I ask all the cynics and critics of the wonderful Anna Hazare and his entire movement... WHAT PARLIAMENTARY PROVISIONS WERE VIOLATED in getting the entire keepers of parliament agree across party lines to come together and display the will to create a much-needed, strong, powerful, and effective Lokpal through the parliamentary legislative processes???? On the contrary I am of the strong opinion that the sanctity and supremacy of the parliamentary has rather been immortalized and enhanced in adhering to the very basic and cardinal principle of its existence - that the Constitution is "by the people, for the people, and of the people"! Today these words no more sound cliched! Thanks Anna for showing the way...
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Of Anna and Seshan in the anti-corruption fight!
Thank God T N Seshan is back in the game again. And I daresay thanks again to a frail 74-yr old man's fasting protest against the high-handedness of the might government of today, because of whom Seshan's legendary crusade against the corrupt ways of the Govt finally found some relevance once again today - enough to draw him out of his slumber and enter battlefield! To put it slightly crudely (with no office really meant) the least I could say is that the intensity of this movement has at least made him shake his booty and come back to where he always belonged – in the center of the action, making all politicians shake in their boots!
I admit that I am no less a (to borrow someone else’s quote) “fawning cheerleader” of Seshan as I am to Anna, even if their methods and views about the current impasse differ, with one reposing more faith in the Indian Parliament than the other. I am sure with Seshan's version of the Lokpal draft, in which he claims may exist be the seed of the "game changing" idea that Rahul Gandhi unleashed upon all of us in Parliamentary in a historic "zero-hour" statement he read out to the lower house of parliament today, will be another enthralling piece of legislative document and will have all the ingredients for a great debate in parliament! I would really be keen to hear what he has to say about institutionalizing the Lokpal in our wounded country, within the ambits of the "parliamentary democracy" he fawns about.
I have not, however, yet found a convincing answer to my question about what has been so unparliamentary about Anna's protest demanding the Govt to listen to what a huge section of the Indian society, which he articulated through his unique and effective way of protest!
Except for the fact that he is insisting and urging Parliament to take up the issue immediately and not dilly-dally, his "my way or the highway" demand, for the ignited mind, will always come across as sensible posturing for purpose of negotiations, like the trader who quotes above the selling price to leave room for negotiations and bargaining. I am not sure why his critics (all of them very very intelligent people, I'll be the first to admit) have jumped the gun in accusing him of subverting the constitutional provisions, so narrowly being interpreted by the very class of people who subvert it day in and day out!
It is evident why that Anna and the others on his team have never categorically said that they have already legislated the law and all parliament has to do is pass it. All they have rather asked for always is for parliament to adopt a motion so that it is discussed in either the parliament or the standing committee. With five versions of the Lokpal bill now (Govt, Anna, Aruna, JP, and now Seshan), the government never need to be at a loss of options and workarounds to bring forth a very powerful and effective independent, constitutional anti-corruption watchdog at both the center and state levels. If the immediate need is to adopt an intermediate Lokpal through a statutory act, the Govt has all the powers provisioned for in the constitution to repeal it when the multi-dimensional constitutional body is finally adopted through the constitutional amendment. It just needs a political will and a very very strong leadership to action it! Strange thing is that suggestions for such a body has been in the present in the corridors of the parliament for years now, but knowing the resultant effect such a body could have on the ways and means of our incorrigible political masters, nobody had even tried to attempt to articulate it and bring it to parliament. Anna's ways may not have found supporters among his critics, but no one would deny this person's complete submission to the mission on purging this country of its greatest evil, at the root of any and all other issue of whatever magnitude that has, have, or will ever befall this nation.
The "gun to the head of constitutional processes, thus desecrating or belittling supremacy of parliament" argument is such a transparent and convincing conspiracy theory resorted to by the Govt's henchmen, possibly to garner support across the political brotherhood in an attempt to administer among them the code of Omertà! What irony!
Even if Anna doesn't get what he has fasted for for the past 12 days, his very very high moral authority over the issue will lay a permanent siege on the mental state of our thick-skinned parliamentarians. That... in itself compares to what a naked Indian fakir became for a far more conscientious and principled adversary about 70 years or so ago! And this modern day's freshly minted saint (to quote another of my pet peeves, Ms Arundhati Roy) stature to my mind goes even higher when I look at the adversaries HE has stood up against today - wily, shrewd, cunning, conscience-less, CORRUPT, and most important - they can wear masks of the kind no British could ever have manufactured.
If any of us had the guts, including me and my audience here (not sure I have any though, ha ha), we would have been leading this movement against the corrupt politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers and judges of our country, the so-called 3 pillars of our democracy, instead of Anna Hazare who has risen from a distant and little known Ralegaon Sidhi, being just 7th class pass with a humble 12 years job experience as a army driver in 9th Maratha Light Infantry during the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak Wars.
The fact is that we all know what all things are incorrect around us, yet we prefer to toe the same line to our benefit and comfort and lack the courage to take the tyrant head-on. The least we can do is to join the crusader who is showing courage to bell the cat. And if a crusader was ever concerned of the negative consequences, he would never have been called a crusader; he would then have been an ordinary scum of the earth just like many of us and you, taking sides to suit our interests and comforts.
It’s high time that we start developing a backbone now else the world would begin treating us and such others like all other spineless reptiles.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Supporting Anna alienates you from friends who do not?
