Team Anna’s Shot at Politics: Won’t it take Sting Out of the
Anti-corruption Crusade?
I wish to draw Team Anna’s attention to the following famous quote:
Power corrupts. Absolutely power corrupts absolutely.
In the context of this quote, I think Team Anna’s decision to turn themselves into a political outfit is fraught with serious adverse consequences for their anti-corruption crusade. To understand my thinking, you just need to know about the original objectives of various political parties the world over or their election manifestoes. No matter how noble were the objectives for whose achievement these political parties had been founded, gradually all parties have compromised on these objectives for clinging to power. I would attribute the straying of these political parties from their stated noble paths to their leaders’ succumbing to basic human instincts of greed, hunger for power, amassing wealth for blood relations, etc.
Before proceeding further, let me introduce myself. I am 50 plus and I have spent all my life in Delhi and NCR. What I am going to write is based on my personal experiences and my little understanding of the way we Indians think and behave.
Now coming back to Team Anna’s proposed political foray. Anna ji and a bunch of his loyalists can remain honest all their life. But, can they guarantee that the candidates they would choose for fighting polls would also prove to be diehard anti-corruption crusaders? Will not they succumb to basic human instincts about which I have just talked? Here Team Anna may offer a solution by way of enacting a law to empower people to recall their corrupt elected representatives. But wouldn’t the implementation of this act lead to a democracy which would be in the election mode perpetually? Such an act may also make it difficult to run stable governments. Here I would like to know whether Team Anna has conducted any research on the existence and implementation of the right to recall in the democratic world, particularly in England and the large democracy of America which is home to diverse cultures like India.
I think we can effectively challenge a system from outside. Once we become part of the system, we become prone to do compromises on our stated principles or agenda for surviving in that system. Needless to say, Team Anna as a political outfit would need a comfortable majority to enact laws, which, as things stand today, is a Himalayan task to muster. Obviously, to succeed in the numbers game, they would have to compromise with their anti-corruption agenda. So, why not compromise now and keep the rulers under pressure?
‘Pretty Good Lokpal Bill’
I am no legal expert, but I have watched Andhra legislator Jayaprakash of Lok Satta Party on NDTV the other day saying the Lokpal Bill which has been passed by the Lok Sabha is a ‘pretty good Lokpal bill’. Mr Jayaprakash says the present Lokpal Bill has about 85% of whatever was demanded by Team Anna. One should believe Mr Jayaprakash because he says that he has been following the Lokpal issue for the past ten years. I think 85% success is a landmark especially when Team Anna representative Sanjay Singh informs us on NDTV that the Lokpal Bill is hanging fire for over four decades. As Mr Jayaprakash says once the bill is passed, it’s not end of the road. A Team Anna-friendly government in future, like the BJP government, can amend it to match it 100% with Team Anna’s draft.
Satyamev Jayate — Hamara Aiana
Over the last two months, Aamir Khan’s Satyamev Jayate ne humko aiane mein hamara asli chehera dikhaya hai. After watching Satyamev Jayate any sane person would not blame solely the Indian political class for the rampant corruption and all the ills afflicting the country. Granted, the political class in an inseparable and dominant component of the governance machinery, and it must take the first blame for corruption and be a willing party for putting in place an effective anti-corruption mechanism.
But, what about religious malpractices and a demoralizing lack of values in a country which is perhaps home to the largest number of believers in the world? Isn’t India the biggest example of people making mockery of religion? If we truly believe in the religious word, then we don’t need any Lokpal Bill, in fact, we don’t need any law. But this is as ideal a perception as Team Anna’s projection of Lokpal Bill as a Rambaan against corruption. Anybody who is in tune with the Indian social realities and the political happenings around the world will subscribe to this view.
If only law, irrespective of whether people have any values or not, could eradicate corruption then China must be a corruption-free country. Because enacting any law and implementing it with an iron hand is not as much a problem in China as it is in India. But China’s score (score 3.6, rank 75) in Transparency International’s corruption perception index* table is only slightly better than India’s (score 3.1, rank 95). This table lists 182 countries. Team Anna may be knowing that in the past, some Chinese firms were found guilty of exporting adulterated milk products and harmful toys. So, stringent laws could not prevent the Chinese straying from the path of fair business for the greed of buck. Here I would also like to draw Team Anna’s attention to what Dalai Lama has said few months back at a Delhi meeting about corruption in India and China. He said, “Corruption in China may be attributed to the Chinese not following religion sincerely, but it is surprising that in a land of believers like India corruption is so high.”
It’s an open secret that for majority of Indians, religion is just a lip-service. A good number of religious places are constructed illegally on government and private land and cause traffic jams and other problems. Among unauthorized religious places, Hindu temples would definitely be the highest in numbers. The Supreme Court had long back ordered demolition of such religious places. Any sensible person would ask: How can you illegally construct a place to worship God, who is supposed to signify and all virtues, at an unauthorized place?
Then we have festivals like Kanwar Yatra and other religious processions which deprive thousands of people of their fundamental right to travel for a living or emergency medical care. And, today when the world over stress is on green living, the Kanwar Yatra participants and their patrons spoil the environment all along the yatra route by using disposable plastic bags, cups, plates, glasses, etc in huge quantities. We can also imagine the immense pollution of the Ganga caused by the Yatra participants near Hardwar from where they start their Yatra.
Every year we celebrate the festival of asatya par satya ki vijay that is, Duesshra. But we don’t have the moral courage to side with truth in our real life. It’s a pity that Ram nam japna has not made us Indians inculcate good values and stick to them. Then we have large fields as Ramlila Maidans all over India which lie useless most of the year. These fields can be converted into good play fields. But, no, mock show of adherence to religion is more important for us than winning golds at Olympics.
I have seen how Blueline buses ran roughshod over Delhi roads for over 15 years, beginning in the early nineties. During my numerous travels in these overcrowded buses in these 15 years I often used to be among the few persons to raise voice against the bus staff’s delaying tactics and other malpractices. But, majority of commuters used to remain mute spectators. And, a good number of commuters had also found a way to compensate themselves against the bus staff’s malpractices. They either did not buy a ticket or simply bought the minimum denomination ticket and travelled the maximum distance. So, basically, we Indians, when faced with malpractices, also indulge in malpractices instead of standing up to fight.
If we sincerely look around, we will come across a number of malpractices which no law can curb. For example, the simple act of making a queue is a BIG NO for lots of Indians. We just can’t have policemen in cinema halls and at railway stations and bus stands to force people to make queues. On these very lines, a visually-challenged participant in Satyamev Jayate had said, “There is a rule that we should not throw banana peels on the road. But policemen can’t be deployed in every knook and corner of the country to enforce this rule. The people themselves have to adhere to this rule.”
I request Team Anna to teach people to inculcate and follow some moral standards in their life. Moral standards are more effective than the fear of law in tackling corruption. And, then in the RTI we have a very effective tool which enables us to circumvent the cumbersome legal procedure to put the corrupt in the government on the mat. Team Anna must encourage people to file applications under RTI whenever they come across fishy government dealings.
Vijay Chawla
*The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country/territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 - 10, where 0 means that a country is perceived as highly corrupt and 10 means that a country is perceived as very clean. A country's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries/territories included in the index.
