Anna's approach of 'My way or the highway' is surely not what fits in a constitutional democracy but what the nation needs today from its leaders is some moral uprightness and not a lesson in civics!
What we need is a truly independent institution which can admit cases, probe them and prove it in the court of law without any sort of political interference. The Lokpal should become a ‘terror’ in the eyes of politicians and bureaucrats alike. The election commission & the judiciary have special places in the constitution (and the only reason politicians fear them) and something similar should be created for the Lokpal.
Agreed, this is not the end all of corruption. No one’s says that. Totally eradicating corruption is a long drawn battle and would involve work on numerous other problems in the country including poverty, education, healthcare, law and order and many more. It’s a complex question which no one institution or law is going to change. But Lokpal could be a first step in that direction.
Technicalities of the law
1) The government is trying to get away by enacting a toothless anit-corruption law which favors the powers that may. The Prime Minister, junior government officials, MPs actions inside the parliament, court judges is out of the ambit of Lokpal. So most corruption in the country (at the lower rungs of bureaucracy), bigger scams which may happen from the PMO (read bofors), cash for votes inside the Parliament etc go scot free. Then those who are caught and tried can go scot free as well if Judges are in your favor and then they couldn’t be investigated by Lokpal. This is making a mockery of the whole idea of Lokpal.
2) Selection of Lokpal members: Govt. says the selection will be made by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the leaders of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, a Supreme Court judge, a high court chief justice, an eminent jurist and an eminent person in public life. The last two is eyewash, so with 3 politicians and 2 pseudo approvers in a group of 7 selectors, you know what is going to happen. In terms of eligibility, the Jan Lokpal disqualifies anybody who has held a government office in the last 2 years, the govt. obviously makes no such reference.
3) Prosecution: The Jan Lokpal suggests that the CBI’s anti-corruption wing should report to the Lokpal while the govt. says Lokpal should have its own prosecution wing – which will obviously have no experience and there will be jurisdictional and other objections raised from time to time, helping those accused. The CBI will remain a govt. puppet.
4) Then the govt.’s bill does not provide for grievance redressal of citizens, protection of whistleblowers, creation of citizen’s charters by public institutions etc.
So it can be clearly seen what the government is trying to do.
1) The Govt. was in a corner with so many corruption cases blowing up in its face and had to show its commitment towards anti-corruption initiatives. It could have taken its own sweet time but Anna’s campaign made it do things quickly.
2) If not for Anna, most of India wouldn’t have known what law was being passed. The government would have tom-tom’ed about their achievement in passing the law and we would have been mute spectators of the hog wash.
3) If not for Anna, the Lokpal would have become (and could still become) just another puppet created in the archaic structure of governance in the country. Remember what the election commission was earlier? It took 40 years and people like TN Session to make that institution what it is today. Same could happen with the Lokpal with it having real tooth somewhere in 2050 after sacrifices by countless individuals.
What this agitation will materially achieve is something time will tell but Anna Hazare has created that ‘hope’ in millions of Indians that something could be done. I see this agitation from a standpoint that the more people agitate, the more bargaining power we have with the government and more chances of catching corrupt officials in the future. That’s it.
Don’t debate Anna’s methods, no person is perfect. Something is better than nothing.
Jai Hind!