On a quick note, Irom Sharmila is not part of movement today (and she's unequivocally conveyed she wanted to be), as she is under house arrest initiated against her by "them". Yes, it is a pity that her cause still goes largely fought for only because it hasn't been able to garner the mass support (yet!) - possibly because her demands for repeal of AFSPA from Manipur isn't a cause that appeals to each and every section of the society and country the way Anna's movement did. (And, as an aside, just to set the records right, I have been part of my school and college alumni's organizing regular protests at various forums to highlight her fight and the cause she is fighting for.) Hopefully one day someone will come to their senses and take the right decisions...
On electing the right people, SK, wish "they" would have created a parliamentary democracy process that allowed one among "us" to stand in elections; and even if we managed to do that, let one among "us" get elected in the face of the huge election funding through the black economy resorted to by "them". I don't know if it was ever anything other than a "we" vs "they" debate in our country when it came to electoral practices. We may tom tom to the world about successfully conducting the right to exercise of franchisee for a most populous democracy, but are we as individuals really proud of what and who we can and are able to elect?? We do not bat an eyelid when for 64 years post independence the entire political establishment self-righteously postures, smug in their belief that having GOT THEMSELVES ELECTED for 5 years, they now have the "God-given rights and blessings" to loot, plunder, and soil the nation. So what's wrong in self-righteous posturing of someone lesser, supported by a rag tag coalition of supporters without the vast state resources at their command, who have summoned the courage to stand up against the entire might unleashed upon them, and yet make the "high and mighty" shake in their Italian boots and bring down them down to their steel-replaced knees?
Agreed, it is not a elitist movement, so it may not appeal to the littereti, the chatterti and the twittereti, and TV spots may show mostly the unglamorous middle class from humble backgrounds coming out in droves supporting the cause (which by the way is a miscommunication as . But isn't it them (means many of us) who are the most affected by the scale of corruption all around us? Some among us may have stayed largely protected from the daily travails of having to deal with the corrupt bureaucracy and administrative machinery, but not all of us had the privilege. Highlighting some personal experiences - I had to face demands of bribe to renew my passport and driving licence (even with every genuine documents in my possession), to get my property registered with 100% payment in white and then more to convert the property from lease hold to free hold. Because I have not capitulated, my property still lies leasehold even after 2 years of having got it registered. Even to get 100% insurance payment after my dad's operation last year, I had to part with 5% of that as payment to the govt insurance company officer, without which they were quoting God-knows what technicalities to deny payout! And these are just among a few of my own personal experiences and I am now sick and tired of these! One can imagine how much it affects the national character collectively. Those who haven't dealt with these species of humans will not understand the exasperation and despondency of it all! It was always a "us" vs "them" debate, it never was otherwise, and I guess I take personal affront if someone trivializes my sentiments in the issue!
On Arundhati Roy, I want to believe that a Booker cannot have been bought, so she definitely must be a powerful writer, and I do not deny that her psychobabble does managed to show many the path, whether right or wrong well... we can keep debating! I also agree that it gives her literary credibility high to coin fancy terms like "freshly minted saint" to describe a Anna Hazare. Not sure though that being in that state of high gives her the social and literary licence to belittle the
sentiments of millions of people who believe in the movement. Yes, Indian democracy gives her the right to write and express herself the way she wants to, and so also also to govt-spokesperson slicksticks like Manish Tiwari and Kapil Sibal, but then she is as guilty as the people she accuses today of acting like a self-styled mesiah of the underdog, basking in a self-bestowed sense of pseudosuperiority over everyone else, who fortunately or unfortunately, have a different point of view about anything. "Hum karein to chamatkar, tum karo to balatkar!??" I would not like to attribute motive to her most recent muse, but I am sure it has something to do with her failure to garner the kind of support for her espoused causes with all the elite literary might she commands that an unlettered and un-Bookered Anna has managed to do for a cause that truly and convincingly afflicts every section of the country - including the causes she wants to highlight such as Big Dams or the Naxalhealthcare... you name it! What on Earth is she babbling of!?
On Kiran Bedi's waving the flag, SK... it may've looked dramatic, or even comic, on TV. But had one been up close on the ground watching her waving the gigantic flag relentlessly and untiringly, you wouldn't believe the kind of electrifying motivating effect it had on the teeming thousands (and lakhs on Sunday last) of the unglamorous supportive crowd present there. The sight did not let the the enthusiasm and energy waver for a moment even after so many days, which the public would've tired of had the cause be of a lesser magnitude. Kiran Bedi is one of the most accomplished and upright police officials our country has ever seen. She single handedly instilled the fear of the law amongst the most corrupt of people (irrespective of their high and mighty status) wherever she had been posted to. Her successful efforts at institutionalizing prison reforms and humanitarian policing management is unparalleled even today. I am sure a little over-the-top flag waving (one may call it the one fatal flaw in her character) should not invite so much cynicism from anyone, right.. specially as she only has the flag to wave and not the batons and rifles the Govt loves to wield on unarmed and sleeping protesters in the name of protecting hapless democracy!
But having said all these, I do agree with the minority view that though Anna's cause may be of relevance, his arm-twisting methods may not have been the right approach. As the PM said, it may set a wrong precedent. Having said that, however, I can't in the world, with my very very limited knowledge and intelligence in such matters of the state, think of an alternate way which would have made a powerful govt yield to the demands of a strong legislative provision to watch over corruption in high and low places, specially as there is a huge conflict of (vested, self-serving) interest of the Honorable Members of the Parliament who are expected to pass such a legislature.
Friday, August 19, 2011
The Arrogance of the Powerful (Re-posting an excerpt)
An excerpt from a blog I came across..
