Rise India, rise against Corruption!!

Annas Fast a Wake up Call by Karan Kharb It looks like the entire world is under winds of change. The United States, modern worlds unchallenged superpower, was first thrashed by the economic downturn of 2008 and then lost her prestigious global credit rating of AAA to AA+ triggering fresh shock waves in the world economies. The scenario is more than matched by India through rising inflation, rampant corruption, inefficient administration, terrorism and Maoist insurgency pushing peoples patience to the limit. Thanks to inroads made by the telecom technology into routine life, general awareness and aspirations of people all over the world have also expanded exponentially. People are now asserting more vigorously to make governments responsive and people friendly almost in all developing countries. The uprisings raging through the countries of North Africa and West Asia with angry masses determined to topple corrupt and callous regimes hold enough warning and lessons for us in India. Ironically, Indias healthy growth story in the private sector is sharply contrasted by falling standards of probity and accountability in governance. In Corruption Perception Index 2011 compiled by Transparency International India scored a poor 2.7 out of 10, a grade worse than countries like Honduras, Zimbabwe and Venezuela and a continuing slide from 3.3 scored in the previous year. India not only tops the list of nations having tons of black money stashed in Swiss banks but its cache of black money there ($ 1546 bn) is far more than the combined total of next four countries in the list of black money deposits namely, Russia, UK, Ukraine and China ($ 1056 bn) as reported in Times of India (Ahmedabad), dated 8th June 2011. Moral Decline in Politics Mahatma Gandhi wrote in Young India in 1928, Corruption will be out one day, however much one may try to conceal it; and the public can, as its right and duty, in every case of justifiable suspicion, call its servants to strict account, dismiss them, sue them in a law court or appoint an arbitrator or inspector to scrutinise their conduct, as it likes. Do we have leaders who would think like this today? Of late there has been a qualitative decline in our political discourse and debate in and outside the Parliament. Whenever cornered in the face of logic and fair argument, politicians lack the capacity to absorb criticism and accept a point; and what is worse, they do not hesitate in turning abusive and raking up details from the irrelevant past in a no-holds-barred mudslinging match. The virtue of magnanimity and tolerance has disappeared from the Indian political scene. There is an increasing breed of leaders today whom people know more for abusive language and naked arrogance rather than their contribution to public good in any sector. They are like the mischievous hockey coach who taught his players, hit the opponent if you cant reach the ball. The first batch of Indian parliamentarians considered Lok Sabha subordinate to the People of India, for, it was WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved .. and do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION. The Constitution of India subordinates the Government (the Executive) to the Parliament which in turn is and will always remain subordinate to the PEOPLE of India on whose mandate it runs the affairs of the

state. It is the peoples aspirations that must be respected by their representatives the MPs while enacting laws in the Parliament. But having tasted blood in an increasingly corrupt environment where election to the Parliament too can also be traded for cash, it is simply logical for the politicians to behave in such irresponsible and arrogant manner because they paid for getting elected and people have no right to demand more from them! This drift in public morality has added to the malaise too. It is insulting for every proud Indian that as many as nearly a third of our Parliament (Lok Sabha) 162 plus latter additions like Kalamadi, A Raja, Kanimozhi and more in the pipeline are facing criminal charges (ranging from trespassing to murder). This is more than 27% increase over the previous Lok Sabhas record. Also, there are 9 ministers in the central cabinet facing criminal charges including one for theft. As per National Election Watch, 76 MPs are involved in serious criminal cases. We are inching forward to a situation when criminals will have the majority and form a Government of their choice too! In times of coalition governments, if Madhu Koda a lone independent MLA then could become Chief Minister of Jharkhand, he, now a sitting MP who regularly attends the Lok Sabha session from Tihar jail, could well become Indias Prime Minister too. Why should they vote for a strong, independent and effective Lokpal bill? Dangerous Forebodings The countenances our leaders put on while answering questions on TV channels betray their smug attitude and insincerity towards issues vital to the nation. There is an obvious disconnect between the people and the government, and the drift is taking them far apart. It is a dangerous trend and calls for immediate change in the way our political masters think. Today, the Home Minister, P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal are redefining Democracy calling Anna Hazares peaceful protest fast undemocratic. The Constitution, on the contrary, bestows upon every citizen a fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association or union, movement. The Government attitude to Anna Hazares peaceful protest fast-cum-rally is an ominously very similar to how Hosni Mobaraks had chosen to deal with the Egyptian people protesting peacefully in Tehrir Square of Cairo in January this year. Police brutalities range from uncalled for lathi charge on the sleepy crowds of women and children at Ramlila Maidan to trigger happy cops shooting and killing the unarmed and innocent kissans protesting peacefully against injustice as seen in Bhatta Pasraul in UP and Pune-Mumbai Expressway in Maharashtra. These incidents have grim resemblance to what Gaddafis forces did in Tripoli when people rallied there for peaceful demonstration against a highly corrupt and callous regime. Activists and journalists who gave voice to public disgust and suffering were hounded and either killed or put in jails forcing the public to take to arms and turning it into a bloody civil war. In sharp contrast to Anna Hazares peaceful pleadings spurned and ridiculed by the senior Congress functionaries including cabinet ministers, there exists a plethora of evidence to show how our political parties have been holding unruly rallies, demonstrations and bundhs with scant regard to law and public convenience. In fact, almost always has the government bowed more readily to the violent mobs going on rampage burning trains, vehicles public or

