0.10 Dynamics behind ombudsman bill  (Page 3/3)

The same situation had arisen at the center. On the issue of the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, her opponent Sushma Swaraj, a leader of Bhartiya Janta Party, took the stand that if Sonia Gandhi became Prime Minister she would set herself ablaze. Sonia Gandhi relented and copy-cated Lalu Prasad Yadav scheme to install Manmohan Singh with media calling her the real boss. Once again, democracy was at the receiving end. Highest position of political authority was now occupied by a person having no political authority. Political authority lied in the hands of Sonia Gandhi and later on also partly in the hands of Rahul Gandhi. This distortion of democratic system was bound to have disastrous consequence for the country.

Prime Minister himself admitted that he was misled about the candidature of Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) by his colleague Minister in the Government by suppressing details about incumbent P.J.Thomas. CVC ultimately had to relinquish his position at the instance of Supreme Court. This was a glaring example of a Prime Minister without political authority. He was simply powerless to wield on his colleagues. How could a country think of eradicating or fighting corruption when its apex position of political authority itself had been compromised?

This unethical separation of political authority from the highest position was further accentuated by the functioning of Congress where political authority remained with Gandhi family. It may though be quickly underlined that people of India finds an insurance policy in Gandhi family and trust them more than any other individual or group, but for inflation and corruption when family credential may not be enough. The scene after the general election win of the Congress led coalition was something that any sensible person would not forget. Sonia Gandhi was conveying to the waiting press that Manmohan Singh was again the Prime Minister and requested him to say few words. The shame was so brazen that it cannot be described in words for what happened that day. Manmohan Singh tentatively stepped back without speaking a word. Even after lot of prodding by Sonia Gandhi, he would not budge. Sonia Gandhi finally hinted that Rahul (Gandhi) also considers him Prime Minister. The whole sequence of event was so pathetic that it was difficult to realize that Manmohan Singh was indeed occupying the position of highest political authority of India. Notwithstanding the credential regarding personal integrity of Manmohan Singh, there was really a deep sense of surrender. It may, however, be seen that the situation was not the making of either Sonia Gandhi or Manmohan Singh, but a compulsion arising from the people’s mandate for Sonia Gandhi and subsequent stand of Sushma Swaraj on the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi.

On a more basic level, corruption is indeed approved by the people of country. An article on Al jazeera electronic media “Uprising against whom?” brings out the fact. It explains the situation of Pakistan in the backdrop of uprising in Arab world. Pakistan has a democracy and its people have the opportunity to change the system by exercising voting right. Similar is the situation in India. Now, People should fight against whom? Should they fight the government that they have voted? Besides other arguments presented earlier, the fact remains that Indians are fragmented and divided people, who cast their vote on extraneous or divisive considerations. In this manner, people create a regime of ruling clique comprising of chosen politicians, bureaucrats, media persons, intellectuals, scientists and businessmen in a comfortably closed system where only exclusive individuals can have the entry. If we look the way combination of handpicked ruling and opposition politicians work in collusion with corporate world, then it appears as if they are sharing power for eternity.

In a sense, people are at the root of a corrupt society and Government. The day Indians cast their vote for performance and a proud nation, they will not be in this situation of helplessness against corruption. Indeed, true democratic solution is the most enduring solution for less corrupt society and Government. After all, Indian freedom fighters gifted the people the precious gift of democracy. What have people done to it? People here have used every possible opportunity to subvert its values. Even after 62 years of Independence, people are desperately seeking - almost craving or even begging - to convert this precious institution into hereditary fiefdom or a caste cauldron or a collection of regional fortresses. The situation is ironic in the face of Arab uprising where people are braving to face bullets for democratic rights as against Indians, who are fighting among themselves to convert precious inheritance of democracy into virtual anarchy.

After a very long time of public inaction and deprivation, arrival of Anna Hazare on the scene has given Indians the opportunity to cleanse themselves (which is more important than cleansing Government) in order to cleanse Government. This feeling has, in fact, been voiced by many activists involved with Anna Hazare fast. An example of all pervasive nature of corruption is clearly brought out in a recent attempt of Nitish Kumar Government to empower people at grass root level. The village level Panchayat (committee) has been empowered for the appointments of teachers in Bihar. In no time, rates of grafts have been fixed openly for the various categories of teachers being appointed by these local bodies.

Corruption, if one introspects, resides in every human being as greed. A matured society converts greed into professional excellence. A weak society, on the other hand, converts greed into mass corruption. This is exactly what is happening in India. Clearly, Lok-Pal Bill is just a small step towards democratic maturity when it might not even be required. Till then, Lok-Pal bill is a basic requirement and reference of constitutional impropriety is a mere design of the current power structure to continue with the existing system.

In an important turn of event, Sonia Gandhi conveyed that she too supports Anna Hazare. In a statement, she appealed Anna to end his hunger strike, and said she believes that the government will give "its fullest attention" to his demands. The bone of contention, as on the day, between Government and the civil activists centers around two technical points (i) who will head the Joint Committee to draft the bill and (ii) issuance of Government notification in this regard. Though Anna Hazare made it clear that he would not be the head of the Joint Committee, but the Government persisted with reservations on the twin issues.