Anna Hazare - No Blackmail Please

Anna Hazare - No Blackmail Please

I've received multiple mails asking me to support his cause and his fight against corruption.

Even assuming that his cause is entirely just and that he is the next best thing that happened to mankind after Mahatma Gandhi, I still have several objections to his current style of fighting.

You'll recall my earlier posts on the subject (Moral Peril in Supporting Anna Hazare and Burning issue - The Lok Pal Bill).

First, take a look at one of the mails that I received asking me to support his cause.

Posted By: GD

To: Members in Support Anna Hazare against corruption! Corruption in India must stop NOW!

 

" A battle we must not lose " - Pritish Nandy

Forget Anna Hazare. The Jan Lokpal movement can go to hell for all I care. Let us just look at the issues over which the battle between the Government and us citizens is being fought. And then let's decide where we want to stand, each one of us, on the issue of corruption.

The first question is: Do corruption and bribery hurt you? If they do, do you want a solution? If your answer is yes to both, do you think such a solution lies with an independent authority? Or do you think a corrupt Government can fight corruption on its own, and within its own ranks? If your answer is no to that, then we need to create an independent institution to fight corruption. Right? Well, that's precisely what Anna is asking for. He is asking for a Lokpal that the Government cannot influence nor manipulate. This is the first battle.

The second battle is over four things. One: Should the Prime Minister come under the purview of the Lokpal? Almost everyone I know thinks he should. A honest Prime Minister wouldn't care. A dishonest one must be supervised. Or else, we will have cases like Bofors that will never ever be resolved. Two: Should Members of Parliament come under the Lokpal? I have not met a single person till date who thinks that our MPs are so honest that they need not be supervised. My guess is if a referendum is ever taken, Anna will get a 100% yes to this question, given what people think of our politicians and the standards of probity in public life. The third question is even more obvious: Do all public servants need to come under the Lokpal? My guess is India's answer will be yes, yes, yes. Every day, in every area of our life and work, we are constantly harassed, intimidated and extorted by corrupt Government officers. The poorer you are, the worse is the torture. So yes, every public servant, every Government officer must come under the Lokpal. Question four: Who should give permission to file an FIR against a corrupt judge? If the Lokpal can look into corruption charges against the PM, the MPs and Government servants, isn't it only logical to expect it to do the same against judges?

The third and final battle is over an even simpler thing: The Citizen's Charter. Should every Government office have such a Charter which will clearly state which officer will do what work and in how much time? And should an officer who refuses to do his work in time or asks for a bribe to move a file be punished? The Government says a charter a fine but Government servants must not be penalised if they don't do their work! Anna believes that officers not doing their work in time amounts to corruption and must face the same treatment. Isn't it rather obvious what India thinks about this?

Do we really need a referendum on these simple, basic issues? I seriously doubt it. Every Indian will endorse the idea of a Lokpal as Anna and his team have envisioned it, with the help of thousands of Indians who have contributed online to the process of drafting the bill.

Yes, there are genuine fears that we should not create yet another monster out there, who will make life more difficult for us than it already is. But even that has been addressed rather adroitly by Anna's team. It is a complex process, true but it also ensures that the choice is wisely made. And what if there are charges against the Lokpal? Well, there's a provision there too. You can go straight to the Supreme Court and seek justice out there.

So why are we arguing so much over this Bill? Why is the Government digging its heels in and refusing to listen to us citizens? Why must Anna go on a hunger strike all over again to press home the point that corruption must be fought back? I guess it's a question of both ego and fear. No one likes to give up the power they have, and certainly not the Government. In fact, it's always trying to interfere more and more in our lives, grab more and more authority, more and more space. And fear? Well, I guess we all know the answer to that. This is possibly the most corrupt Government we have ever had. It has good reason to be scared

Let me take each of the above points and express my thinking on the same:

The first question about our thoughts on corruption and whether we want a solution is very much like a lawyer asking the witness as to whether he has stopped beating his wife. No sane individual including the most corrupt politicians and babus would state that they don't want a solution to corruption. Hence, such a homily or motherhood statement simply deserves to be ignored - If every Indian is going to answer in the affirmative stating that he / she wants a solution to corruption, is there any point or sense in asking such a question? I think not.