By Bhudeb Das (http://in.linkedin.com/in/
By Bhudeb Das (http://in.linkedin.com/in/
Friends,
Those in power tend to believe they have a right to be there.
And anyone who questions that power - or challenges it - is an enemy of the State.
Their State.
So Mrs. Gandhi - for all her credentials as the daughter of one of India's key political family - imposed the Emergency in June 1975 and shovelled thousands into jails all across India. All this because the basis of her being in power had been successfully challenged in a court of law and she felt no need to heed the verdict of the courts.
And now we have the government putting freedom fighter Anna Hazare into jail, in anticipation of trouble. His intended crime? He wants to lead a protest march to root out corruption.
The question is not that he is corrupt - though the Congress government is probably making attempts to find something ugly from his past - but that Anna Hazare wants to fight corruption. By the creation of a Lok Pal.
The August 10th issue of the Economic Times has this comment from Congress leader Rashid Alvi:
"Nothing happens by sitting on fast at Jantar Mantar. Anna Hazare and his team should find constitutional ways to get their demands accepted," Congress leader Rashid Alvi said.
"If the legislation (Lokpal bill) is not according to their choice, instead of taking the unconstitutional way, they should make their candidates fight the next general elections, come to parliament and get their legislation," Alvi said.
Congress leader Mr. Alvi is right.
The Home Minister, P. C. Chidambaram, echoed his views. According to a report in Business Standard on August 16th on the arrest of Anna Hazare:
"Police met Anna Hazare this morning and he told them that he intended to defy the prohibitory orders. At that time, police came to a conclusion that he will commit a cognizable offence. They invoked article 107 and 151 of CrPC which calls for preventive measures," he told a press conference.
Chidambaram was replying to a volley of questions on why Delhi Police detained Hazare and his supporters even before they defied the prohibitory orders.
He said around 1,200-1,300 people have been detained across the national capital. Six members of Team Anna Hazare were also detained, he said.
Chidambaram said if Hazare and his supporters were not happy with the conditions imposed by the Delhi Police for their proposed stir they could have challenged it in a court of law.
"They are free to go to court even now," the Home Minister said.
He also ridiculed Hazare's contention that their Jan Lok Pal Bill draft has to be considered, saying, "Laws cannot be made by social activists in a maidan."
That last sentence hit me: Laws cannot be made by social activists in a maidan.
That is, indeed, very true.
Mahatma Gandhi did not set the laws of an independent India in a maidan.
Nor did Martin Luther King set the laws that gave equality to blacks in amaidan.
Nor did the women who fought for their right to vote three hundred years ago change the law in a maidan.
They began the awareness of the wrongs in a maidan.
The laws were changed in bodies built by the constitution.
This fits beautifully with Rashid Alvi's statement that Hazare should stand for election.
Chidambaram is saying make all the noise you want in a maidan, but you cannot change any laws.
Alvi is saying come meet me in Parliament and lets settle this issue there.
Very consistent. Very logical.
That is, if you are a tyrant.
Is Congress turning into an intolerant beast?
Imagine what would have happened if Mahatma Gandhi was dealing with Hitler. He would probably have been executed in 30 seconds. End of freedom struggle for a few decades.
Or if Martin Luther King was dealing with Hitler and wanted equal rights for the black race?
Well, we know what happened to the Jews who wanted to be treated as human beings.
Luckily, Mahatma Gandhi dealt with the British - who had a conscience and listened to the voices of those who had no seats in their governing councils. No seats in their Parliament.
Martin Luther King's blacks had no seats in most government bodies. But he dealt with people who could reason, who could understand the desire to improve the state of a large minority population. Hence, he succeeded.
The woman fighting for the chance to get elected had no seats in Parliament - the men sitting there had to change it. And change the rules they did.
What chance does an Anna Hazare party - with no access to corporate funding, with no ability to give gifts to win votes - have to win an election? To win enough seats in Parliament to change the laws?
An Ancient Chinese emperor, on hearing that the peasants could not afford to buy rice to eat said, "Why don't they eat meat?"
Or the great French princess who - on hearing that her subjects had no bread - said, "Why don't they eat cake?"
Over the last decades, I felt happy that the Congress was elected back into power - even though with coalition partners.
But are our political leaders - across parties - getting arrogant?
Even if 1.2 billion Indian are not present in the maidan, is there any doubt that a majority of people of India are fed up with corruption?
True, Anna Hazare's mission may start attracting media-hungry god men and film stars but that does not dilute the desire to get rid of corruption.
The fight against corruption does not stop.
The Congress has a party manifesto and a mission - but Suresh Kalmadi is a member (and in the same jail as Anna Hazare). Does that mean that the Congress Party needs to shut down? That the Party's mission or reason for existence is no longer relevant?
Dictator or Representative? Asset Gatherer or Asset Manager?
Those in power must ask themselves why they sit in those seats of power.
If they believe they represent the wishes of the people, the path they will take is clear.
If they believe they are guarding some family fiefdom or some ancestral birth right that is perpetually theirs to own, then the path will be clear - and very different.
Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and much of the Middle East is immersed in a struggle between those who want change and those who fight to retain some ancestral god-bestowed right to rule.
And anyone who questions that power - or challenges it - is an enemy of the State.
Their State.
So Mrs. Gandhi - for all her credentials as the daughter of one of India's key political family - imposed the Emergency in June 1975 and shovelled thousands into jails all across India. All this because the basis of her being in power had been successfully challenged in a court of law and she felt no need to heed the verdict of the courts.
