Lokpal Bill and an Incorruptible India?!

I start with thanking Anna Hazare and all founding members of “India Against Corruption” for giving India its much awaited Lokpal Bill, finally! Well, now that the government of India has relented fearing further erosion in its public support base, and with a determined Anna and Co. there to ensure its formulation and subsequent passage in the Parliament, the Lokpal Bill will see the light of the day. (So what if it took more than 42 years? It is never too late for any thing, including the Lokpal Bill!)

Now that we have the Lokpal Bill, the moot question remains: Is Lokpal Bill the Panacea against Corruption?

NO. Let’s admit it honestly. Lokpal Bill is the first step in that direction, nevertheless. Its sincere and fair implementation will determine its effectiveness and purpose, and ultimate success; the chances of which are extremely grim, to say the least.

Well, we know the reasons.

We don’t have to do an autopsy of our systems – the monumentally corrupt systems are very much alive! – to discover that the chronic malaise is a multi-organ phenomenon and is indeed widespread and deep-seated. Also, we do not have to do gene-mapping of our country to realize that the etiology of the disease is a DNA mutation leading to the corrupt-chromosome getting embedded into the nucleus of the nation!

Let us also not forget the global positioning of India and here I am not talking about “Incredible India” which sounds as hollow as the “India Shining” slogan! Today I am simply reminding every one of us of the infamous tagline on India: 100 mein se 90 beyiman, phir bhi mera Bharat mahaan! (90 out of 100 are corrupt, still my India is great!) … Majority of the Indians behave like an opportunist microorganism: depending on the scope and scale of corruption, they derive their share!

Frankly speaking, to believe that because the Indians came out in full support to Anna Hazare’s fast-unto-death protest Indians have got re-mutated to their Non-Corrupt Avatar would be like living in an illusory India! (Sounds good; could replace “Incredible” in India’s slogan!)

Indian history is witness to a few such contemporary revolutions. In my living memory Mandal Commission was the first such incident which succeeded in mobilizing a large population base to protest which was followed by a repeat show at Ayodhya and resurfaced occasionally in form of support for quotas/reservations etc. Election Reforms Bill (not the actual terminology) also got huge support from the public of India. The recent radical change was witnessed in form of passing of the RTI Act. All these could have served as catalysts for elemental and permanent changes in fabric of India and its establishments i.e. overall polity and society, but none of these served the actual purpose for which it was meant. On the contrary, all such amendments and bills etc. accomplished dividing the society further. Worse, these also succeeded in keeping the downtrodden exactly at the bottom of the societal pyramid where they have belonged to since centuries! And not to forget the most dangerous of them all: in spite of a resurgent election commission we continue to elect criminals ‘by hook or by crook’! (i.e. by hooch or by cooker! Please refer to the forthcoming Tamil Nadu polls in case you are unable to get the drift!) And the corrupt have continued to amass unlimited wealth through malpractices and colossal corruption! (Kalmadi, Raja, Hasan Ali … every one seems to be in a competition to out win every body else!)

Thus to believe that all ills will be cured just by signing of the Jan Lokpal Bill is the height of naivety and extreme form of foolishness!

Therefore, first and foremost, we need to cleanse our systems – both politically and socially – to be able to bury the demon of corruption. Because, Lokpal or something else, it is the Indians who are going to be at the helm of affairs majority of who would come from the same corrupt gene-pool! Otherwise, to say that the Lokpal Bill too will remain rusting and corruption will continue to thrive will be an understatement. And, remember, Anna will not be around forever for us to fast-unto-death for every change we desire!

In fact we need to change our attitude fundamentally. Like charity, NO TO CORRUPTION has to start from self; the change has to come from within; in every day of our life. Let’s pledge not to give any bribe for any personal cause or gains. Let’s also make a resolve that no matter what the allure, we will not let the honest core of our being – and India’s foundations - get corroded with corruption. Let’s get over our comfort with corruption. We, as a society and a nation, will shun corruption completely and start celebrating honesty and integrity. We will banish all corrupt to margins of the society. The spectrum of India will have no iota of corruption in it.

