give in because it knew that those protesting did not belong to the well nurtured and protected vote banks. Third, I knew that many English speaking intellectuals or bleeding hearts for our revered parliamentary democracy would cry foul and repeat the same old mantra; ' If you want to change the system, fight and win an election, sit in the Lok Sabha and do what you have to. Fourth, many would suddenly remember that the Jan Lok Pal would become a tyrant and nothing would move as civil servants and politicians/ministers would be frightened into administrative paralysis to take any decision lest an invetigation was launched against them. But perhaps because of the turmoil in the Arab world and daily news reports of how even dictatorial regimes found it difficult to use force to quell such demonstrations and more so because of the elections to the state assemblies in five states, the Central Government decided to give in on the fourth day but not without first making noises about the supremacy of the parliament and the constitution. Some young columnists have also writen in the same vein but I know that they dont remember how Mrs Gandhi trreated all these pillars of democracy in June 1975 because they were still in primary school. The reason why a person like Anna took this unprecedented step at this time is simple. He had learnt after a quarter century long struggle that without arm-twisting the politician, nothing would change. Like Hon. Shri Sibbal has said, nothing may still change. Who would come to the help of the common man or the now famous ' Aam Aadmi' if the Neta felt powerless because of the Lok Pal? The fact is that the middle class, which is totally and comprehensively marginalised and in fact disempowered, cannot do anything to change the system simply because our electoral system is so beautifully managed and manipulated that even if all of them voted en masse, they still cannot dent the system of buying votes to prevent which even the CEC wants more stringent laws but is powerless as leaders promise TVs, money and mobile phones. A friend of mine who has just returned from Tamil Nadu which is in the midst of election fever, told me, "Now the electricity is switched at 10 PM sharp and within minutes unknown and unrecognised persons knock on the doors of rural voters and offer them Rs. 2000 or more to vote for their candidates but no one can prove anything as no one can recognise them. Whenever they want to enhance their pay and allowances or MPLADS funds all our honourable representatives of the people forget ideological and party differences and vote to ensure smooth passage of the bill. Nurturing their vote banks they never fail to support ever increasing quotas in reservations, say nothing about the Jat, Gujjar, Telangana Khap and numerous other such violent protests that are ignited by those in power. They dont care if public property is lost or damaged or public is inconvenienced, all in the name of democracy. They dont lose sleep when precious grain wrots in our FCI godowns and ordinary people buy Dals at Rs. 100 per kilo. They also forget to ratify the UN anti graft resolution for six years, do not sign the necessary protocols and treaties to get details of the money stashed abroad from foreign governments, downplay the losses of 2G scam, blatantly brush off CWG and Prasar Bharati hera pheri and still want the average, educated Indian to have faith in their brand of democracy. Sir, they forget that democracy is not merely holding periodic elections but ensuring the rule of law. Even though not one corrupt leader is in jail they continue to repeat that the 'Law would take its own course', unashamedly call upon the support of an MP in a jail to win a no-confidence vote, openly admit that Rajya Sabha nominations and elected seats are purchased and don't bat an eyelid while declaring a ten to hundred fold increase in their assets every five years and when the Supreme Court asks that this be investigated they simply stonewall the issue. And yet the guardians of this sham democracy do not want a veteran social worker who has no personal axe to grind with any of them to fast unto death because that is coercion, anti constitution, against the hallowed canons of parliamentary democracy. Why dont the common ignorant people understand? Why dont they permit the knowledgeable, well meaning democratically elected leaders to run the country for the collective good of the people??