‘Jan Lokpal Bill’: Perfect example of misuse of ‘Jan Shakti’

As the second leg of protests in the Lokpal Bill row crosses a 10-day mark, I wonder whether Team Anna would be able to get what they want. I hope they arrive at a compromise solution and the government is not forced to yield to all of Anna Hazare’s demands. The uproar is amazing, stunning, shocking and overwhelming. People are actually coming out in the streets and supporting Anna Hazare. Starting for people in their 20s, 30s and right till senior citizens of the country, people are shouting slogans, holding candlelight vigils, sitting on hunger-strikes at nook and corners of the country. Anna Hazare is being hailed as a Hero, the new-age Gandhi, and role model for the new generation.

Personally, I feel quite daunted and deterred by all this. Anywhere I go, all the people I interact with are talking only about Anna Hazare and how his struggles would free us from corruption. I am forced to think do these people even understand what is going on around. How many of these people know the background of the Lokpal Bill? How many of these people know what Anna Hazare is demanding by going on a hunger-strike? What does the existing Lokpal Bill draft actually entail? What is extra that ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’ is demanding? Have these people – that autorikshaw driver wearing the Anna Cap; that person holding Booze in hand and coming out of a Night-club and shouting “Anna Hazare Zindabad” slogans; that teenager getting a Anna Tattoo to showcase that he too is supporting Anna; that group of middle-aged Aunties taking the metro to reach Ramlila Maidan; in short, the common man of today – have they even read what is stated in both these drafts?

Most of these people, I believe, are simply fascinated by the idea of being part of a so-called “Revolution” that will “eradicate a social evil”; and they hope to brag to their grandchildren some day about “those were the days when we were getting soaked in the rain protesting against corruption so that you people can have a good life that you have today”. They don’t realize that corruption is NOT an “On-Off” switch that has gone wrong and can be repaired by passing the Lokpal Bill. Corruption is very deep routed in the Indian Culture by now and cannot be weeded out unless some other “social evils” are weeded out. We talk and think about corruption in the sense of high-level scams like 2G Spectrum, etc. but forget about the ground-level corruption fuelled by us, the people. A Traffic Policeman hauls you up for bunking traffic lights, we would prefer slipping a Rs. 100 Bank-note in his hand rather than surrendering our Driving License. After all, who has the time to go to the court and get it released? People file a RTI Application in the school to demand explanation for denial of admission to their kid; school “bends some rules” and offers the kid a seat, they withdraw the application. Other kids’ problem is not their problem really, is it? One seat in a Medical College becomes empty, some agent demands Rs. 30 Lacs to give it to a student, and I can bet there would be more than a couple of takers. Why should they let it go if they have an opportunity to take it? If they don’t, someone else will.

And then we all go out shouting slogans in favour of ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’ to eradicate corruption. Tell me one thing, dear supporters, is only the person ‘taking’ bribes to blame? Are we, who give them bribe, not equally guilty? We most definitely are guilty – equally if not more.

We also have to understand that the real solution to the problem of corruption is to tackle it at its roots. The Root cause of corruption is lack of equal opportunities for everyone. This encourages people to make payments, give favours, etc. to get what is available for yourself before anyone else grabs it. The real solution lies in dealing with the problems of population, poverty, lack of basic amenities and facilities like education, health services, etc. Putting a Lokpal Bill in place can at best be an interim measure to deter people from faltering by making penal actions stringent. Meanwhile we should strive to tackle the real problems.

Instead, here we are shouting that we cannot accept a Bill made in a closed room by 5 Members of Parliament. Sorry to say, these Members of Parliament are OUR chosen representatives, chosen by US to represent US in the parliament. If we don’t trust them, we should not have stationed them there. And if we have voted them in, we have no right to complain about any law that they would draft on our behalf. The right to vote is the biggest power vested in the hands the people and if we don’t use it judiciously, we have no right to come out in the streets and blackmail, through indefinite fasts and protest marches. We call ourselves ‘Civil Society Representatives’. Personally, I do not think this is the way a civil society works – forcing the government into yielding to our demands by holding the country at ransom. The “either-it’s-my-way-or-no-way” approach is certainly not the method adopted by the ‘Civil Society’.

I am not against Anna Hazare. He is a great leader to have stimulated the feelings of so many people and leading them to action. (Although I wonder how many people knew him until Aamir Khan spoke in his favour during his first leg of protests – at least I didn’t.) Neither am I in favour of the Congress government. Congress only had largely been in power during the four decades the Lokpal Bill had been held up without even being presented in the Parliament. I certainly am in favour of having a Lokpal Bill; even if it does not include all of the clauses of the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’. But, the key is that something is better than nothing. As of now, we do not have anything in place to charge the corrupt people against. Besides, we come to know the drawbacks of a law, the impracticalities, and the difficulties in implementation only after the law has been in place for a while. There are quite a few examples to vouch for this fact e.g. FERA, TADA, POTA, etc. Then, of course, we go for amendments as required.

Talking about the bill itself, I do not personally agree with all demands from Team Anna. I do not think keeping judiciary under the ambit of Lokpal Bill is a good idea. Supreme Court should be ideally over and above the Lokpal who may refer the cases to the same. In case Supreme Court is under scanner of Lokpal, then it cannot and should not decide on matters referred to it by the Lokpal. Judiciary has its sanctity and this can be maintained only by having a separate bill for Judiciary. Arvind Kejriwal says that if the Income tax department and its officers have the right to send a notice to a Supreme Court Judge then the Lokpal might as well have jurisdiction on him as well. I am actually amazed to find that an educated and honourable person like him does not understand the difference between the two. When Income Tax department sends a notice to the Supreme Court Judge, he actually sends the notice to the Judge in his individual capacity; and we are discussing over here are the Judges in their capacity as Judges. We are actually talking about keeping the office of the Judges under Lokpal scanner. Again, I do not think Lokpal should have the right to impose penal action. That power should continue with the Judiciary. We should not vest so much power in the hands of any person, even if it’s the Lokpal. Power is the biggest intoxicant ever and by allowing the Lokpal to suo moto initiate inquiries, pass judgements, and decide penal actions; we are giving him supreme powers. Powers too should be adequately balanced between people in charge and as they say, “segregation of duties” should be maintained in all cases.

Hence, though I am not entirely in favour of the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’, but, a mid-way solution would certainly be welcome to put an end to this furor engulfing us all around. Meanwhile I pray that the supporters of ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’ actually go out and read and discuss the existing draft and the proposed draft.

Note: Those who would briefly like to know the chief differences between the two drafts may refer the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lokpal_Bill