And now we have the government putting freedom fighter Anna Hazare into jail, in anticipation of trouble. His intended crime? He wants to lead a protest march to root out corruption.
The question is not that he is corrupt - though the Congress government is probably making attempts to find something ugly from his past - but that Anna Hazare wants to fight corruption. By the creation of a Lok Pal.
The August 10th issue of the Economic Times has this comment from Congress leader Rashid Alvi:
"Nothing happens by sitting on fast at Jantar Mantar. Anna Hazare and his team should find constitutional ways to get their demands accepted," Congress leader Rashid Alvi said.
"If the legislation (Lokpal bill) is not according to their choice, instead of taking the unconstitutional way, they should make their candidates fight the next general elections, come to parliament and get their legislation," Alvi said.
Congress leader Mr. Alvi is right.
The Home Minister, P. C. Chidambaram, echoed his views. According to a report in Business Standard on August 16th on the arrest of Anna Hazare:
"Police met Anna Hazare this morning and he told them that he intended to defy the prohibitory orders. At that time, police came to a conclusion that he will commit a cognizable offence. They invoked article 107 and 151 of CrPC which calls for preventive measures," he told a press conference.
Chidambaram was replying to a volley of questions on why Delhi Police detained Hazare and his supporters even before they defied the prohibitory orders.
He said around 1,200-1,300 people have been detained across the national capital. Six members of Team Anna Hazare were also detained, he said.
Chidambaram said if Hazare and his supporters were not happy with the conditions imposed by the Delhi Police for their proposed stir they could have challenged it in a court of law.
"They are free to go to court even now," the Home Minister said.
He also ridiculed Hazare's contention that their Jan Lok Pal Bill draft has to be considered, saying, "Laws cannot be made by social activists in a maidan."
That last sentence hit me: Laws cannot be made by social activists in a maidan.
That is, indeed, very true.
Mahatma Gandhi did not set the laws of an independent India in a maidan.
Nor did Martin Luther King set the laws that gave equality to blacks in amaidan.
Nor did the women who fought for their right to vote three hundred years ago change the law in a maidan.
They began the awareness of the wrongs in a maidan.
The laws were changed in bodies built by the constitution.
This fits beautifully with Rashid Alvi's statement that Hazare should stand for election.
Chidambaram is saying make all the noise you want in a maidan, but you cannot change any laws.
Alvi is saying come meet me in Parliament and lets settle this issue there.
Very consistent. Very logical.
That is, if you are a tyrant.
Is Congress turning into an intolerant beast?
Imagine what would have happened if Mahatma Gandhi was dealing with Hitler. He would probably have been executed in 30 seconds. End of freedom struggle for a few decades.
Or if Martin Luther King was dealing with Hitler and wanted equal rights for the black race?
Well, we know what happened to the Jews who wanted to be treated as human beings.
Luckily, Mahatma Gandhi dealt with the British - who had a conscience and listened to the voices of those who had no seats in their governing councils. No seats in their Parliament.
Martin Luther King's blacks had no seats in most government bodies. But he dealt with people who could reason, who could understand the desire to improve the state of a large minority population. Hence, he succeeded.
The woman fighting for the chance to get elected had no seats in Parliament - the men sitting there had to change it. And change the rules they did.
What chance does an Anna Hazare party - with no access to corporate funding, with no ability to give gifts to win votes - have to win an election? To win enough seats in Parliament to change the laws?
An Ancient Chinese emperor, on hearing that the peasants could not afford to buy rice to eat said, "Why don't they eat meat?"
Or the great French princess who - on hearing that her subjects had no bread - said, "Why don't they eat cake?"
Over the last decades, I felt happy that the Congress was elected back into power - even though with coalition partners.
But are our political leaders - across parties - getting arrogant?
Even if 1.2 billion Indian are not present in the maidan, is there any doubt that a majority of people of India are fed up with corruption?
True, Anna Hazare's mission may start attracting media-hungry god men and film stars but that does not dilute the desire to get rid of corruption.
The fight against corruption does not stop.
The Congress has a party manifesto and a mission - but Suresh Kalmadi is a member (and in the same jail as Anna Hazare). Does that mean that the Congress Party needs to shut down? That the Party's mission or reason for existence is no longer relevant?
Dictator or Representative? Asset Gatherer or Asset Manager?
Those in power must ask themselves why they sit in those seats of power.
If they believe they represent the wishes of the people, the path they will take is clear.
If they believe they are guarding some family fiefdom or some ancestral birth right that is perpetually theirs to own, then the path will be clear - and very different.
Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and much of the Middle East is immersed in a struggle between those who want change and those who fight to retain some ancestral god-bestowed right to rule.
(In the context of my industry:
And we have that same dictatorial attitude in the mutual fund industry where every fund house out there is more focused on how much money they collect from investors rather than what good they actually do for their investors.
They are a brand name, they are large - what they do must be right.
And must never be questioned.
They have an asset management licence, but they are in the business of asset gathering.
And if any Chairman of SEBI changes the rules of the maidan that they play in, they will lobby for his removal. Like they probably did with Mr. Bhave.)
We all know the truths that we must fight for. We all know the outcomes of a corrupt society - after all, we live in one ! Sitting in a maidan may not be a fun thing to do whether you are Anna Hazare or C. B. Bhave, but freedom from corruption and equality are wonderful things to fight for.
Count me in.
