Political Diary

New Delhi. 9 April 2011

India Vs Corruption

PEOPLE WIN 1^st BATTLE

By Poonam I Kaushish

From revolt to rejoicing. India traversed this long road in five short days. Totalling nearly 100 hours of eye-ball confrontation over corruption between our netagan and aam janata. The likes of it never seen before. A movement which shook the very roots of the UPA Government and sent shivers down the spine of our decrepit polity, cocooned in the belief they were invincible. A truly well fought victory of street power over State power!

Thanks to a non-descript aam aadmi, 73-year-old Anna Hazare who came from the cold, caught the imagination of the aam janata and galvanized a nation from deep slumber to start an agitation against corruption last week.  From Union Capital New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, Mumbai’s Azad Maidan, Bangeluru’s People Park, Kolkata’s Victoria Park it resonated from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Arunachal Pradesh to Kutch.

The hoi-polloi, elite, young and old, professional to the unemployed, rich and poor, candlelight marches across cities, online forums and social networking sites all united behind the retired ex-army man from Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district who had undertaken a fast-unto-death till the Government agreed to set-up an independent ombudsman to end corruption.

In one fell stroke he not only brought the Manmohan Singh led Government to its knees but also became the symbol of a reinvigorated nation, the new youth icon, a Mahatma reborn out to destroy the demon of corruption. Sans violence, no bloodshed, no broken cars or burnt buses, nothing, except the strong resolve of the people.

Faced with this formidable mass onslaught, the Government agreed to set-up a joint committee comprising five Government representatives and five by Hazare to prepare a draft Lokpal Bill with a commitment by the Government to have it enacted by Parliament during the monsoon session. Else, warned Hazare he would start the fight all over again on Independence Day.

Undoubtedly, the blame rests squarely at the doorstep of the Prime Minister and our pygmy netagan who failed to read the mood of the people who had had enough of the humongous corruption gorging on the vitals of governance. All wanted the corrupt brought to book. Messers Kalmadi of the Rs 35,000 crore CWG ghotala, Raja in jail would not suffice in the Rs 1.76 lakh crore 2G spectrum scandal, the kingpin behind Thomas’s appointment as CVC still needed unraveling, Adarsh housing swindle, black-money in Swiss banks, et al involving the powerful and the mighty

The cumulative effect of all these resulted in the weakening of the Prime Minister’s credibility, a widening trust deficit between the Government and the public, and spreading rage and revulsion over the unbridled corruption and Manmohan Singh’s perceived  inability to deal with it.

Think. The Lokpal Bill has been hanging fire for over 42 long years and has been introduced eight times since 1968 to enable citizens to sue even the most powerful arm of the State for corruption. Alas, all the versions have been week, toothless and an eye-wash. Sadly, even these have not been passed. Simply because the Bills sought to investigate our netagan, who consider themselves above the law.

Bringing things to such a pass that Hazare and his ilk proposed an alternate with the aim of replacing the existing, mutually exclusive anti-corruption agencies with a single, autonomous apex body empowered to investigate and prosecute politicians including the Prime Minister, bureaucrats and judges.

Called the Jan Lokpal Bill it provides that the establishment of guilt by the Lokpal would be treated, in the same manner as Section 8 of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951, as a disqualification from contesting elections for a period of six years. Further, the Lokpal should have been authorised to impose a penalty for the recovery of any amount found to have been lost by the action of legislators or ministers.

The draft bill proposes a single, autonomous Lokpal combining within it the powers and mandate of the CBI and the CVC and with jurisdiction over politicians, bureaucrats and judges. Besides being able to independently initiate investigation and prosecution without prior permission from any other agency, the body will act as an appellate authority in respect of public grievances linked to bribery. Investigation in any case would have to be completed in a year, trial in the next one year so that a corrupt politician, officer or judge could be sent to jail within two years.

True, it would be presumptuous to presume that a piece of paper will sound the death-knell of the corrupt. Given that corruption is as old as history in India. Alas, it is one lesson we are yet to learn. Gandhiji fought against the British and used satyagraha as a weapon. A Dandi march shook the British Empire. Now a fast has shaken the very foundations of the UPA Government.

Clearly, Hazare’s biggest achievement is that he has shown to the aam janata the power they have and can wield to make and break our self-serving netas. For the first time the people have experienced the power of being in control, truly the masters and our polity the servants to serve them. He seems to have emulated Gandhi’s words, "a small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history".

The first battle may have been won but the war is far from over. The next step as Hazare said were other reforms without which the Jan Lokpal Bill would be of no use. Mainly ushering in electoral reforms, which is the root cause of all corruption. Remember, electoral reforms have been hanging fire since 1991. Each Government makes promises ad nauseum only to forget these once it fades from public memory.

Crucially, the time has come to ensure that those charge-sheeted cannot stand for elections. Unlike the present practice, wherein a person is debarred from fighting elections only after he is convicted. Given the slow trials, insufficient evidence, political pressure on the investigating teams (on CBI and the police) and the time taken by courts to pronounce a verdict, any wonder none have been disqualified. What to speak of unbridled money and criminal power.

This is not all. Next on Hazare’s anvil are administrative and police reforms. A clean administration and character of political parties have to be built on grounds of moral conscience and public pressure. Political morality and accountability are paramount for good governance and stability. There is no place for damn lies and deceit in a genuine democracy. The people have a right to know the truth and punish those guilty. 

All in all the time has come for our leaders to wake up from their deep slumber of self conceit and deception of money hai to power hai. No longer will India and its people remain silent. The bugle to end corruption and begin accountability, honest governance, probity and morality has been sounded. Enough is enough! A well fought out victory. But the war continues.  India is truly awake! ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and  Feature Alliance)