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December 2011

Team Anna — Even flawed crusaders can win

By Raman Jokhakar, Mukesh Trivedi
Hon. Jt. Secretaries
Reading Time 2 mins
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The image of Team Anna has taken a beating. Some very un-Gandhian behaviour has been unmasked on the part of Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and the Bhushans. But while politicians in the Congress and other parties may laugh their heads off, they must not imagine for a minute that public anger over corruption has diminished one whit. This anger was catalysed and channelled brilliantly by Anna Hazare, but has a force that greatly transcends his Jan Lokpal demand. It will not end with allegations of sleaze. Whether or not Team Hazare makes amends to the public remains to be seen. They will be subject to jeers and sniggers for a long time. Yet, this should not be mistaken for a scam that will end their anti-corruption campaign. Whatever they have done pales into insignificance compared with the thousands of crores being made by politicians.

 It would be nice to have squeaky-clean crusaders. But even flawed ones will do. If Jayalalithaa, with her dreadful record, can be viewed by voters as a means to oust the corrupt DMK, then clearly, India is fertile territory even for flawed crusaders. The key issue is not the purity of Team Hazare, but the impurity of politicians. We need institutional change to penalise law-breakers. The Lokpal Bill is no more than a start. We must overhaul the whole police-judicial system to make India a land with justice.

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