In Defence of the Anna Hazare led anti-corruption movement
There is today a growing confusion in what is being attempted to be achieved through this anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare today, specially because of the technicalities of the argument against the anti-corruption campaign that has spread across this country like a wildfire.
These technicalities uses words like "parliamentary democracy, supremacy of parliament, sole prerogative of the parliament, constitutional provisions for legislation, extra-constitutional/extra-parliamentary bodies, celebrity activism, kangaroo courts, dictatorship..." Both govt and non-govt spokesmen (state and non-state actors to quote a neighboring country) have unleashed the most malicious propaganda against the "civil society represtatives" invoking all the machinery (CBI, IT, CVC, what not) at their command to discredit these people. So much so that it is now being bandied that the entire political establishment (irrespective of their mask of support for Anna's movement - mainly for political mileage), are actually secretly conniving to trash the Jan Lok Pal Bill once it is tabled in parliament (as they claim supremacy of prerogative to pass a bill and make a law). TV reports also speak of a govt plan to retreat to fight another day - read remove Anna from the field later on to allow the movement run its course, lose steam, and
fizzle out.
And isn't it a simple reason to understand why? Because it is their ilk, their fraternity, who are going to the most affected and exposed, if a body with powers as that envisaged for the Lok Pal, comes into being.
The argument being made is there is no need to have another supervisory body. The fear being propagated is that that this body (or individuals that head it) would acquire demonic proportions and become dictators by dint of the powers vested upon them, and as a result per misguided/misinformation disseminating blogs such as http://mohamediqbalp.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/top-12-reasons-why-anna-hazare-is-wrong-and-lok-pal-a-bad-idea/, being quoted by myopic people, this body would need a super Lok Pal body to regulate it, and this super Lok Pal would in turn need a hyper Lok Pal to regulate it.. and so on and so forth. I agree with some of the contentions in this post, yes... like the need to liberalize and make for economic systems and economics, that reduce the opportunities of corruption, but I am skeptical of many other contentions made by the author and selectively quoted by others). I simply fail to understand why, in these apprehensive situations, these same people propose ways to build provisions into the original Lok Pal to take care of any such personality-driven, individualistic misadventure? Self-regulating mechanism is not hard to build in, it only needs one to rise above individual aspirations and submit oneself to the cause (The same way Ambedkar must have done decades ago, while drafting the constitution). Not only it is ridiculous to trash the creation/formation of a regulatory body with powers to address corruption because of these fears, it is also fraught with inherent danger to repose so much faith in the existing, but totally and unrevokably failed, institutions of democracy today.
Parliament and the constitution is not sacrosant. What Ambedkar proposed in the 40's was under a different set of circumstances and a different set of threats. He, together with all the architects of the nation, must already be turning in their graves, by the twist the cunning, unconscientious, unscrupulous, unprincipled, self-serving, divisive, and corrupt political establishment (with connivance of sections of the bureaucracy and judiciary) has given to what they had envisaged. Ambedkar, with all the visionary attributes he had, must never had imagined that the constitution he and his team so painstakingly drafted, would itself become the refuge for these set of criminal elements to be ideologically twisted to suit their most nefarious schemes and designs to unrepentently loot the nation. It's exactly like how the priests and keepers of religions world over have divisively re-interpreted the divine texts to conveniently suit their desire to hold sway and power over people.
An MMS or Kapil Sibal, or Manish Tiwari may shout out from the rooftops about they being the custodian of a failed institution. They may even have gained armchair supporters of this trend of thought, smugly optimistic about the faith they have reposed in these set of goons, who call themselves parliamentians - most of whom have got themselves elected due to a corruption-laden election process (mostly through election funding processes of the unscrupulous kind)! I reiterate my assertions that there is a very very thin line between optimism and foolishness, and the earlier people self realize and self actualize, the better it would be for them to accept the inevitable. We, at the other end, have nothing to lose... if nothing changes, we still go on living our lives in the corruption-prone environment we have gotten used to, maybe even live with the smirk of these people with their "I-told-you-so" expressions. But, if some change indeed happens as a result of this movement, I would be very sad at the unpalatable taste it will leave in such people's mouth!
Yes, we the people are responsible of electing them to the high-pedestal of democracy, the parliament, but it has been largely due to the fact that we don't have better alternatives. The intellectual and the honorable community mostly keep away from the election process because they have neither the guile, cunning, clout, and the black money to sway the largely gullible and illiterate voters. So we keep on electing the same set of goons, who keep exploiting the nation under the garb of what they think is their God-gifted right to Rule (read Rule, not govern or serve - as the constitution actually prescribes) over the population.
Even in its current form, the constitution provides for the voice of the people to consider in drafting legislature, specially it is when they are the most affected. Elections once in five year IS NOT a god-given divine right to Rule and Loot. The constitution says that elected representatives are to serve the people who elects them, not the other way round. The writing is on the wall... the current movement is the reassertion of the will of the people to reclaim some of their constitutional rights. It is not only foolish not to seize this moment, it is also criminal to let this opportunity pass!
My question is... if we have to amputate a gangrened arm or leg the existence of which threatens the entire body, why can't we at least find a way to repair the provisions of the constitution that has over the years begun to malfunction and been taken advantage of blatantly... and repeatedly? We have enough years of experience as a mature nation for a few good men with "IMPECCABLE INTEGRITY" (without being cynical about it), to find the loopholes been exploited over the years by these dirty politicians and come out with momentous modifications to the legistative draft. On the question of who could be these people with impeccable integrity? Why, it could be you (if you consider yourself one), or me, or Anna and team, or T N Seshan, or J Lyndoh, or APJ Abdul Kalam, or Narayan Murthy, or even some members of the current parliament (if there are any members left with conscience)... Anybody who is willing to partake and participate, of course under the guidance of constitutional experts, could be part of this process. Very recently, countries like Iceland and Ukraine have gone about and adopted re-drafted constitutions, because the earlier ones had run their course and desperately needed to be rehauled! Why can't our nation show maturity and undertake that exercise too?
