Now that it’s almost certain that the Lokpal bill will be passed by Parliament, people are gradually realizing that sanity and not frenzy should guide the making of a good law to curb corruption. It is slowly dawning on people that it’s not a shortage of laws in the country which has given rise to so much corruption; it is the inefficiency of execution that has been the reason. To that extent, another law.....no matter how good in design.....will not automatically give corruption a kick in the butt. What we need is effective non-corruptible people; people like Anna Hazare who are willing to make sacrifices; that’s the real solution.....not just another act. Also, Anupam Kher presents us a great opportunity to prove that we are ready to apply the laws to one and all....no matter how famous or powerful they are.
But first the drafting of the bill. Now that the euphoria is ebbing a bit, newspapers are starting to feel confident about putting out little cautionary stories. It’s still too early for them to make these comments on the front page.....anyone who says anything wrong at this point could be lynched in public and the papers don’t want to appear to be on the wrong side of people. But on the inside pages, a few stories are already starting to appear. One such story in TOI today on page 2 “Emotion cant write the law” in which activist Nayana Kathpalia says “Emotion cannot write law. For instance, how can you make the Lokpal the lord of all he surveys, and vest such extreme power in one or two individuals even though the joint committee consists of eminent people. Your permission or mine was not sought for this change. We are a parliamentary democracy whose laws must fit within the constitutional framework”. Further Supreme Court advocate Meenakshi Lekhi “wonders at the wisdom of nominating certain members of the inner circle to the joint committee that will debate the Bill. Most of all, she believes India
I had expressed my anger over film stars and directors trying to grab center stage in Anna Hazare’s struggle. Farah Khan was allowed to get on stage with him during his fast. Why? Her ilk is one of the biggest beneficiaries of corruption. Remember the recent IT raids on Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif? Or take Anupam Kher’s case. The actor hogged footage on prime time TV and got taken in by the frenzied feelings prevailing on the streets and in the studios. “Throw out the constitution”, he said in one insane moment. Wow!
Anupam Kher’s case also points out why I am a little worried about real change happening in India
Mark my words. Corruption exists because of all of us people. Especially the middle-class and the well-offs. We excuse our own corruption by pointing our fingers at those who are ready targets. The politicians and the babus. Of course, they are corrupt, and how we should clean up corruption is something I have covered in yesterday’s post. But how will you tell the Anupam Kher’s of the world not to do things like they have been doing for the last 50 years or more? How will you tell the 300 million strong middleclass who have benefited from the corruption (at the cost of the poor) for so many years? When the Lokpal’s spotlight turns on them, will they support the Bill. Or did they always wanted the bill the point solely at the politicians and babus? In the initial years, the Lokpal may well direct its energies towards politicians and babus, but sooner or later, they will be forced to look at probity in civil life. How much will we support the bill then?
Anupam Kher’s is just a great opportunity for us to show which side we are on. Let’s show that we mean what we say. That he must first and foremost apologize. That he must be tried within one year and put in jail within two (if found guilty) like the Lokpal bill suggests. Let’s not protect him just because he is a famous actor. And let’s not forget.....a few good men did manage to put Shiney Ahuja in jail in spite of all his efforts to escape. Let many good men make sure Anupam Kher is not spared either. Only then can we say that we are sure about cleaning society.
The real truth is that people want the Lokpal bill only to focus on politicians and babus. “Leave us out” is there in the subtext. But Anna Hazare cannot allow this. Remember Mahatma Gandhi fought as much against the ills of our society as he did against the British. Anna Hazare must do the same now. Further, he must ensure that frenzy is not permitted in the drafting of the bill. The Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form of government and that must be protected at all costs. Parliament must be the most powerful body because it’s the only body made up of elected people who we, the common people, can punish every 5 years. I have confidence in Anna Hazare. But I am not so sure about his frenzied supporters (all of us)....
First of all: Have you read the Jan Lokpal Bill?? You said (and quoted others saying) that there are anti-corruption laws already, what is
ReplyDeletelacking is the will to implement them. While I agree with the latter part of the remark, I beg to differ with the first part. The present
anti-corruption laws are NOT suitable to tackle corruption. That is because they are all under the purview of the government, the same
one where we KNOW the corrupt people are sitting. The appointment of PJ Thomas as the CVC should be a good example of the
fallibility of the present system of tackling corruption in our country.
It is true that corruption is in every sphere of life, and yes there will always be greedy people. But here the question of "will" comes into the picture - if the corruption is entirely between/among private parties/individuals, then the present criminal laws, I think, are sufficient. If not, they should be made so.
However, without any shred of doubt, the corruption of ministers and bureaucrats, which involves corruption between/among a)public
sector elements and private parties b) different public sector elements and c) between corporates/businessmen and public sector elements, is what affects the National Exchequer and the services and in fact daily life the most.
You mentioned how the middle and upper class have made money out of the poor. You are confusing two very different concepts here -
the Lokpal and associated methods of tackling corruption deals with Governance and the class based inequality and exploitation have got
to do with CAPITALISM. They are entirely different things. I fully support getting rid of crony capitalism and living up to India's true identity - that of a socialist nation, where there should be equality of all kinds. How to bring that about and when that will happen, if at all, and to what extent if it does happen - are all matters of debate. But till that time, the ombudsman or the Lokpal, a totally INDEPENDENT body of the civilians could serve as the best possible, if not perfect, antidote to the current problem with corruption.
