Anna ended his fast and the government as well as the whole country heaved a sigh of relief. He has done a great service to the nation by creating awareness amongst various sections of the society and initiating them in demonstrating common man’s disgust for corruption. The issue of an effective institution of Lokpal was pending for over 40 years. It has now assumed importance and urgency due to Anna Hazare. It will be difficult for the government and the politicians to ignore the issue and delay the process any further. The Mumbai police have not yet been successful in identifying the terrorist groups responsible for the latest bomb attacks. They are still groping in the dark. The blame game by the politicians to score brownie points has begun. The nation salutes Anna. At the same time, some thoughts do come to mind and these need consideration. The government utterly failed to understand the mood of the people. The law Minister Salman Khurshid sarcastically said “it appears that everybody, except the elected representatives of the people, is voicing the opinion of the people”.
He was unwittingly speaking the truth. The Lokpal Bill introduced in the Parliament is just not up to the expectations and aspirations of the people. It does not represent the people’s will. The government tried to shield itself behind procedures and by raising the issue of supremacy of the Parliament. The government, while refusing to consider any draft other than the one presented by it, overlooked the fact that National Advisory Council, chaired by the President of the Indian National Congress, Sonia Gandhi, as part of its mission gives policy and legislative inputs to the government.
It also failed to realise that when the elected representatives do not understand, appreciate and articulate views of the population that they represent, a movement like the one started by Anna Hazare takes birth. The spokesmen of the ruling party made things worse by making wild allegations and unreasonable arguments. Eminent lawyer politicians of the ruling party were incapable of convincing the people and finally, due to Anna’s resilience and overwhelming support of the people to him, had to eat a humble pie. The opposition parties also failed the people of the country by avoiding to express their position. The lame excuse was they will do so when the bill is discussed in the Parliament. It was only when the situation reached where it did that the political parties were forced to take a view. Both, the government and the opposition need to work harder to regain the confidence of the citizens of this country. While we blame the politicians, one must not hesitate to complement them where they deserve. Some of the speeches in the Parliament in the recent debate on the Lokpal issue were brilliant and appeared to be coming from heart. Some of the parliamentarians are extraordinary thinkers and if they rise above party lines and have the interests of the country upper most on their agenda, they can be instrumental in the progress of this country. In a democracy each one has a right to protest, lobby and articulate his views.
The pluralistic nature of our society makes it even more necessary that we have an open mind towards views of others. It was disheartening to see Nikhil Dey a social activist in his own right and a close associate of Aruna Roy being branded as a traitor because he expressed a different view. It would be dangerous if a group insisted that only its views are acceptable, however well-intentioned that group may be. People supported the anti-corruption movement rather than the Jan Lokpal Bill per se. Nobody doubts the good intentions of the Civil Society but the proposition that only the Bill drafted by them is acceptable and should be passed by the Parliament does not appeal. We hope that Team Anna realises this. Now that the government has agreed to consider various drafts of the Lokpal Bill, it is essential that various groups consider all the drafts, engage in a healthy debate and convey the views to the select committee which will be considering the Lokpal Bill. Aruna Roy and National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) have made very good suggestions for fighting corruption.
It includes set of set of measures (including having a Lokpal) to be collectively and simultaneously adopted. These appears more practical and realistic. Let us hope that the country will have an effective institution of Lokpal soon. It is also true that merely having the institution of Lokpal will not eradicate corruption. One must look at the causes of corruption. There are many. Greed, shortages of resources, lack of transparency in decision-making, discretionary powers, lack of accountability and acceptance by the people that corruption is the way of life have all contributed to corruption spreading everywhere, not only in the government but also in corporate world. We also require a change in our attitude. We need to resist corruption in all situations.
Let us hope and strive to make India lose the distinction of being one of the most corrupt countries.
Sanjeev Pandit
Editor
