The Lokpal Turmoil

The Lokpal bill issue has once again become the talk of the nation with every nook and corner of the nation brimming with discussions, opinions, arguments and deliberations on the subject. The government’s repressive action of arresting Anna Hazare and his team when they were organising a peaceful protest has united the country against the government. It is an irony that the party of the Mahatma has jailed someone who has been fighting a non-violent struggle against a deeply flawed system. The array of people from various social and educational backgrounds joining Anna’s protest shows that this is a real people’s movement and not a movement of the select few as the government wants to portray.

It is altogether a different issue whether everyone in this country, this writer included, acquiesce with Team Anna’s demand that the Lokpal bill that they submitted should be introduced and reviewed by the Parliament. But it must be reiterated that the right to assembly and hold peaceful demonstrations is the birth right of every Indian guaranteed by the constitution and any violation of this right by the authorities should be protested. It is true that introducing bills and making laws are the prerogative of the Parliament and any effort to sabotage this system will have grave consequences for the future of the democracy in the country. In this regard the government’s argument is quite right, but at the same time democracy not only means making laws by the people’s representatives in the Parliament but also the right of every individual to protest peacefully, to build up public opinion on various matters affecting her/his life and to tell the people’s representatives what they like and dislike by making their opinions clear through public discourse.

The opposition parties in India are acting against the government in this issue too but not because of their moral position on it. They too don’t seem to be of the view that the ideas expressed by Team Anna, which consists of many legal and administrative luminaries known for their personal integrity and legal knowledge, should also be discussed in the Parliament. All the parties are of the view that all discussions and ideas of the Lokpal bill should come only from the elected representatives in the Parliament. Most parties are dismissive of the role played by Team Anna in bringing suggestions on Lokpal bill for the government to consider and they constantly preach about the pre-eminence of elected representative of the Parliament in making the Lokpal bill. But it would be good if these parties acknowledge the fact that the laymen, the ‘aam aadmi’, have lost confidence in the politicians, their elected representatives, in checking corruption in the country and are therefore forced to come out on to the streets in support of the anti-graft crusaders in Team Anna. Instead of blaming Anna Hazare and the scores of people supporting him, the political parties should introspect and try to find out and rectify the reasons that have prompted people to take to the streets for a corruption bill with teeth.

The way in which the Congress party has come up with allegations against Anna Hazare – that he is himself corrupt and that he has the backing of the United States – shows how ugly and farcical a national political party can become when confronted by a man with enormous popular support. The allegation that someone is backed by the United States is one that has been made infamous by the Communists in our country whenever they were challenged by the people’s force. By toeing the same line the Congress party in the country appears to look stupid and has become a laughing stock. By attacking Anna Hazare’s non-violent, peaceful protests the Congress party has disgraced itself to the ranks of the British authoritarian government of the pre-independence period when it used to launch scathing attacks on Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent struggles.

As in Tahrir Square in Egypt, where pro-democracy activists assembled against the oppressive government of Hosni Mubarak, people from all walks of life gathered at JP Park in Delhi in support of Anna Hazare. Contrary to government propaganda that only white-collared employees or only the upper strata of the society was present in the gathering, farmers, rickshaw pullers as well as housewives and even school students participated in the protests. The use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in sending across the message and gathering people at places of protest was also a feature of this people’s movement as in the pro-democracy movement in Egypt.

As the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley said, the popular support that Anna Hazare got for his anti-graft movement should act as a wake up call for the government, which is not at all sincere about checking the growth of corruption in the public sphere. They should understand that it is not Anna Hazare who is trying to destroy the democratic ethos of our nations but the unscrupulous politicians who are bereft of any democratic values or ideals, becoming disillusioned of whom the common people get to the streets to support crusaders like Anna. At the same time, all political parties should know that finally the soul and morality of the young generation of India are showing some signs of revival and it would be difficult for the politicians to exist until and unless they remain accountable to the people they represent.