Yes to Lokpal, No to such protests

I am not a huge fan of Anna Hazare, but I respect his intentions and the way they have formulated and anti-corruption law and the extent to which they have gone to publicise it and generate awareness among the people and also to make sure they are also transparent as to their doings. But I cannot agree with the methods they have chosen. I am not siding with the government either, it is the most corrupt that we have ever known and then accusing someone of mismanaging 2lakh rupees when it took the government years to even try someone accused of causing a loss of 1.76lakh crores is simply too hilarious.

That there is a need for an anti-corruption is as clear is day-light, Howard Beal's screams of 'I am mad as hell and I cannot take this any more' come into my head, but let us hope we don't end up in his direction. The fact that government is still trying to discredit such an individual and bring about a toothless bill is mocking the 1.2billion that live in this country. It is thumping its chest and saying 'we can get away with what we can because we make the laws and we make it protect ourselves and everyone and everything in this country is just a means for us to exploit'.

We need not just an anti-corruption law but also accountability from the Parliament where more disruptions happen than in a rain soaked test series in the West Indies, where more bunking and strikes happen than in our college days. We need accountability from the Judiciary and civil servants, but Jan Lok Pal should focus only on issues and complaints of corruption and not on accountability. Otherwise it will become too diluted.

It also needs to give clear demarcation on from where its investigative wing will be drawn and conflicts between existing mechanisms of CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) and Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Departments. It also needs to be clear as to what and how the prosecution and punishments will be. The Jan Lokpal Bill will never root out corruption, it is not a silver bullet, but it it will put a fear in the minds of those, who take us for a ride each time they put pen to paper. It is not perfect either, but the joint drafting committee failed, thanks to the stubbornness of both sides- the civil activists to accept that theirs is not perfect and the governments hesitance to be accountable and to pass a strong law that will definitely put some of them under investigation.

I do not support the fast unto death Anna Hazare has embarked on right now, nor do I support the governments crackdown. The government should have adopted a stronger lok pal bill, it is a battle between the Government and Anna Hazare now, we the people are merely by standers and we have a lot to lose. Both are playing with the same cards, 1.2billion lives. One has pure intentions but not the right means always, the other has a false legitimacy to fall back on, but never good intentions and actions. We can only wait and watch who will blink first.

I wish the government would enact a strong lokpal bill, it makes political sense too, but the Government's refusal to do so will damage it irreparably and create uncertainty in the country, I do not see a happy ending,infact I do not see any end at all if the government does not back down. If it had merely agreed to a stronger bill, things would not have got this worse. Now its beyond everyone, things have been set in motion and we can only know what will happen once it happens.

The government should have agreed to a strong bill long ago, Anna Hazare should not have taken such an extreme step and should have made a few compromises on the dates, 2month period to fully discuss and formulate a law, that too with a government that is highly corrupt and indecisive, is too short. It should have been a slow struggle with protests and awareness campaigns, but such a flare up could have been avoided.

I do hope for a strong Lok Pal, I do hope corruption is curbed but I also hope that no one can hold the government to ransom like this. However corrupt they may be, they are a democratically elected bunch, crooks though most of them are and perhaps many of them sneaked in through the back doors of the house of state.

If someone says you have to be either with Anna or you have to be with the government, I say neither and both. The only legitimacy the government has is the constitution and democratic process that happened 2years ago and fortunately or unfortunately they are the only ones who can pass this law, but their actions have not been that of a responsible committed government and the recent actions of Anna Hazare haven't been perfect either.

Added on 17th-One could argue that only a just cause will be able to generate such amounts of support from the entire country and only then will any form of protest, hunger strike or satyagraha, be effective. But then we did have issues when Baba Ramdev's strike was forced out inspite of it being obvious that he was upto no good. In a country where people like Nityananda (I don't want to call him swami) can raise mass hysteria, I really do not think this argument will hold always. I am glad it is an Anna Hazare, not a violent madman at the helm, a man who is asking his supporters protest peacefully and court arrest without resisting.

It means we have a responsibility too, for people like Anna Hazare to succeed, we need to support only the right people and the right kind of protests and paths and not be blinded by demagogues who are out to make their own gains. In this case, from the point of view of an activist, Anna Hazare is right, but a bit more of patience should have been shown by both sides and more discussions held to iron out the differences. The government has to walk more than halfway, civil society activists also have to walk a short distance to find a meeting point. I hope that happens soon without causing much damage. I must say that the way in which these protests have turned out is surprising, little or no untoward incidents. Especially after witnessing the riots in London, this is giving me hope.