Learnings from the Lokpal Movement
I think everyone should be happy with the resolution that came across from the whole political and social problem. I think the nature and scale of the agitations were unprecedented since the '75 Emergency and it points out various important things that we should not ignore.
The people who have been selected democratically are so far away from the actual pulse of the People that the common man (rich and poor alike) relate with Anna Hazare more than their own Parliamentarians.
This is a slap on the face of our democratic structure and needs to be rectified as soon as possible. How can the people of Saran be satisfied when their Elected Representative Mr Laloo Yadav says that even after 5 months of issue being discussed in Parliament that he hasnt gone through the entire draft of the Proposed Lokpal Bill, let alone the Jan Lokpal Bill? If that is the case, is the voting in of the various drafts really to be considered historic? Or something that we should be proud of?
As Arvind Kejriwal pointed out, "This Country isnt being run by People, or their Democratically elected Representatives rather by the Party High command".
Are we being led to believe that all of the wise men that we deemed necessary to run our country and act as our voices, No One actually has an individual opinion? That among the 205 Members from the INC, only the voice of Sonia Gandhi is sagacious and the rest have no Individual Opinion about any Issue (the same applies to all Political Parties)?
In which case, we should not waste time having discussions in that Yes-Men Filled Dome which is the center of our Democracy. We might as well declare our Democracy null and void and implement a China-Like regime where all decisions are made by a Central Group of Politicians without any consultation from Anyone Else.
The reason why this movement caught the public's imagination and fanned their ire is because we have lost faith in our Elected Representatives. We, as a people, have a tendency to idolise people. Larger than life figures attract us and we give more weightage to their words. Which is probably why we chose to Idolise a 74-year Old Gandhian rather than a Young Former IRS Officer who knows much more about the functioning of the Government than the aforementioned gentleman. Which is exactly why we keep on Electing the same Larger-than-life Personalities with corrupted pasts back into the Lok Sabha.
We all know that a change is needed. We know we have the power to bring about the change. Do we have the Fortitude and the Courage to do so (and for a lot of people, the necessary knowledge to make the distinction)? Do the Representatives have largesse to become what they were always supposed to be?
As far as the Lokpal is concerned, no one (except some people from Team Anna) is claiming that this Bill will solve corruption once and for all. Corruption is not a disease that a pill (read bill) can cure. It is a Hypocritical and Immoralistic way of taking a shortcut to Success.
We, as Indians, love to find Shortcuts. We are constantly fighting,competing and pushing our way through life against 1.2 Billion others like us.This is en-grained into us so that we don't get washed away in the torrent that is our world. We have learnt to embrace and be happy about any shortcut that helps us along the way and we have learnt to reject our Morals occasionally for our Greater Good.
This Culture of Immorality is within us all, coursing through our veins. A Bill cant change the way all of us think.Unless, it is implemented and executed well. A person will not go the wrong way on a one-way street if he saw a Cop standing there.
It is this fear that needs to be instilled into the corrupt. The fear of reprisal is strong enough to warrant a change of behaviour. That is the only way and we need a strong Lokpal Bill to be implemented for that. I do not wish to discuss the formalities of the Contents of the Bill as there are many views and counter-views already present in the popular media. I think everyone can make up their own mind about the contents based on which viewpoint they endorse.I Only wish to have a strong Bill and not one for the sake of just having One.
However, what i would like to point out here is the Rise and Fall of the Fourth Estate. The Media is supposed to be the most important pillar of our nation apart from Judiciary, Executive and Legislature. They were critical to the cause and their continued coverage ensured that the support for the Movement only grew. They also reveled in Blatant Yellow Journalism when certain sections started questioning the credentials of Anna Hazare. They invited prominent politicians and Noted Celebrities to talk about trivial topics such as Om Puri and Kiran Bedi's inflammatory statements which threatened to sidetrack the main issue and its resolution. They also made the elementary mistake of taking sides during the entire Issue. Noted Anchors like Barkha Dutt and Arnab Goswami regularly called Guest Speakers to discuss various topics and showed their bias during those discussions.They also tended to show a very immature and irresponsible attitude after the 10th day whereby they focused only on when the fast would break rather than the proper Tabling of the Issue in Parliament. I believe that like the three mainstays of our Democracy, the Media also shares a responsibility towards our People and they should uphold greater standards of this Duty in the Future as they help shape the Opinion of the Public.
Lastly, this Issue taught us many things. But most of all it shows that the Real Power lies with the people. We need to use this power and not let it rot away. We need to be more than Citizens of our Great country. We need to be Guardians. We need to rise above our Individual Needs and tend to the wounds of our Nation. She may be ill but she isn't incurable.
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