private and vandalising shops with impunity. Many of Indias political leaders have risen through violent riots and have no idea about a higher, nobler form of protest Satyagraha. The message is clear: the government yields to threats and violence more readily. Shiv Sainiks have been deftly employing such tactics in Mumbai every now and then. Even in Delhi, the Congress workers rally up to block traffic and cause public nuisance without bothering about any rules or permits which Team Anna is being taught to seek today. It is easy now to understand how insurgencies are aided by governmental apathy and stubbornness. There were differences in drafting a joint Lokpal Bill which could not be resolved at the Joint Drafting Committee formed by the Government. Both the sides finally presented their own drafts. In all fairness, the Government should have placed both the drafts on the table of the House for an open debate. Withholding the draft Jan Lokpal Bill and deliberations of the Joint Drafting Committee from the Parliament and the people appears inappropriate and unjustified and makes a mockery of decisions taken by the Government at the highest level. Be you ever so High, the Law is above you! Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi faced serious corruption allegations in the Bofors case, until then the worst in the scale of corruption. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao also faced allegations of corruption in the JMM vote-for-cash case. Preventing the Lokpal from looking into such cases will in no way enhance the prestige of the high office of the Prime Minister. In fact offering himself to the Lokpal scrutiny will only go to serve as the highest example of our faith in the basic principle of jurisprudence, Be you ever so high, the law is above you. And why not bring the higher judiciary under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal too? On 17 August 2011, the Rajya Sabha is set to take up the case of impeachment of a sitting High Court judge, Mr Justice Saumitra Sen. Another judge in the higher judiciary, Justice PD Dinakaran, Chief Justice of Sikkim High Court, has now resigned after his efforts failed to stymie the pre-impeachment enquiry by a duly constituted enquiry panel. There have been allegations of impropriety with credible evidence involving judges in lower as well as higher judiciary including chief justices of the honourable apex court. Former Chief Justice KG Balakrishnans name is today remembered more for wrong reasons than his for his uprightness as an honourable judge. The list of corrupt judges taking bribes, seeking undue favours like going to the extent of joining en-mass to misappropriate junior employees provident fund deposits is increasing by the day. Existing Regulatory Institutions have failed Sectoral regulatory bodies have failed to deliver due to vested interests which helped foster a fraternity between the corrupt officials and the investigators. Even after the arrest of former President of Medical Council of India (MCI), Dr. Ketan Desai, corruption at the MCI has continued unabated. As per Health Minister Gulab Nabi Azad, 80 cases of corruption against officials of MCI and medical institutions were being probed till May this year. No wonder human organs are being traded illegally and poor patients continue to suffer and die for want of medical care. Similarly, people were shocked by revelations of fake pilots, not one or two but plenty, flying unsuspecting passengers across skies although the

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) monitors and controls standards of flying safety and certification. Appointment of persons of questionable integrity to head institutions like the Central Vigilance Commission (PJ Thomas case) has seriously marred the credibility of such institutions in whatever limited sphere they functioned. Enforcement Directorate functions under the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Defence and therefore remains a hand-held tool for undertaking only specific cases assigned to it by the ministry. States also have Anti Corruption Bureaux but corruption in states also has only frown with highly placed beneficiaries hogging shamelessly with fearless arrogance as we have recently seen in Karnataka, Delhi and Mumbai to name only a few. Thankfully, a few institutions like the Lok Ayuktas (Karnataka and Delhi) and the Comptroller Auditor General of India (CAG) have performed laudably in their bid to instil some fear and caution against corruption. What does it prove? It only proves that India is in dire need of a strong, independent and effective Lokpal with enough powers to investigate and punish speedily in a specified time frame. The Jan Lokpal Bill proposed by Team Anna Hazare meets these requirements which, if enacted into law, will change the way our government offices function. They will be more responsive, efficient and people friendly an environment where the corrupt will have much to fear from. No doubt, corruption may not vanish yet lets make it a risky business. Why is the government scared? Premonitions of losing a lucrative business? ----------------