In a nutshell, the question itself is oxymoronic. Treat it with the contempt it deserves.

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The second question is about the specifics of who ought to be included and who ought not. I can appreciate the thought process of Anna Hazare. They are entitled to their opinion. I can even hypothetically concede the claim that the majority of Indians want, for instance, the PM to be covered by Lok pal (even though I think not).

However, what is the process of insisting on the inclusion of the PM or the Judiciary in the Lok Pal? Are we in a democracy where we follow a basket of norms, rules and processes while creating a new piece of legislation? Or are we in any kind of autocracy or anarchy where anyone who happens to have lots of so-called public support can lay down the law and the rest of us will simply have to obey it? With all the faults of democracy and all the follies of our politicians, I have to submit that the reality as it exists today is that we're still living in a constitutional democracy. The rule of law still prevails, despite the lacunae in our legal systems. Bills are still drafted, discussed and approved into law at the national level by the Parliament.

Any individual, with the most noble of intentions, can choose to like or dislike a specific proposal in a specific bill. He / she has the right to express that opinion. And request that such opinion be considered while drafting any new legislation. He/she has no business to either demand or insist that such opinion MUST be incorporated into law. Most certainly, going on a fast or agitating for such imposition of one's opinion is, to say the least, plain and simple blackmail tactics.

The way forward for Anna Hazare is to either form a new political party or become part of an existing political party, canvass public opinion in favour of his political party, come to power, and then, and only then try to create any new legislation along the lines that he wishes. He has no business to go around threatening a democratically elected government with dire consequences through fasts, agitations and what-not!!!

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The third question about the citizens charter. And whether "delay in performing duties" by government servants should be treated as "same as corruption"?

I seriously wonder whether people who make such claims have ever worked in either the government or a corporate entity for that matter. It is quite easy to sit on top of a nice tall ivory tower and give sermons to the world at large. To actually work in an atmosphere with deadlines is a different matter altogether.

Needless to say, I'm not trying to condone delays nor am I suggesting that one should tolerate briberies by way of speed-money.

However, delays can occur due to a whole gamut of reasons, including, but not restricted to:

Non-availability of decision making individuals due to illness, family functions, bandhs, etc.
Inadequacy of manpower
Inefficiency
Other priorities (in a situation with multiple tasks, it is inevitable that one task gets a higher priority over the other)
Budgetary constraints
Difference of opinion between "Option A" chosen by one person vis-a-vis "Option B" chosen by another person
Process-driven delays
Inadequacy of inputs
Power failure leading to inability to access computers
Malfunctioning computer servers
Expectation of speed-money
"Slow-down money" paid by some other rival who stands to benefit due to the delay

While the last couple of points mentioned above deserve to be treated as being on par with corruption, the rest of the reasons, while not necessarily acceptable, can't be treated on par with corruption.

Have the "Members of Civil Society" heard of such a concept as "Performance Appraisal"? Such delays, if they happen once in every decade, can perhaps be condoned. If it happens once in every couple of transactions, it is obviously a case to be investigated further. If it is due to stuff like resource constraints, that problem needs to be addressed. If it is due to reasons of inefficiency or attitudinal problems, it ought to be tackled through a combination of apt training programmes and by giving an appropriate rating during the performance appraisal process.

For heaven's sake, don't treat every single delay as a matter of corruption.

(Disclaimer: Neither I nor any of my "near and dear" family members are in any way either part of the Government establishment or the UPA. Nor are we in any way employees in any government or public sector organisation.)

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In the ultimate analysis, it finally boils down to "Who is the boss"! And I'm completely clear in my mind that as per the existing laws of the land, Anna Hazare and his team of "Civil Society" are most certainly NOT the decision-makers when it comes to creating new legislation. Equally certainly, our Parliament is indeed the empowered authority for this purpose as per the Indian Constitution.

Let us respect the Constitution of India at least as much as we are expected to respect self-proclaimed guardians of civil society.

Please!

Regards,

N

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