By Dipankar Paul
Will Dr Kisan Baburao Hazare's indefinite fast bear results? Or will the 73-year-old activist's campaign fade into the background?
A week before he announced his hunger strike, Hazare, or Anna as he has been called for untold years, made one poignant statement of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh: "It is only because of the 'remote control' that he cannot do anything. Otherwise he is such a good man."
Hazare was speaking at a press conference to gather support for the 'Jan Lokpal Bill' a bill that aims to change the way India tackles corruption.
What is the Jan Lokpal Bill?
It is a Bill drafted by Santosh Hegde, former Supreme Court judge and the present Lokayukta of Karnataka; Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court lawyer; and Magsaysay Award winner and social activist Arvind Kejriwal.
According to 'India Against Corruption', the web site where the Bill has been made public, the Jan Lokpal Bill, once passed, will be an "act to create effective anti-corruption and grievance redressal systems at the centre so that effective deterrent is created against corruption and to provide effective protection to whistleblowers".
The salient features of the Bill can be summed up as follows:
1. An institution called 'Lokpal' in the centre and 'Lokayukta' in each state will be set up. These will be independent of the government. No minister can influence their investigations.
2. Investigation in any case must be completed in one year. Trials should be completed in the next one year so that the corrupt officer or politician goes to jail in two years.
3. The loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
4. If a citizen's request is not completed in the prescribed time in any government office, the Lokpal will impose a financial penalty on the guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant. So, when the Bill is enforced, you could approach the Lokpal if your passport or voter card is being delayed unnecessarily. The Lokpal will have to get it done in a month's time.
5. What if a Lokpal officer becomes corrupt? The entire functioning of Lokpal/Lokayukta will be completely transparent. Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and the officer dismissed within two months.
6. All existing anti-corruption agencies -- CVC, departmental vigilance and anti-corruption branch of CBI -- will be merged into the Lokpal, which will have complete powers and machinery to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
7. The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment.
Download the full draft of the Jan Lokpal Bill here
The Jan Lokpal Bill is meant to counter a similar Bill drafted by the government of India. Criticising the government's Bill, Hazare and Kejriwal say the intention was to protect the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, rather than prosecute them. He said the Jan Lokpal Bill would instead give wider powers to the Lokpal to initiate action and prosecute corrupt public servants.
"The nine members of the Group of Ministers appointed for drafting the anti-corruption Bill are some of the most corrupt Ministers," Hazare alleged, while criticising the government's casual approach towards treating corruption.
"Today no government official or politician is afraid of law, because they know they will not be prosecuted," he said.
Incidentally, Sharad Pawar is heading the draft of the Government of India's Anti-Corruption Bill.
What does the Government say?
Hear it from Hazare himself: "We approached the Prime Minister for talking about our draft Jan Lokpal Bill. But he says he does not have time to take action against corruption till May 13.
Repeat: The Prime Minister does not have time to take action against corruption till May 13.
It was after this statement from the PMO that Hazare decided to go on a fast till the Bill was tabled.
"I will observe fast-unto-death till the government agrees to form a joint committee comprising 50% officials and the remaining citizens and intellectuals to draft the Jan Lokpal Bill," Hazare said at Rajghat.
And slowly, support gathered for the veteran Gandhian crusader.
Hazare went ahead with his agitation despite the Prime Minister's Office expressing disappointment over his decision to go on a fast unto death. The PMO release said that the Prime Minister has enormous respect for Hazare and his mission.
"The Prime Minister says we trust you [Hazare], we respect you. But, then why did the PM not sit with us even once after the meeting last month," Hazare said.
Hazare's supporters at Jantar Mantar included people from all walks of life, from students to activists and professionals.
"I am here because Anna is risking his life for making the country corruption free," said Ramesh Rajpal, who came to Jantar Mantar from Gurgaon to support the hunger strike.
Most of the people who joined the rally are also observing a fast.
"If we can come on the streets to celebrate the World Cup victory, why can't we come out to support Anna? It is a struggle to make the country clean," Delhi University student Srikant Jaiswal said.
Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav, who was present to show solidarity with Hazare, said he was convinced that the Jan Lokpal Bill was the need of the hour to tackle corruption in the country.
"Just as Election Commission and Supreme Court are effective bodies, similarly an institution which is to fight corruption has to be equally powerful," Yadav said.
"I approve of the draft prepared by Hazareji and others. I am willing to back it in Parliament," Yadav said.
The BJP was not far behind in extending support to Hazare's indefinite hunger strike and said there was need to enact the Jan Lokpal Bill in parliament.
Former BJP president Rajnath Singh said in a statement that the government lacked strong will to tackle corruption and people wanted decisive action. He said the reaction of people like Anna Hazare reflects the deep pain and anguish of the common man in the existing situation.
Calling for enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill in parliament, Singh said a powerful institution like Lokpal can provide a mechanism for effective and credible deterrence against corruption.
The Congress admitted there were differences of opinion on the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill but said 'harmonising opinion' was part of the democratic process. Spokesman Manish Tiwari said the party has always stood for transparency and accountability and has enacted Right to Information legislation.
When asked about Hazare's fast, Tiwari said: "India is a free country and if anybody wants to fast, he cannot be stopped."
And the comments have been pouring in from MSN readers as well.
citizen-of-india says: It is a shame that the citizens have come to this point. Shouldn't anti-corruption laws and enforcement just be there? Why does one have to fight for it?
Abrahma says: Do we have courage to come out in streets and favour this movement against corruption? Let's organise our youth to march against corruption and favour this movement to make it historical and enormous. We need to be in action.
Perhaps, it was Saptaswara99 who summed it up: At last, something seems to be happening. Please spread the news through Facebook/Twitter, etc. If it can happen in Egypt, why not in India?
It is now time for the 'Indian people' to stand up for what is right. Join Anna Hazare's fight against corruption.
Who is it for, if not for us.
Source: India Syndicate
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