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Anna A+ , Lokpal B-

At a time when most citizens of my country are trying their best to express solidarity with Anna Hazare in some form or the other, this article may appear confrontational at best and ridiculous at worst. However, I refuse to confuse "majority opinion" with "correct opinion" and earnestly believe that the anti-corruption debate in our country can benefit with a measure of perspective. This is my attempt to express my reservations over parts of Anna's version of the Lokpal bill.
Let us begin with those aspects of the debate where almost all of us agree.

1. This Govt is clearly the most corrupt Govt till date. Now it is entirely possible that the previous Govts were equally corrupt if not more but we never found out because we lacked today's vocal media or assertive judiciary back then.

2. Corruption is a mindset that finds expression in opportunity. In this regard corruption is not limited to politicians or industrialists or bankers. The car repair guy charging you 5000 rupees for a 500 rupee job is equally corrupt.Politicians come accross as most corrupt because they enjoy the maximum opportunity to disregard the system. Corruption is a mental attribute. Period.

3. Anna Hazare has confronted the Govt. in a way that no person or organisation has done in the independent history of our country. He has given a voice to the frustration of millions and he has forced the incumbent to address its systemic rot in common man's language rather than legislative verbiage. My salute to a man of such courage and my salute to everyone who is standing by him.

The part where I must disagree with Anna is the solution to this mess. Now I don't oppose his version of the Lokpal bill entirely but there are certain parts that seem unreasonable, impractical and even frought with danger. Allow me to discuss further.

1, I do not support Prime Minister's inclusion under lokpal. Every country, just like every organisation has a leader. In a democracy like ours, we elect this leader for 5 years. Now, for some reason, if this leader loses the trust of its people, then constitution has provided sufficient mechanisms to deal with the situation. Even if I ignore all the constitutional remedies, electoral politics would dictate that his continuation as PM would be impossible for a long time. Finally, the whole point of an independent judiciary was that even the PM is answerable to the courts.
Now if you bring PM under Lokpal, then his any and every decision that appears controvertial will get challenged in the Lokpal and the whole process of legislation will grind to a halt. All that PM's inclusion under Lokpal will do is to pass the buck from Prime Minister's office to Lokpal's.

2. I am far more opposed to bringing higher judiciary under Lokpal. This is silly because ultimately there has to be one court in the country whose decision is considered final. Right now it is the Honorable Supreme Court. Once you have Lokpal, a step will be added to the already clogged judicial system. The appeals won't stop at the Supreme Court but go the extra distance to Lokpal adding a few months to years before justice is done. I fail to understand what exactly a Lokpal can do that our Honorable Supreme Courts have failed to achieve. And this brings me to my main problem with Lokpal concept as it is right now.

3. Ultimately Lokpal will be composed of people, people whom we trust or believe to be responsible. But wasn't that the case with our Prime Minister till a few months back ? You find PM corrupt and you go to Lokpal. What happens if the Lokpal is corrupt ? As I stated before corruption is a mindset that is waiting for an opportunity. What if a Tehelka expose shows a Lokpal member taking Rs. 2 crore as bribe ? It is not only possible but highly probable.

I believe the current version of the Lokpal bill has just shifted the goalposts but not addressed the core issue of eradicating corruption. It is imperative that the PM as well as the Chief Justice remain independent of Lokpal because making them answerable can only at best interfere with their independent decision making process that is vital for the country. We should push for strong constitutional reforms if we are not satisfied with the current options available to deal with corruption at highest level.

If the Govt. today yields to Anna Hazare campaign then it will set a dangerous precedent for future elected leaders. There is no dearth of sensitive issues in our country. It could be a national issue like reservation for minorities or a state level issue like Telengana. I could go and sit on a fast regarding any of those issues. The Govt. will be forced to take cognizance of my protest because my life cannot be deemed less important in a democracy than Anna's. I do not wish to trivialise the protest launched by Anna because it was critical that the Govt. gets its act together. But the best outcome of this protest is not Govt. yielding to Anna's demands but a much stronger Lokbal bill created with the consensus of Govt. and members of the civil society. The fabric of Govt. CANNOT be compromised, a parallel Govt. CANNOT be allowed to take shape, the Supreme Court and PM MUST remain outside Lokpal and the constitution MUST be honored. Else, in our frenzy over viewing the Govt. as our opponents, we might create an establishment that we regret a few years later and then ask for another one till we reduce ourselves to a banana republic. Remember Lokpal will be made up of people like you and me and none of us were vaccinated against corruption. Too much power in any form, in any hand, will breed corruption.

Finally, I noticed some of the facebook updates that were depressed about the state of democracy in our country. The fact that you are able to lament about democracy on facebook is democracy. The fact that Anna Hazare's every message has reached you through an open media is democracy. The fact that a 74 year old person has brought the Govt. down on its knees shows that democracy is alive. In the absence of democracy, social media would get banned, print and news media gagged, curfew imposed, Anna tortured and a few months later all forgotten.

I wish to conclude by saying that I may not agree with all aspects of Lokpal or Anna Hazare but I support his crusade against corruption whole-heartedly and let us all believe that sanity prevails in the society and we can negotiate a strong anti-graft bill.

I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
- Voltaire

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