So whats all this confusion about...???

Introduction

A few days back the Anna Hazare mania gripped a large section of the society which included the middle class and upper middle class, mostly the youth from the educated background. For five days people resorted to annagiri and gandhigiri. All the anger and frustration of the people that had piled up due to the prevailing corruption, bribery and kleptocracy in the society, government and corporation and the government’s inaction in tackling the menace found Hazare’s voice. Scams after scams had hit the news and the government just claimed that it was serious about fighting corruption but there was nothing on the ground to show that they really intended to do something. Adding to this our prime minister was keeping an arms distance from all of this which in turn instigated the corrupts to carry on.

How this started

Global Financial Integrity, a Washington based NGO has came out with a staggering figure that around $460 billion or about Rs. 20,85,000 crore of illegal money  from India is stacked in foreign banks. Even Julian Assange claims that the Indians have stashed more money in the Swiss Banks than any other nationality. Soon he is going to publish a list of Indian names in the Swiss bank.

You all might be aware of Hasan Ali, a Pune based businessman and alleged money launderer,   who was arrested for stashing away Rs. 36,000 crore in the UBS bank in Switzerland and was set free as the Enforcement Directorate could not produce any evidence against him and it was only after the intervention of the Supreme Court that he was rearrested.

Leading current affairs magazine Frontline believes that the Government has got the information and the necessary tools at their disposal to trace and prosecute the offenders but it does not have the political will to do so, insisting that its hands are tied by international secrecy laws. Quite unconvincing attempt from the Government's side as there are certain legal routes which the Government can take without violating any international commitments. 

Subramanyam Swami, a noted lawer and Janta Party president, also agrees with fact that the government, so far, has not shown any political will to tackle the issue of black money and corruption,claiming he has names and proofs of certain people which can ultimately bring down the UPA government.

Besides this the 2G scam, Adarsh society scam, the Commonwealth Games scam and the ISRO scam and most importantly the ‘Silence of the Sardaar’ started heating up the peoples temper. It was in all this heated up juncture Anna Hazare stepped in and the public response, not so obvious in the beginning, was enormous.

Controversies and confusions

When this movement started I too was gripped by the Hazare effect and it was quite natural as I  did not thought of all the political aspects at that time. The state assembly elections. Yes, I totally forgot about it. Nice strategy used by the Government, bring out the gazette now to appease the people, let the elections get over and then the political tamasha wil start and this is what happened,which ultimately started confusing the most of the people. Kapil Sibal’s statement, controversy over Hazare’s statement over Narendre Modi, the alleged CD controversy of Shanti Bhushan with Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh, calling the method of fasting as a black mail, the panel as being non democratic and against the parliamentary procedures i.e., inclusion of the ‘outsiders’ the panel, and calling the Lokpal Bill as a half baked idea which lacks a wider knowledge of the whole political scenario, and other important issues (which I would not be discussing in this post) like why all the other issues raised through hunger strikes were unheard by the government and unpublicised by the media.

My Opinion

Regarding the CD release my opinion is that truth should be revealed but it should never be delayed because a delay in revealing the truth can be ineffective and at times dangerous and can cause hindrance later on as can be seen in this case. Whether these allegations are true or not I don’t know but considering the time of release of the CD all I can say is, Politics is ON.

Regarding the Lokpal panel as being undemocratic and on inclusion of the representatives from the civil society, the so called ‘outsiders’, my opinion is that this is the best example of democratic process I have ever seen in India. The civilians taking part directly rather than the usual indirect way. In a ‘Government of the people, for the people and by the people’, the politicians cant stand the involvement of those who are responsible for electing them. Now there is a bit of confusion going on in the minds of many people over the definition of civil society.  A member or a representative of a civil society is he who have got no ‘present’ relation with the government. We, the ‘common’ people of India represent the civil society.

Regarding the selection of the members of the panel from the civil society it has been put forth that anyone, having a legal background and not connected with the government in the present  can come forward. The present members of the panel representing the civil society are Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal, Santosh Hegde, Shanti Bhushan and Prashant Bhushan, selected on the basis as being the initiators of this movement and the drafters of the Bill hence having the legal knowledge of the Bill.

Regarding the process not following parliamentary procedure  all I would say that this statement is quite absurd as the bill has to go through all the required parliamentary procedures and will be tabled on the in both the houses. This statement was given regarding the selection of its members which I have already explained above.

One thing which I would agree to (based on my opinion from reading the interview of Prashant Bhushan in Frontline magazine) is that this bill IS in fact a half baked idea. This movement certainly does not means that it is some sort of revolution but it is just a step towards one because this organization should be carefully built up and should have a clear political understanding of all the major issues, mainly about the corporate mafia. This Jan Lokpal Bill is in fact is only the second step to uproot corruption.The first step was the RTI Act. With the Right to Information bill it was made sure that the corrupt came to light. Second step will be the Jan Lokpal Bill. With this bill it will be ensured that the corrupt will be held accountable, investigated and prosecuted. The third step would be to create a formidable policy to tackle the corporate mafia. These are the bigger part of the problem which we need to deal with simultaneously – the policies which are creating incentives for corruption. Some of these policies are privatising of natural resources, public resources, etc., without any transparency, public auctions and the secret MoUs , the way in which A. Raja allegedly did in this 2G scam. These policies are allowing the loot of the enormous public wealth by the corporate which in turn is also shared by the public servants. These policies have created a corporate mafia which has become so powerful that it is above all authority. Prashant Bhushan in his interview with Frontline has explained how the Jan Lokpal Bill cannot tackle the corporate mafia, giving the example of the Reddy brothers in Karnataka. The Karnataka corporate mafia had the control of all the authorities and even the Karnantaka Assembly where they had bought up the legislators and even the chief minister was unable to control them. Ultimately the lokpal will be appointed by some authorities and if those authorities come under their grip then there will be a total disaster. This and decentralization of power will be next in the agenda for the discussions of the panel.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude with a statement said by Prashant Bhushan, which should not at all be taken in a negative sense as a hindrance but rather as a challenge, during his interview that, “This Lokpal...sets up an institution which can effectively choke the supply side of corruption bay taking action against corrupt officials, but such an institution will not be able to withstand the onslaught of monster corporations.” Lets hope for the best and stay firm with the resolve, while obstructing all the obstructions.

PS: Please leave your valuable comments and doubts and questions, if any. Thank You.