Then only real change will come to India – Change we can believe in! Else, after every few years we will keep getting motivated to crowd near the India Gate and the Gateway of India and other landmarks of the country in front of numerous television cameras and non-stop coverage and may succeed in forcing the then government with hoarse sloganeering to enact some crucial bill and then we will go back to sleep dreaming of more money for ourselves by “whatever it takes/gives”!

If we do not change – ourselves and our country - India will keep struggling in the solid grip of corruption. Because in such a scenario/society where corruption is rampant, though an average corrupt citizen gets a little ‘extra’ amount to so-called stash away and enjoy life with in a ‘limited’ sense of the term, the real beneficiaries continue to be the ultimate looters – players in corridors of power and position – politicians, bureaucrats, police, businesses, and other high and mighty of the society, people who are masters in the game of manipulations – all done with the sole goal of self gratification. The rest of the average Indian citizenry – corrupt or non-corrupt – continue to suffer rigmarole of daily life immensely tainted with corrupt colors and stay squeezed in tentacles of corruption; there is no recourse for anybody in a corrupt country.

Living a corruption-free life is not difficult. It just a matter of practice and getting used to a better life – a life with dignity and free from manipulations; a life filled with honesty and integrity and sincerity and prosperity and peace and happiness – for all.

These are not sermons; these are what everybody in non-corrupt parts of the world experiences and enjoys! And we too can!

Because only an “Incorruptible India” can be an “Incredible India”!

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Anna, your Annagiri will prove to be a viable channel for fast-unto-death-of-corruption!

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Anna, I know now why you love to fast! Ann-na means “no ann” i.e no grains! ... And, "annshan" means "shun" the "ann"!

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Anna, I salute your strength; even after 97 hours of non-stop fasting, you looked and sounded absolutely strong! That’s the mettle of a true leader!

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To all those so-called leaders who boast of a popular base on twitter/facebook: just accept my challenge to gather so many people in support of a cause espoused by you in your tweet or on your facebook page - in a public place and away from the glare of television cameras – and force the GOI to act in favour; I will accept you as my leader!

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World’s revolutions have been fought primarily by youth but have almost always been led by matured leaders!

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And it was no twitter-facebook revolution; it was a pure people’s revolution; revolution of all those people who bothered to come to India Gate and Gateway of India and other designated places in solidarity with Anna’s cause. Because if the GOI relented, it was under the sheer pressure of losing its voters base – of whatever is left of.

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And it was Media’s movement also because if the Indian media had not highlighted Anna Hazare’s fast through non-stop coverage, this event would have also died down like previous many such protests.

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The success of Anna’s crusade proves two things: that if the people of India “will”, they “can”; secondly, the Indian media can play the role of a real crusader for all the desired changes in India!

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Finally, a slogan for the second round of Indian revolution, if need be (and chances would be many!): Kudos to Anna and Judo (kicks) to politicians! (My sister has the copyright to it!) J

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Anna, India is with you in your fast-unto-death-of-corruption! And we love your Annagiri!

Today I feel proud as an Indian. Because today I believe that we Indians can stand up, stand up for ourselves. It’s always frustrating and annoying to see India hugely comfortable with everything corroding the very foundations of our great nation – corruption being the most corrosive of all malaise. But today I am sensing an assurance about the scent of change having reached our shores, finally, and that we will see the Change we want.

And the credit is Anna Hazare’s! It is immensely satisfying to see Indians, young Indians especially, respond to Anna’s call of fight against corruption and be with him, in real space and time and in the virtual domain as well. From Jantar Mantar in Delhi to Facebook, Twitter and Blogs in the social media, Indian youth is pledging support to this modern day Mahatma. And whoever said Gandhigiri was dead and ineffective in today’s times should see Anna reinvent it for India once again as Annagiri!

Only a couple of months back, 27^th Jan’11 to be precise, I had expressed my views on “India Poised for Revolution??? It is High Time …”. It was upon seeing India’s and Indian Media’s shocking indifference to the then ongoing movement in Tunisia and Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle-East.

Without repeating my views, I simply put the link here in case you want to read my point of view.

http://anjuchandel.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/india-poised-for-revolution-its-high-time/

Nevertheless, I would like to enumerate a few important points.