Dear Digvijay Singhji, I have been studying your public persona for the last decade, particularly since the UPA regime came to power, where your genius had maximum opportunity to flower and realise itself. I always awaited your periodic public utterances with much anticipation, to take a peek at your resilient and innovative mind, and the contribution it makes to the present governance model of chaos. Yours has been a particularly hard life for the last decade after you lost power as Chief Minister. I can see your anguish and trauma in having to countenance, year after year, the BJP ruling over what was once your great empire. This must have taken an awful psychological toll over you, and your behaviour suggests that you have still not come to terms with this reality. As a matter of fact, I am getting a little concerned about you of late, as your condition appears to be getting somewhat pathological and extreme, so much so, that often your speech and behaviour make no sense to anyone. Its almost as if the vision of the BJP occupying your former chair is so deeply imprinted in your brain that it never leaves your consciousness, and all your utterances get coloured by it. It is reported that you tried to seek solace through a vow that you will remain out of active politics for 10 years. Commendable, at a time when Liquorgate was chasing you, the Lokayukta was registering FIRs against you in urban land ceiling and land scam cases, and the Madhya Pradesh Bureau of Investigation for Economic Offences was investigating your Treasure Island Mall scam, for which I believe an FIR has recently been filed. Yes, its a hard life indeed, having to take painful decisions of

self-abnegation in the prime of your life, much like your leader. But Im sure you are aware that both nature and human personality abhor a vacuum and find other ways to fill it. I believe you are a fascinating subject for an in-depth psychological study. What extra-ordinary methods you have devised to fight your deprivation, frustration and FIRs. I wish I knew more about your childhood. I know you come from a princely Rajput family where you would have lacked nothing, but I often wonder whether you were prone to tantrums or indulged in other attentionseeking behaviour as a child, or sucked your thumb beyond the acceptable age for gaining comfort or a sense of security (a common interpretation by psychologists). Perhaps these have all evolved into the traits you display today for getting comfort and security. Your desire to seek attention, either from the general public or the special targeted few, seems to be accelerating at such a rapid pace that I am a little worried about your state of mind. It is getting just a little too repetitive, and predictable. In psychology, repetitive speech disorder is considered a serious form of thought disorder, which ranges from delusion, obsessive-compulsive disorder syndrome to something called schizophasia and another thing called palilalia, where I believe some chromosome or other is involved. I have noticed that your thought disorder, repetitive speech disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder syndromes seem stuck on just three subjects: making Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister, allying with jihadi terrorist groups (remember your Freudian slip Osamaji?) and using every opportunity to accuse the RSS whenever an unfortunate act of terrorism happens in India. Obviously, your thought disorder syndrome is so acute, that even our policemen killed in terrorist attacks do not shake it you call the Batla House shootout a fake encounter, where two of our policemen died. You dont even spare the martyrs: Hemant Karkares tragic death in the 26/11 blasts sets you off on a delusionary mode where you imagine a telephone call from him fearing an attack upon himself from Hindu organisations. The Maharashtra government put the record straight and said that no such thing had happened. This disorder is clinically termed as the full blown phase of delusion. Your condition seems to have palpably worsened since then, as you made another extremely disturbing delusionary statement just after the recent Mumbai blasts that resulted in the loss of more than 200 lives. Even while the investigation was going on and the country was trying to speak in one voice, you predictably stated that you did not rule out the involvement of the Sangh in the bombings. In fact, I have a personal grievance against you on this count: I lost a bet with a friend who predicted your statement just a few hours before you made it. I dont know whether foreign powers are aware of your various thought and speech disorders, but it would be in your interest to tell them frankly. Otherwise, you and your party are getting to be seen in very poor light. Indeed, the WikiLeaks, in ignorance, Im sure, of your various disorders, calls your behaviour crass political opportunism. And also please recall the snub you got from Israel when during some particularly bad delusionary spell you tried to compare the RSS with the Nazis. y sincere advice to you, as an elder, is to diversify your intelligence and vast experience to reflect upon critical issues of contemporary India, for example, how to remove poverty, how to provide safe drinking water and sanitation to every village in India, how to

improve the health status and infant mortality situation in the country, how to increase female literacy, areas in which the state that you led for 10 years is among the worst in India. But, perhaps, I have got it all wrong. Perhaps you only pretend to have all these disorders, so that you gain sole monopoly of being the Gandhi family mouthpiece, at the cost of your mental credibility, particularly for making Rahul Gandhi the next Prime Minister. Perhaps you do this so that you can play vote-bank politics of the worst kind, even at the cost of national unity by creating fissures where none exists, and can claim to be the main architect for making Rahul Gandhi the hero of the next UP elections. Perhaps, I have got even that wrong. Yo u must know, Im sure, that there is some speculation in the media that you are doing all of this for Rahul Gandhi in name only, and since you know he is so below par that he will never make it, you are actually working towards your own future as Prime Minister. Your ten-year vow will also be ending shortly. To use your own words, I suppose this possibility cannot be ruled out.Sincerely Ram Jethmalani