The Jan Lok Pal Bill is in no way perfect, I concede. But it's definitely a huge step ahead in tackling corruption in this country, and definitely many steps ahead of what the Government proposes as a Jokepal. It is neither a knee-jerk reaction as many people contends, nor just an ambitious aspirations of a rag-tag coalition of members of the civil society. It is not only naïve, but also ignorance, one the part of anyone who considers the idea of an overarching anti-corruption body as a knee-jerk reaction to today’s environment of graft. To quote a prominent parliamentarian, “In the annals of the Indian Parliament, no Bill has had a more chequered history than the Lokpal Bill”. The first Jan Lokpal bill was introduced (and also passed, if you so know) in the Loksabha as early as 1969! It could not but get through the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005, and in 2008, yet they were never passed!! 42 years after its first introduction, the Lokpal bill is still pending in India… Each time, after the bill was introduced to the house, it was referred to some committee for improvements (a joint committee of parliament, or a departmental standing committee of the Home Ministry) and before governments could take a final stand on the issue, the house got dissolved (sic!). How many more years do we have to be patient and trusting of the established institutions to address this issue of bringing an anti-corruption body to watch over (mostly) their misdeeds?! In the global corruption perception index published in 2010 by Transparency International, India languishes at #87, and even if we allow for a 5% error quotient in the methodology of the study, I (and millions of other Indians like me) DO NOT relish being there. It is no place to be for a country known (I think “touted” is the better word today) to have one of the strongest moral fabrics and foundations in our historical, cultural, and social legacies in this world. Nor are we willing to wait patiently and endlessly for the existing lot of “elected representatives (thus legitimate goons)” alone to bring about a change in the public administration of this country. Yes, we are despondent… 1966 till now is a long time for this nation to have waited for an effective and meaningful Lokpal Bill to be passed. Our elected representatives started working on it before I was born, and I am afraid, they will still be working on it, till after I am dead, patiently having waited for them to do something!
When it comes to the question of the quantum of powers to be reposed in this body, it is imperative that it is empowered enough to drive in the scare of the law among those who knowingly commits graft. It is left to nobody’s imagination that today the entire buck of corruption in all spheres of lives today stops at the desk of the administrative and political body administering that domain. It is naïve to consider that political and administrative machinery will be paralyzed and work will stop for fear of admonishment by a powerful anti-corruption body. It is no less falling prey to the machinations of those who commit graft to agree to the argument that (political, administrative, or business) rivals will take advantage of this body to ensure no work gets done. What we possibly forget while we indulge in this intellectual auto-eroticism is that we were playing right into the hands of the political forces which have kept this bill at bay for 45 years, and will leave no stone unturned to keep this as such for the next 45. The psycho-babble emanating from various quarters seems to have mauled our collective senses, making us little realize that when a debate gets sucked into the vortex of some serious egoistical chest-thumping and intellectual self-projection, it just about sounds the death knell on any position other than a status quo – exactly as desired by the current regime in governance.
Agreeing to these charges only reinforces the fact that we, the citizens of this country, have accepted corruption as the only way to get work done. Yes, I agree that a Lokpal may not root out all everything corrupt – practices along with their perpetrators – but does NOT having one solve the problem?
What I don’t understand is continual reference to failed states such as Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, and their ilk (most of which do not have any history with a parliamentary democratic form of governance) when we discuss the possible fallouts of implementing a Lokpal system as an institution. Why don’t we talk about the successful implementation of the Lokpal system (ombudsperson, as they are called there) in the Scandinavian countries, which has played a very effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing? These countries make a clear distinction between the individual and the chair the individual occupies. Whilst the chair is granted constitutional immunity and protection against any motivated campaign against it, the individual occupying it is not! The individual is as accountable and answerable to the ombudsperson for charges of graft as is any other member of the polity. The ombudsperson institution has an inbuilt check-and-balance system of identifying and bringing to book any frivolous or malicious attempts to wrongfully discredit an officer of the government. Exoneration by the ombudsperson from charges of graft automatically reinstates the individuals (with their dignity intact) to the chair they had been removed from to defend themselves in the court of the ombudsperson.
Yes, I agree that the functioning of this body cannot be allowed to paralyze the functioning of established (some of which are no less than failed) institutions, most notably of that of the office of the Prime Minister and The Chief Justice of India, the contentious two offices in today’s debate. So fine, go ahead and identify those extraordinary situations – those concerning national security, breakdown of law and order, etc. – in which the Lokpal will not have jurisdiction. You cannot NOT have a strong Lokpal because of that argument! To make a far-fetched idiom relevant, elephant dung may not be the answer to elephantiasis, but it doesn’t mean you leave elephantiasis untreated for never-ending time and wait for gangrene to set in and ripen the infected part for amputation.
Nothing may come out of this movement, but I will rest in peace knowing I tried to change what I have been cribbing about day in and day out, and will continue to have to do so for God knows how many more years. I will at least not have my conscience to deal with by attempting to dissuade my sphere of influence with cock-and-bull assertions of malafide recourse to misguided ideological discussions.
