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
Showing posts with label jan lokpal bill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jan lokpal bill. Show all posts
Friday, 2 September 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
THE MUCK STARTS HERE
There is a popular TV programme named after the old adage “The Buck Stops Here”. It literally means, “Who is ultimately responsible?” It is usually asked in a pejorative sense, for somebody shirking responsibility, or for apportioning blame. Now that Anna Hazare has made his Jan Lokpal Bill (JLB) a life and death issue, it would seem that the buck stops at the doorstep of the Central Govt. The Govt has since taken the plunge and accepted Anna’s main demands.
Anna has captured the collective mood of the nation, with people going ballistic in supporting his anti-corruption campaign, which was launched in New Delhi this 5th April. I myself, as convenor of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Andolan in Kanpur, gathered together about 40 diverse social, civic and religious groups for a day long silent fast and a 1000 strong rally in his support on the 5th. It spawned a chain reaction of spontaneous protests, signature campaigns and candle light marches.
After the candle light vigil at India Gate, New Delhi, demanding justice in the Jessica Lal murder case, and the mammoth gathering at the Gateway of India, Mumbai, post 26/11, candles seem to be the flavour of the season. (Prices of candles may go up)! Before these, candles were usually associated with church services or childrens’ birthdays. How things change! I wonder if some “custodians of Indian culture” think that candles are again some kind of a foreign conspiracy to destabilise our ancient culture? But I am digressing.
Anna has raised two issues – the JLB and corruption. I am not sure how many have studied the JLB. I have. At this stage, when its merits and demerits are being debated and a joint committee has been formed, I would not like to go into its specifics. However, since it has become a national issue, I will make some brief comments.
The impression sought to be created is that by enacting the JLB, corruption will be eradicated! How naïve! We have laws against dowry, untouchability, domestic violence, child labour, child marriage etc. Have these social evils been eradicated by mere legislation? We know the answer. In a democracy like India, we have a system of checks and balances in the three wings of Govt – the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. We also have watchdogs like the CEC, CIC, CVC, CAG, CBI, ED etc, which have varying degrees of autonomy. If despite all these provisions, there is still a high level of corruption, is the system to blame, or is it the operators of the system?
Most of the laws of our country, or rules and regulations, are the legacy of the British. Though I was born in independent India, old timers tell me that despite the many failings and excesses of the British, they had a respect for the rule of law, which they had inculcated in their subjects. Once the British left, the fear of the law left with them! We Indians mastered the art of breaking, manipulating or circumventing the law. We are jugarias. I have often said, “Jab niyat saaf nahin hai, tho niyam kya kare?” (If there is no sense of morality, what use is legality?)
I give two instances to buttress my argument. Before T.N. Sheshan became the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the country paid scant regard to that office. Sheshan did not invent any new rules. He just went by the book, and instilled the fear of hell in those seeking election. His example has been followed by every CEC since.
Look at the Supreme Court. When Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in 1975 and curtailed human rights, 4 of the 5 Supreme Court judges hearing the case acquiesced before her. Only Justice H.R. Khanna (who later stood for President and lost) gave a bold and dissenting judgement. We have had illustrious Chief Justices of India (CJI) like P.N. Bhagwati and J.S. Verma, who even entertained a postcard as a writ petition. After a shadowy era under CJI Balakrishnan, we now have another intelligent and upright CJI in S.H. Kapadia. We must credit the Govt for appointing, and subsequently respecting his autonomy.
So what lesson do we learn? The people who operate the system are far more important than the system itself. When conducting leadership training programmes I have always stressed that a good driver in an old car, is better than a bad driver in a fancy new one. It is the driver who is in control, and not the car.
I see three levels of corruption in the system. The fist level is the FORCED one, when one is compelled to pay money for a basic right, like getting a ration card or caste certificate. The second is the NUISANCE level when one is obliged to pay something to a Govt official because, in the still prevalent ‘inspector raj”, the official’s nuisance value is so high, that the cost to benefit ratio dictates that it is better to grease the palm than struggle indefinitely. The third level is the MALICIOUS level, where one bribes officials to get undue favours and advantage; to file false cases and harass one’s opponents; or to cover up criminal, anti-social or anti-national acts. This is the corruption angle of the establishment.
What of “we the people”? Are we also not dishonest in various ways, thereby encouraging corruption? Fudging birth certificates to lower one’s age and gain an unfair advantage in nursery class is a common practice. Are we then not laying the foundation of dishonesty in our childrens’ lives? How many have not cheated in exams? Have we been honest in our private, public and professional lives? Are we also not taxchors, kamchors and bijlichors? It is so easy to point fingers at politicians and bureaucrats. Should we not begin with ourselves? Only then will we have the moral right to point fingers at others, for “the muck starts here”, with ourselves.
Some years ago, Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, had begun a moral rearmament movement. Parents, educationists, religious and social leaders need to abjure all forms of hypocrisy and double standards, to be paragons of virtue for the next generation. If not, Anna Hazare’s fast, and the proposed JLB, would be an exercise in futility. The writing is on the wall – The buck stops there, but the muck starts here.
