Adarniya Annaji,
The whole nation salutes you for bringing the issue of Corruption to centre stage. I join that growing chorus. I also admire your personal austerity. However, Annaji (big brother) your chhotebhai (small brother) is confused about some issues, hence this query.
Whenever somebody questions me, I first ascertain who the person is. In like manner, lest you question my credentials, let me first present them to you.
I am a Gandhian activist living in Kanpur. When you went on fast on 5th April, I was the convenor of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Andolan, which gathered together 40 organisations and 1000 people for the day long fast and rally. I do not belong to any political party. In 1990, as National President of the All India Catholic Union, I fasted for 7 days in New Delhi, for peace in Kashmir, Punjab, Ayodhya etc. So I understand the power of the fast. Last year I went to jail for 6 days because I refused to bribe the cops and the judiciary. Even in jail, I suffered because I declined to pay for “services” available. Presently I am facing a big Income Tax demand, which would have been “settled” if I had agreed to cough up Rs 50,000/-. So I understand corruption, and with you, seek its amelioration. I trust that you will now regard me as an honest questioner and a concerned citizen. Here are my questions:
1. You have been hailed as a modern Gandhi. Gandhiji insisted that the ends do not justify the means. He suspended the freedom struggle when violence broke out at Chaurichaura. Do you subscribe to this tenet of Gandhism?
2. Did Gandhiji drink water during his fasts, like you did? Were any oral rehydrants added to the water in the steel tumbler that was not transparent?
3. Were your supporters inspired by Gandhiji (who is usually derided by the educated middle class), or by Munnabhai’s style of Gandhigiri, which was more of emotional blackmail and coercion?
4. Your initial demand was for the Jan Lokpal Bill (JLB) to be passed in Parliament before 30th August. Was this not coercion and blackmail?
5. You wanted the Prime Minister, Judiciary and Parliamentary conduct under the JLB. You then watered down your demands to State Lokayuktas, the lower bureaucracy and a parliamentary resolution. All you got was a “sense of the house” and an assurance. None of your demands were conceded. Then why did you call off your fast? Had the Govt called your bluff, necessitating a face saving withdrawal? Were you afraid to die for the cause?
6. Your knowledge of law, the Constitution and parliamentary proceedings is limited. The same cannot be said of your core team members. Why then did they push you and the nation to the brink, knowing full well that their demands were untenable? Was this brinkmanship or showmanship?
7. Kejriwal and Bedi were jockeying for the post of Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). Now they are crying “sour grapes” that the CIC etc are toothless tigers!
8. Other bodies like the CEC, CAG, Supreme Court, CBI etc are doing a fairly good job. Why belittle all else, and project your JLB as the panacea for all evils?
9. Why was the Central Govt alone the target of your ire against corruption? Were you blind to Karnataka and U.P.? Does IAC stand for “India Against Corruption”, or “Individuals Allergic to Congress”?
10. The 2G Telecom scam, in which the CAG alleged a loss of several thousand crore rupees, was one of the launching pads for your team. The present Telecom Minister tried to say that Telecom is part of infrastructure, and not for profiteering. That is why telecom in India is so cheap. Your campaign used telecom and SMS to the hilt. It has saved itself crores of rupees. In Kanpur, during your 12-day fast, telecom companies generated revenue of Rupees Sixty Crores through SMS’s, largely due to your campaign! Maybe you actually have something to thank A Raja for!
11. Why didn’t Kejriwal and Bedi, your strategic and dancing colleagues, fast with you? Were they prepared to make a sacrificial lamb of you?
12. The BJP vociferously supported you on the streets, but made a volte-face in Parliament. Did the BJP suddenly realise that your increasing popularity would eat into their vote bank- the educated middle class?
13. Why were the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, OBCs, rural folk and the urban poor conspicuously absent from your campaign? Do they not feel safe in your hands? Are farmers happy enough with the support programmes of the Central Govt? Do the poor find that the very politicians (public representatives), that you constantly denigrate, are actually the ones that assist them against an obdurate bureaucracy?
14. Baba Ramdev, who is your supporter, had pronounced that hoarders of black money should be hanged. But after Rupees Four Hundred Crores of unaccounted money was found in Sai Baba’s personal chamber, both you and Ramdev were ominously silent! Is corruption selective?
15. Acharya Vinobha Bhave had said, “Think globally, act locally”. The local (microcosm) is so often a reflection of the larger (macro) picture. So I have some localised questions as well, that are no less relevant.
16. Here in Kanpur, lawyers, court clerks (peshkars) and doctors, amongst others, came out in your support. Could these groups collectively say that they don’t indulge in corrupt practices?
17. Several wagons of grey goods were confiscated at the railway station. None of your supporters, including traders, spoke out against blatant tax evasion. Why?
18. A woman was found naked and delirious on the road. Two Municipal Corporators and I got her admitted to Mother Teresa’s home. I asked some of your supporters for help. They declined. So who are the real servants of the people – your protesters, or the much maligned “public representatives”?
19. You asked your supporters to gherao the residences of MPs. Our MP is Sriprakash Jaiswal, the Union Minister of Coal. He has made Coal India the most valuable company in India. He has been re-elected thrice, because of his development works and clean image. Yet your supporters, including those who till recently sang the Minister’s praises, thought nothing of gheraoing his residence, even when he was not there. It reminds me of Shakespeare’s words “ Blow, blow thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind, as man’s ingratitude”. Why coal tar all with the same brush (pun intended)?
So Annaji, while appreciating your campaign against corruption (?) I regret that I cannot join you until you answer my questions.
1st September 2011