These technicalities uses words like "parliamentary democracy, supremacy of parliament, sole prerogative of the parliament, constitutional provisions for legislation, extra-constitutional/extra-parliamentary bodies, celebrity activism, kangaroo courts, dictatorship..." Both govt and non-govt spokesmen (state and non-state actors to quote a neighboring country) have unleashed the most malicious propaganda against the "civil society represtatives" invoking all the machinery (CBI, IT, CVC, what not) at their command to discredit these people. So much so that it is now being bandied that the entire political establishment (irrespective of their mask of support for Anna's movement - mainly for political mileage), are actually secretly conniving to trash the Jan Lok Pal Bill once it is tabled in parliament (as they claim supremacy of prerogative to pass a bill and make a law). TV reports also speak of a govt plan to retreat to fight another day - read remove Anna from the field later on to allow the movement run its course, lose steam, and
fizzle out.
And isn't it a simple reason to understand why? Because it is their ilk, their fraternity, who are going to the most affected and exposed, if a body with powers as that envisaged for the Lok Pal, comes into being.
The argument being made is there is no need to have another supervisory body. The fear being propagated is that that this body (or individuals that head it) would acquire demonic proportions and become dictators by dint of the powers vested upon them, and as a result per misguided/misinformation disseminating blogs such as http://mohamediqbalp.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/top-12-reasons-why-anna-hazare-is-wrong-and-lok-pal-a-bad-idea/, being quoted by myopic people, this body would need a super Lok Pal body to regulate it, and this super Lok Pal would in turn need a hyper Lok Pal to regulate it.. and so on and so forth. I agree with some of the contentions in this post, yes... like the need to liberalize and make for economic systems and economics, that reduce the opportunities of corruption, but I am skeptical of many other contentions made by the author and selectively quoted by others). I simply fail to understand why, in these apprehensive situations, these same people propose ways to build provisions into the original Lok Pal to take care of any such personality-driven, individualistic misadventure? Self-regulating mechanism is not hard to build in, it only needs one to rise above individual aspirations and submit oneself to the cause (The same way Ambedkar must have done decades ago, while drafting the constitution). Not only it is ridiculous to trash the creation/formation of a regulatory body with powers to address corruption because of these fears, it is also fraught with inherent danger to repose so much faith in the existing, but totally and unrevokably failed, institutions of democracy today.
Parliament and the constitution is not sacrosant. What Ambedkar proposed in the 40's was under a different set of circumstances and a different set of threats. He, together with all the architects of the nation, must already be turning in their graves, by the twist the cunning, unconscientious, unscrupulous, unprincipled, self-serving, divisive, and corrupt political establishment (with connivance of sections of the bureaucracy and judiciary) has given to what they had envisaged. Ambedkar, with all the visionary attributes he had, must never had imagined that the constitution he and his team so painstakingly drafted, would itself become the refuge for these set of criminal elements to be ideologically twisted to suit their most nefarious schemes and designs to unrepentently loot the nation. It's exactly like how the priests and keepers of religions world over have divisively re-interpreted the divine texts to conveniently suit their desire to hold sway and power over people.
An MMS or Kapil Sibal, or Manish Tiwari may shout out from the rooftops about they being the custodian of a failed institution. They may even have gained armchair supporters of this trend of thought, smugly optimistic about the faith they have reposed in these set of goons, who call themselves parliamentians - most of whom have got themselves elected due to a corruption-laden election process (mostly through election funding processes of the unscrupulous kind)! I reiterate my assertions that there is a very very thin line between optimism and foolishness, and the earlier people self realize and self actualize, the better it would be for them to accept the inevitable. We, at the other end, have nothing to lose... if nothing changes, we still go on living our lives in the corruption-prone environment we have gotten used to, maybe even live with the smirk of these people with their "I-told-you-so" expressions. But, if some change indeed happens as a result of this movement, I would be very sad at the unpalatable taste it will leave in such people's mouth!
Yes, we the people are responsible of electing them to the high-pedestal of democracy, the parliament, but it has been largely due to the fact that we don't have better alternatives. The intellectual and the honorable community mostly keep away from the election process because they have neither the guile, cunning, clout, and the black money to sway the largely gullible and illiterate voters. So we keep on electing the same set of goons, who keep exploiting the nation under the garb of what they think is their God-gifted right to Rule (read Rule, not govern or serve - as the constitution actually prescribes) over the population.
Even in its current form, the constitution provides for the voice of the people to consider in drafting legislature, specially it is when they are the most affected. Elections once in five year IS NOT a god-given divine right to Rule and Loot. The constitution says that elected representatives are to serve the people who elects them, not the other way round. The writing is on the wall... the current movement is the reassertion of the will of the people to reclaim some of their constitutional rights. It is not only foolish not to seize this moment, it is also criminal to let this opportunity pass!
My question is... if we have to amputate a gangrened arm or leg the existence of which threatens the entire body, why can't we at least find a way to repair the provisions of the constitution that has over the years begun to malfunction and been taken advantage of blatantly... and repeatedly? We have enough years of experience as a mature nation for a few good men with "IMPECCABLE INTEGRITY" (without being cynical about it), to find the loopholes been exploited over the years by these dirty politicians and come out with momentous modifications to the legistative draft. On the question of who could be these people with impeccable integrity? Why, it could be you (if you consider yourself one), or me, or Anna and team, or T N Seshan, or J Lyndoh, or APJ Abdul Kalam, or Narayan Murthy, or even some members of the current parliament (if there are any members left with conscience)... Anybody who is willing to partake and participate, of course under the guidance of constitutional experts, could be part of this process. Very recently, countries like Iceland and Ukraine have gone about and adopted re-drafted constitutions, because the earlier ones had run their course and desperately needed to be rehauled! Why can't our nation show maturity and undertake that exercise too?