* The writer is a Gandhian activist and the Convenor of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Andolan, Kanpur
9th April 2011
Anna has captured the collective mood of the nation, with people going ballistic in supporting his anti-corruption campaign, which was launched in New Delhi this 5th April. I myself, as convenor of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Andolan in Kanpur, gathered together about 40 diverse social, civic and religious groups for a day long silent fast and a 1000 strong rally in his support on the 5th. It spawned a chain reaction of spontaneous protests, signature campaigns and candle light marches.
After the candle light vigil at India Gate, New Delhi, demanding justice in the Jessica Lal murder case, and the mammoth gathering at the Gateway of India, Mumbai, post 26/11, candles seem to be the flavour of the season. (Prices of candles may go up)! Before these, candles were usually associated with church services or childrens’ birthdays. How things change! I wonder if some “custodians of Indian culture” think that candles are again some kind of a foreign conspiracy to destabilise our ancient culture? But I am digressing.
Anna has raised two issues – the JLB and corruption. I am not sure how many have studied the JLB. I have. At this stage, when its merits and demerits are being debated and a joint committee has been formed, I would not like to go into its specifics. However, since it has become a national issue, I will make some brief comments.
The impression sought to be created is that by enacting the JLB, corruption will be eradicated! How naïve! We have laws against dowry, untouchability, domestic violence, child labour, child marriage etc. Have these social evils been eradicated by mere legislation? We know the answer. In a democracy like India, we have a system of checks and balances in the three wings of Govt – the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. We also have watchdogs like the CEC, CIC, CVC, CAG, CBI, ED etc, which have varying degrees of autonomy. If despite all these provisions, there is still a high level of corruption, is the system to blame, or is it the operators of the system?
Most of the laws of our country, or rules and regulations, are the legacy of the British. Though I was born in independent India, old timers tell me that despite the many failings and excesses of the British, they had a respect for the rule of law, which they had inculcated in their subjects. Once the British left, the fear of the law left with them! We Indians mastered the art of breaking, manipulating or circumventing the law. We are jugarias. I have often said, “Jab niyat saaf nahin hai, tho niyam kya kare?” (If there is no sense of morality, what use is legality?)
I give two instances to buttress my argument. Before T.N. Sheshan became the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), the country paid scant regard to that office. Sheshan did not invent any new rules. He just went by the book, and instilled the fear of hell in those seeking election. His example has been followed by every CEC since.
Look at the Supreme Court. When Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency in 1975 and curtailed human rights, 4 of the 5 Supreme Court judges hearing the case acquiesced before her. Only Justice H.R. Khanna (who later stood for President and lost) gave a bold and dissenting judgement. We have had illustrious Chief Justices of India (CJI) like P.N. Bhagwati and J.S. Verma, who even entertained a postcard as a writ petition. After a shadowy era under CJI Balakrishnan, we now have another intelligent and upright CJI in S.H. Kapadia. We must credit the Govt for appointing, and subsequently respecting his autonomy.
So what lesson do we learn? The people who operate the system are far more important than the system itself. When conducting leadership training programmes I have always stressed that a good driver in an old car, is better than a bad driver in a fancy new one. It is the driver who is in control, and not the car.
I see three levels of corruption in the system. The fist level is the FORCED one, when one is compelled to pay money for a basic right, like getting a ration card or caste certificate. The second is the NUISANCE level when one is obliged to pay something to a Govt official because, in the still prevalent ‘inspector raj”, the official’s nuisance value is so high, that the cost to benefit ratio dictates that it is better to grease the palm than struggle indefinitely. The third level is the MALICIOUS level, where one bribes officials to get undue favours and advantage; to file false cases and harass one’s opponents; or to cover up criminal, anti-social or anti-national acts. This is the corruption angle of the establishment.
What of “we the people”? Are we also not dishonest in various ways, thereby encouraging corruption? Fudging birth certificates to lower one’s age and gain an unfair advantage in nursery class is a common practice. Are we then not laying the foundation of dishonesty in our childrens’ lives? How many have not cheated in exams? Have we been honest in our private, public and professional lives? Are we also not taxchors, kamchors and bijlichors? It is so easy to point fingers at politicians and bureaucrats. Should we not begin with ourselves? Only then will we have the moral right to point fingers at others, for “the muck starts here”, with ourselves.
Some years ago, Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma, had begun a moral rearmament movement. Parents, educationists, religious and social leaders need to abjure all forms of hypocrisy and double standards, to be paragons of virtue for the next generation. If not, Anna Hazare’s fast, and the proposed JLB, would be an exercise in futility. The writing is on the wall – The buck stops there, but the muck starts here.
* The writer is a Gandhian activist and the Convenor of the Bhrashtachar Virodhi Andolan, Kanpur
9th April 2011
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