The conundrum of corruption seems to have finally caught the imagination of - we, the people of India- thanks to the indefatigable Anna Hazare and his team. The entire country is unanimous that we urgently need a strong mechanism for checking this menace which has become the scourge of modern India, stymieing the growth of Indian society and nation.
Unfortunately, the consensus ends here as we have divergent views on how to tackle this albatross of monstrous proportions. Should we go for democratic ways and means or do we have the liberty of opting for coercive tactics even if it looks like challenging the supremacy of parliament which is sacrosanct in a democratic setup like ours?
Nobody can deny the fact that the first thing a person born in India realizes in his life is that this demon of corruption has chased him from the cradle and will hound him up to his grave. From maternity wards of hospitals to the graveyards, one has to pay to corrupt officials for even basic amenities.
This behemoth of corruption has become a gigantic industry and corrupt public officials of India corner as much as 1.26 percent of GDP of India as pointed out in the book ‘ Corruption In India: The DNA and RNA’ authored by Prof. Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari.
Obviously, we need a strong law to deter venal officials from harassing the common man and bringing shame to the entire country. Now the question is how do we give ourselves such a law?
Law making is something which we have entrusted upon our parliamentarians and in a democracy, only parliament is authorized to legislate. The tragedy is that the people we have elected and sent to parliament are not above suspicion and we have seen several instances of even chief ministers and prime ministers in this country facing serious allegations of corruption.
Recently, Karnataka’s ex-chief minister B S Yedyurappa had to go to jail on serious charges of impropriety and we all know the role played by the then PM P V Narasimha Rao in the JMM bribery scandal.
There is a long list of politicians who are facing serious charges of corruption, ranging from Lalu Prasad, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati and Sukhram to A Raja, Kanimozhi and many others. The list is endless and cuts across political parties. Various media reports suggest huge amount of Indian money stashed away in foreign banks belong to our politicians cutting across the political divide.
Under these circumstances, can we expect these politicians to give us a strong anti-corruption law easily? The answer is an emphatic ‘NO’.
They will try their level best to create all possible obstacles in the way of enactment of a law which is potent enough to send the culprits behind bars.
The anti corruption law being demanded by Team Anna will tighten the noose around the necks of public officials and politicians alike and that’s the major point of disconnect between Team Anna and our parliamentarians. This is the reason why parliament has failed to enact a strong Lokpal Bill in last 40 years or so.
The wary politicians do not want to be subjected to an authority who can take punitive action against them as their entire political career survives on compromises with the corrupt and criminal elements of our society.
We have failed to bring the much needed electoral reforms which could pave the way for level playing field between those who have moneybags, accrued through unfair means, and those who are honest and have fire in their bellies to really serve the society but lack the moneybags.
Today in India, It’s next to impossible to be honest and still win a parliamentary election. That’s the root cause of corruption besieging our political system. What do we do then?
First of all, we need to understand that defeating the monster of corruption would be a process and not an event.
It will be a long drawn battle and one needs to have enough patience till the time the goal is reached. Anna Hazare and his team need to understand this better.
To say that either parliament enacts this law or I’m going to fast unto death is contrary to democratic ethos and beliefs. How can you dictate terms to parliament? Parliament is the repository of collective will of the nation and it can’t be challenged by a group which has unfairly presumed to represent the will of the rest of the country. Where is your representational character? It will set a very bad precedent.
Tomorrow, any motley crowd of a few people can throw similar tantrums to get unfair demands accepted and may try to coerce parliament into doing anything of their choice. Team Anna’s objectives are laudable, but their methodology is at variance with our democratic values.
Also, people lose interest in such coercive tactics in course of time. That was one reason why Anna’s three-day fast petered out in Mumbai on the second day itself.
When people flocked to Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, the govt and all political parties feared popular sentiment might cost them electorally and they lost no time in expressing their 'sincere wishes' for enacting a strong Lokpal bill which resulted in the parliament passing a ‘sense of the house’ resolution but the moment the Mumbai fast failed to arouse public interest and participation, the very same govt and political parties left Anna in the lurch and made a somersault on their commitment.
So, you can’t play this card again and again. Coercive tactics are bound to boomerang and even turn counter-productive.
Now, coming to the special session of parliament convened for considering the Lokpal Bill. Every political party tried its best to scuttle the passage of the Lokpal Bill which was brought under tremendous pressure created by the civil society led by Anna Hazare.
Congress deliberately introduced the provision for ‘minority representation’ knowing fully well that the very word ‘minority representation' would be anathema to the BJP which will definitely back out on its support which was so crucial for passage of the bill in Rajya Sabha.
As BJP didn’t want to say it in so many words, all of a sudden, they got enlightened with the indispensability of the federal character of our polity, diverted the debate on whether the law should be under article 252 or 253 and finally decided to join the bandwagon of regional satraps like Mamta Banerjee who are wary of any new authority not only questioning them on matters of propriety but also initiating criminal proceedings against them in case they falter on their commitment to a corruption free governance .
Nobody was surprised with the role played by the likes of Lalu Prasad and his cohorts. It was on expected lines. But what came as a real shock was the revelation that the it was the government itself which orchestrated the disruption of parliamentary proceedings in order to avoid an imminent defeat in Rajya Sabha.
In parliament, most of our respected politicians were heard saying they didn’t want to become another B S Yedyurappa and that’s the real story.
Everybody tried to kill the baby before it was born and unfortunately, they succeeded in this political foeticide of Lokpal Bill.
Not that it was a perfect bill but definitely it would have been a good beginning. After all, Rome was not built in a day!
What’s the way forward then? Even Team Anna is confused and down after the Mumbai fiasco as is clear from the article by Arvind Kejriwal published in a leading national daily. Where do we go from here? Should Team Anna fight the battle politically as politicians understand the language of votes only or stay apolitical and hope against hope for good sense to prevail sooner than later? How to take this battle to its logical conclusion?
It’s time to face some bitter truths. It’s a fact that the present set of ‘parliamentarians’ will not easily give up their privileges of enjoying power without accountability unless they realize a political cost attached to their stubborn refusal.
Let’s understand first that this battle can be won politically only and one needs to build a political movement and infrastructure first, if one really wants to see a strong anti-corruption bill in place.
One needs to educate the common electorate first on how badly we need a strong anti-corruption law. That’s not a Herculean task as the entire country has suffered through the hands of corrupt officials and venal politicians.
Once the stage is set and you have the popular support behind you, give these political parties and parliamentarians a clear choice – either be sensitive to the popular sentiments and pass an effective and strong Lokpal Bill or be ready to be dethroned by a deserving political alternative in elections.
But before handing them this choice, you have to be ready with a viable and credible political alternative. They need to be convinced in no unambiguous terms that the nation is ready to change the complexion of the parliament with those in majority who believe in power with accountability.
The option is clear - Educate the hoi-polloi, make the battle political and come up with a credible political alternative. That’s the only way out.
If executed meticulously, the anti-corruption movement has the potential of truly becoming the second war of independence as Anna Hazare loves to portray it so often.
But as of now, this movement has a long way to go. We can’t afford to lose patience or allow pessimism to creep in.
Let’s not forget one thing - fighting and defeating corruption will be a long drawn political process and not a coercive event.
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