The Jan Lok Pal Bill is in no way perfect, I concede. But it's definitely a huge step ahead in tackling corruption in this country, and definitely many steps ahead of what the Government proposes as a Jokepal. It is neither a knee-jerk reaction as many people contends, nor just an ambitious aspirations of a rag-tag coalition of members of the civil society. It is not only naïve, but also ignorance, one the part of anyone who considers the idea of an overarching anti-corruption body as a knee-jerk reaction to today’s environment of graft. To quote a prominent parliamentarian, “In the annals of the Indian Parliament, no Bill has had a more chequered history than the Lokpal Bill”. The first Jan Lokpal bill was introduced (and also passed, if you so know) in the Loksabha as early as 1969! It could not but get through the Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005, and in 2008, yet they were never passed!! 42 years after its first introduction, the Lokpal bill is still pending in India… Each time, after the bill was introduced to the house, it was referred to some committee for improvements (a joint committee of parliament, or a departmental standing committee of the Home Ministry) and before governments could take a final stand on the issue, the house got dissolved (sic!). How many more years do we have to be patient and trusting of the established institutions to address this issue of bringing an anti-corruption body to watch over (mostly) their misdeeds?! In the global corruption perception index published in 2010 by Transparency International, India languishes at #87, and even if we allow for a 5% error quotient in the methodology of the study, I (and millions of other Indians like me) DO NOT relish being there. It is no place to be for a country known (I think “touted” is the better word today) to have one of the strongest moral fabrics and foundations in our historical, cultural, and social legacies in this world. Nor are we willing to wait patiently and endlessly for the existing lot of “elected representatives (thus legitimate goons)” alone to bring about a change in the public administration of this country. Yes, we are despondent… 1966 till now is a long time for this nation to have waited for an effective and meaningful Lokpal Bill to be passed. Our elected representatives started working on it before I was born, and I am afraid, they will still be working on it, till after I am dead, patiently having waited for them to do something!
When it comes to the question of the quantum of powers to be reposed in this body, it is imperative that it is empowered enough to drive in the scare of the law among those who knowingly commits graft. It is left to nobody’s imagination that today the entire buck of corruption in all spheres of lives today stops at the desk of the administrative and political body administering that domain. It is naïve to consider that political and administrative machinery will be paralyzed and work will stop for fear of admonishment by a powerful anti-corruption body. It is no less falling prey to the machinations of those who commit graft to agree to the argument that (political, administrative, or business) rivals will take advantage of this body to ensure no work gets done. What we possibly forget while we indulge in this intellectual auto-eroticism is that we were playing right into the hands of the political forces which have kept this bill at bay for 45 years, and will leave no stone unturned to keep this as such for the next 45. The psycho-babble emanating from various quarters seems to have mauled our collective senses, making us little realize that when a debate gets sucked into the vortex of some serious egoistical chest-thumping and intellectual self-projection, it just about sounds the death knell on any position other than a status quo – exactly as desired by the current regime in governance.
Agreeing to these charges only reinforces the fact that we, the citizens of this country, have accepted corruption as the only way to get work done. Yes, I agree that a Lokpal may not root out all everything corrupt – practices along with their perpetrators – but does NOT having one solve the problem?
What I don’t understand is continual reference to failed states such as Pakistan, Libya, Egypt, and their ilk (most of which do not have any history with a parliamentary democratic form of governance) when we discuss the possible fallouts of implementing a Lokpal system as an institution. Why don’t we talk about the successful implementation of the Lokpal system (ombudsperson, as they are called there) in the Scandinavian countries, which has played a very effective role in checking corruption and wrong-doing? These countries make a clear distinction between the individual and the chair the individual occupies. Whilst the chair is granted constitutional immunity and protection against any motivated campaign against it, the individual occupying it is not! The individual is as accountable and answerable to the ombudsperson for charges of graft as is any other member of the polity. The ombudsperson institution has an inbuilt check-and-balance system of identifying and bringing to book any frivolous or malicious attempts to wrongfully discredit an officer of the government. Exoneration by the ombudsperson from charges of graft automatically reinstates the individuals (with their dignity intact) to the chair they had been removed from to defend themselves in the court of the ombudsperson.
Yes, I agree that the functioning of this body cannot be allowed to paralyze the functioning of established (some of which are no less than failed) institutions, most notably of that of the office of the Prime Minister and The Chief Justice of India, the contentious two offices in today’s debate. So fine, go ahead and identify those extraordinary situations – those concerning national security, breakdown of law and order, etc. – in which the Lokpal will not have jurisdiction. You cannot NOT have a strong Lokpal because of that argument! To make a far-fetched idiom relevant, elephant dung may not be the answer to elephantiasis, but it doesn’t mean you leave elephantiasis untreated for never-ending time and wait for gangrene to set in and ripen the infected part for amputation.
Nothing may come out of this movement, but I will rest in peace knowing I tried to change what I have been cribbing about day in and day out, and will continue to have to do so for God knows how many more years. I will at least not have my conscience to deal with by attempting to dissuade my sphere of influence with cock-and-bull assertions of malafide recourse to misguided ideological discussions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)