First, the current activism against corruption in India is direct fallout of the success of Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. I am happy that the unfolding events in the Middle East could succeed in inspiring us Indians - finally. And we are indebted to “India Against Corruption” campaign coupled with Anna Hazare’s peaceful protest in form of fast.

It was the success of people’s revolution in Egypt and Tunisia and the revolt in Libya besides in Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere that ignited minds of a few credible social activists like Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi and the germination of the “idea of revolution” in form of a forum called “India Against Corruption”. The support to this initiative was huge and immediate – on Facebook especially, which, frankly, was a bit surprising to me as I had always believed that Indians lacked the spine to stand for themselves and their country.

Second, the role of Indian Media has to be given its due credit. The fact that Anna Hazare’s “fast-unto-death” protest has become such a hit and has created such a sensation and furor in the political and public arena is because the Indian media – television in particular – took it up wholeheartedly. Through their non-stop coverage, Media is once again reiterating its own campaign against cancerous corruption.

Do not forget that the real crusade against the chronic gangrene called corruption was in effect initiated by Time Now’s shocking exposes about monumental levels of wrongdoings in the Commonwealth Games preparations which had the maximum impact. The channel sustained its relentless and fearless coverage in spite of immense pressure from all “concerned” to stop it from doing the same. The actual credit at Times Now – rather in the Media – of course, is of Arnab Goswami’s who has been the real crusader who spearheaded the media movement against corruption with his sheer courage. His forceful ways led the other Media houses to adopt his ways of news reporting which started a viral in “nail the corrupt” campaigns on various news channels. I greatly admire his guts to take the all powerful systems head on and put enough pressure on the government to ACT through his relevant and strong debates.

And to all those courage-less cynics who are maliciously labeling the increasing uproar as "media created" drama, that I am proud of my Media as they are doing just what they are supposed to do: act as the 4th Estate of our functional Democracy!

Thus, to tell truthfully, I have full faith in the fact that Anna’s movement will continue to gain momentum and will become so big and inclusive and encompassing that the otherwise deliberately deaf-dumb government will feel its serious heat soon. In fact it has already started being felt. Sharad Pawar had to step down from the GoM on corruption. However, it is just an eyewash but not insignificant, to say the least. He should, as Anna said, resign from the ministry as well because only a few cabinet members can match him in managing corruption to suit his personal gains! And not only him; all politicians – ministers or not a minister yet – are utterly corrupt and, therefore, do not have the moral right to be on the panel. The forum has to have credible civil society members from all walks of life.

But what is perplexing is the foolish attitude of the government of India towards handling this issue. Their defiance is going to further and seriously erode whatever credibility they are left with. In stead of sounding and acting arrogant, the GOI should have immediately called a cabinet meeting and would have constituted a special committee inviting Anna Hazare – rather met him at the Jantar Mantar – and his fellow revolutionaries for sincere and honest discussions, leading to final drafting of the Lokpal Bill. Special session of the Parliament should have been called and the Bill should have been passed. Because, one thing is written on the wall: there is no going back now; Lokpal Bill has to be finalized in the required manner and passed ASAP.

Finally, to repeat myself, I feel proud of my India today because finally we have woken up against the gangrene of corruption. And we have Anna Hazare to thank for waking up a historically and perennially sleeping India from its comfort-cocoon as far as corruption is concerned. From being labeled as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, we have to demonstrate that we are capable of cleansing the systems including our physical system – remember, it is infamously said that corruption has got embedded in the DNA of Indians!

I am 100% sure that Anna's crusade will become watershed in rewriting India's destiny. And Jantar Mantar, as is being said, has already become India's Tahrir Square. We just have to sustain our steam and free India of all its ills. Its time ...

It’s time the GOI also woke up to the harsh political and social realities and listen to the growing chorus of India against corruption and forgo its inability coupled with unwillingness to handle this situation with integrity and honesty. Otherwise, they will repent soon because India is not going to take their corruption-tainted autocratic and arrogant ways anymore. We will take this crusade against corruption to its final conclusion. After all, we have the fundamental right to a corruption-free life!

It’s time for Change, Change towards a corruption-free India! … From being an “Invertebrate India” we have to reclaim being an “Incredible India”!

It’s Time …

Anna, carry on your fast-unto-death-of-corruption! India is with you, Anna J