Fastest finger first. First faster is now last. Last faster is now in hospital. The only thing that continues to feed itself is corruption.
In the last few weeks self appointed and not so civil representatives of so called civic society have tried and failed to make a dent in the governments determination to continue to turn a blind eye to corruption. Protests and threats of fasting unto death, have yielded nothing barring raised voices on prime television and fodder for front pages of the dailies.
Corruption is and always has been a crime in this country. Both the civil society,( the briber), and the politician/ bureaucrat, (the bribee?) , are punishable under existing laws. There are existing institutions such as the Anti corruption Bureau, the CBI, the local police and many other investigative agencies that have the power to enforce this law. And what do we want? One more institution that will follow in the rich tradition of all other failed institutions. And we are fighting for this? Instead of fighting to make the exisitng institutions work?
And is this the right way? Why call it a democracy, when we ignore democratic and parliamentary processes of protest, and instead use populist and street and jungle laws to drive change.The media goes crazy, as they hunger for eyeballs looking for something to do now that the cricket season is over. Plus some of the leading lights of the media themselves are not above fixing a few lucrative cabinet berths for a small ( relatively speaking) fee. Intellectuals pretend outrage, (having earlier bribed their way to positions of power), and the aam aadmi gives a damn.
Are these the right people to lead us to a corruption free polity? Hardly likely. These are people, who have never been elected, and will never be. One is a has been Gandhian whose only claim to fame is that he was a has been Gandhian and that he was using the Gandhian form of protest. The fact that the Mahatma was protesting against unelected usurpers of power, is ignored in all the hype. The other is a billionaire yoga teacher whose only claim to fame is his ability to stand on his head while thinking with some other part of his anatomy which is not his head. And the rest of the gaggle is made up of those who will hunt with the hounds and run with the hare, and are themselves not above dipping their hands into the pot when it suits them.
And what is this about the Prime Ministers Office being subject to the Lokpal scrutiny? As if the PMO is above the existing laws of this country? And what about the Lokpal himself? It is like the old question. If god created everything , who created God? Should we not bring the Lokpal too under scrutiny by another agency to be called Lokpal + or Lokpal Supreme? And who will scrutinise them? The PMO's office? Or the ACB? A real alphabet soup this one.
Methinks that what we lack is leadership. Leadership with determination to enforce existing laws, and lets the existing institutions do their job..and an opposition that does their job within the confines of elected parliamentary democracy, and lets the Government do its job. If everybody did their job, we would not need a Jan Lokpal Bill. If they are not doing their job, lets bring them down, in parliament through well established processes.
Dont stand outside the tent and piss inside..
In the last few weeks self appointed and not so civil representatives of so called civic society have tried and failed to make a dent in the governments determination to continue to turn a blind eye to corruption. Protests and threats of fasting unto death, have yielded nothing barring raised voices on prime television and fodder for front pages of the dailies.
Corruption is and always has been a crime in this country. Both the civil society,( the briber), and the politician/ bureaucrat, (the bribee?) , are punishable under existing laws. There are existing institutions such as the Anti corruption Bureau, the CBI, the local police and many other investigative agencies that have the power to enforce this law. And what do we want? One more institution that will follow in the rich tradition of all other failed institutions. And we are fighting for this? Instead of fighting to make the exisitng institutions work?
And is this the right way? Why call it a democracy, when we ignore democratic and parliamentary processes of protest, and instead use populist and street and jungle laws to drive change.The media goes crazy, as they hunger for eyeballs looking for something to do now that the cricket season is over. Plus some of the leading lights of the media themselves are not above fixing a few lucrative cabinet berths for a small ( relatively speaking) fee. Intellectuals pretend outrage, (having earlier bribed their way to positions of power), and the aam aadmi gives a damn.
Are these the right people to lead us to a corruption free polity? Hardly likely. These are people, who have never been elected, and will never be. One is a has been Gandhian whose only claim to fame is that he was a has been Gandhian and that he was using the Gandhian form of protest. The fact that the Mahatma was protesting against unelected usurpers of power, is ignored in all the hype. The other is a billionaire yoga teacher whose only claim to fame is his ability to stand on his head while thinking with some other part of his anatomy which is not his head. And the rest of the gaggle is made up of those who will hunt with the hounds and run with the hare, and are themselves not above dipping their hands into the pot when it suits them.
And what is this about the Prime Ministers Office being subject to the Lokpal scrutiny? As if the PMO is above the existing laws of this country? And what about the Lokpal himself? It is like the old question. If god created everything , who created God? Should we not bring the Lokpal too under scrutiny by another agency to be called Lokpal + or Lokpal Supreme? And who will scrutinise them? The PMO's office? Or the ACB? A real alphabet soup this one.
Methinks that what we lack is leadership. Leadership with determination to enforce existing laws, and lets the existing institutions do their job..and an opposition that does their job within the confines of elected parliamentary democracy, and lets the Government do its job. If everybody did their job, we would not need a Jan Lokpal Bill. If they are not doing their job, lets bring them down, in parliament through well established processes.
Dont stand outside the tent and piss inside..
3 comments:
Politicians win because of support from the masses (largely uneducated/disinterested). Weaken their stranglehold by educating masses as to the possibilites a noble (what a non existent word in todays age) government could offer, as well as how to ensure accountability (clearly lacking). For this, one needs to devote a lot of time to actually impact mass thought. Thats why media is so easy because it is far reaching if not effective. A generation with influence and respectability need to step up. Youth can protest but will really not be taken seriously especially in India. Tempered, mature thought will lend credibility. For this, less focus on the money making and living of the spoils and more towards the action?
Apologies if it seem like I as youth am putting my hands up, but i really dont think we wield either the power or command the respect needed to drive thought change. Indian baby boomers are the key IMHO
anish, i know everyone is frustrated and feels powerless. like a friend of mine said, it is the unwilling trying to judge the incompetent..but stay engaged.all these old fogies will die and your time will come
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