The "corruption" of the middle class, as in sucking money out of the poor, is INEVITABLE, if you assess the present socio-economic structure. We have to get rid of capitalism itself to change that but that discussion is beyond the scope of the present one. So the class division has been wrongly attributed by you as "corruption".
Most importantly, a large portion of the middle class live pretty simple and austere lives and just because the poor are much worse off,
ReplyDeletewhich is definitely true, we cannot lower the minimum acceptable economic standard. In other words, the market prices of commodities
are such that we cannot expect the middle class to suddenly start paying the poorer people (e.g. domestic aids) the equivalent amounts of
their own salaries. Eg: if a middle class person with a family of four and who earns 25000 a month starts giving even 5000 to the domestic aid instead of the 25000, then the middle class person would himself spiral into poverty, which is what was attempted to be abolished in the first place. So, such a system is unstable and wouldn't last at all. Of course, as I have stated before, I don't intend to come across as an apologist for the crony capitalistic and class based society, but that's how things are, whether you like it or not. But conforming merely to the ways is not corruption. For the middle class, there is really no other way. Security (keeping money for emergencies, children's education etc.) is a big factor for middle class people and I think they cannot be blamed for merely holding on to the money that they get. Even so, many of them are often immersed in an ocean of debts.
Which brings me to the Bill again: if you have read it, you will see that it says that all hearing sessions as well as the appointments of the Lokpal members will be VIDEO recorded and will be made available to the public. And please read the bill once more: see how much of
an effort has been made to make sure people with dubious backgrounds cannot become lokpal members. Transparency has been emphasized upon at every step in the bill.
While I agree that the celebs like actors, sportspersons etc. are all beneficiaries of corruption, I am pretty sure that Farah Khan was allowed on the stage so as to encourage the otherwise unenthusiastic Indian youth to come forward. This was a smart strategic move
because just a plain and simple guy like Anna despite having a proud, clean record and a long history of activism may not have helped
amass the support that was ultimately generated, without the help of people whose fans are many in number.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhy is my third comment not showing despite repeated posting?
ReplyDeleteHowever, Anna and co. did make it a point to keep out the political leaders from the scene of the protest. That showed the apolitical
ReplyDeletenature of the protest.
Finally, coming to Anupam Kher, whom you would have convicted of treason and jailed, if you could have your ways, can you kindly give
the link to a video where he is saying "Throw out the constitution"?? So far it seems to me that he had merely said that the constitution
needs to be changed and the context in which he said that was also quite apt to make the comments that he did.
Kindly see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJU54a8SIDI
Every citizen has the right (constitutional right, if you like it that way) to express his or her views on the constitution.
Finally, a large section of the middle class are FORCED to pay bribes to babus and ministers to get things done - things which should
have been done anyway.
We can always set up the laws in such a way that concentration of wealth does not occur and the really rich ones are heavily taxed. But to
monitor the government, which clearly is, like my friend said, a giant octopus with its tentacles reaching far and wide into the
anti-corruption and law enforcement bodies, an independent body like the Lokpal with its transparent mechanism needs to be in place to
check the bypassing of the same social equality-bringing laws that we would want.
Of course, if the bill is amended and the video recording and whistleblower protection and other useful provisions of the bill are done
away with, then the bill will be rendered totally useless.
Before I finish: I hope you can indeed supply the video link or proof of Anupam Kher saying that the constitution needs to be "thrown
out", otherwise I am afraid you are no different than the lying, deceiving and manipulative media whom you have said in your profile you are critical of.
can you kindly give the link to a video where he is saying "Throw out the constitution"?? So far it seems to me that he had merely said that the constitution
ReplyDeleteneeds to be changed and the context in which he said that was also quite apt to make the comments that he did.
Kindly see this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJU54a8SIDI
Every citizen has the right (constitutional right, if you like it that way) to express his or her views on the constitution.
Finally, a large section of the middle class are FORCED to pay bribes to babus and ministers to get things done - things which should have been done anyway.
ReplyDeleteWe can always set up the laws in such a way that concentration of wealth does not occur and the really rich ones are heavily taxed. But to monitor the government, which clearly is, like my friend said, a giant octopus with its tentacles reaching far and wide into the anti-corruption and law enforcement bodies, an independent body like the Lokpal with its transparent mechanism needs to be in place to check the bypassing of the same social equality-bringing laws that we would want.
Of course, if the bill is amended and the video recording and whistleblower protection and other useful provisions of the bill are done away with, then the bill will be rendered totally useless.
Before I finish: I hope you can indeed supply the video link or proof of Anupam Kher saying that the constitution needs to be "thrown out", otherwise I am afraid you are no different than the lying, deceiving and manipulative media whom you have said in your profile you are critical of.
Hey Just_4_fun: I must admit your posts are remarkably clear and articulate. Truly admire your points as well as the way you have written them. It's always good to have a diff point of view.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea why your 3rd comment is not showing....I dont edit anything at my end