While Hazare talks of decentralization of power, all 3 conditions to break his fast are about its centralization in Lokpal
In the late morning of 23.08.2011, from his fasting platform at Delhi's Ramleela Grounds, Hazare was pontificating about the decentralization of power. All the three issues he wants the Parliament to discuss today, on 26.08.2011, are about the centralization of power and authority in a single institution called the Jan Lokpal.
1.He wants the grievance redressal mechanism (citizen’s charter) under different government departments to come under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal.
2.He wants the Lokpal to be looking at the corruption of lower level government employees as well, by usurping the powers of the concerned government departments to reward and punish their employees.
3.He does not want to seek the concurrence of the state governments over the creation of Lokayukts and is coercing the Central Government to impose it on the states without consultations and dialogue.
Hazare comes across as someone who is being misled by a group of hardheaded and opinionated individuals who are feeding his megalomania. Someone must have mentioned the term 'decentralization of power' to him in an early morning chat and that became the subject of his incoherent discourse at the Ramleela grounds in Delhi on 23rd August, 2011.
Does he actually know that he is fasting for the centralization of powers in a single investigating, prosecuting, and grievance redressal agency and also demanding something that strikes at the root of federalism? I don't think he understands or knows this serious and dangerous anomaly in his approach. He is simply carrying on with his 'zid' and the crowds of morons chanting his name day and night are reinforcing his sense of megalomania.
Is he is so disconnected from reason? Is there none to point out to him the glaring contradiction between what he pontificates and preaches and his demands? Is it that one cannot have a healthy two-way conversation with him and you have to agree with everything that he says? One of his supporters was proudly pronouncing on a TV channel that he has had an unblemished record of being VICTORIOUS in all his fasts. Is this anti-corruption crusade about the ego of a megalomaniac who cannot even see the fallacies of his demands and professed principles?
Read the following as well
Since I posted Anna Hazare’s ‘Bhendtantra’ article at Khullamkhulla and exchanged my views on Facebook, I have received interesting mails and opinions from some of my friends and others. I am posting all this with my responses without disclosing their names.
A Mumbai Friend: It pains to know someone who is downright a negative minded personality and can see only the downside of any issue. People like you will always suffer, be frustrated and dissatisfied and will always rave and rant about how bad it is .. on any issue. I regret that with your attitude you will never ever be able to happy about life and regret being alive.
My Response: I am glad to learn your opinion about me as a person. There are larger issues involved here than a pathetic, useless, and failed individual like me. Let us talk about issues, if you have a contrary opinion on the points raised in my article, please let me know.
A Mumbai Friend: There is no point in any discussion with a person of your attitude.
My Response: You have proved my point. Hazare and his cohorts don't want to have a real discourse. They consider their point of view as the only valid point of view. This is what I term as megalomania, which is a kind of idiocy. I don't think you have been liking my khullamkhulla posts and they have been a cause of repeated heartburns and hurt to you. I will remove your email address from my mailing list.
A Mumbai Friend: I am not Hazare's cohort that you have branded my opinion as theirs and made your own conclusion. I am against your negative mindset on such issues, not you as a person. Thanks for removing me from your mailing list but if ever you feel that I can be of some help to you on the personal front do not hesitate to get in touch with me. I will be there for you.
My Response: I thought you were upset about my extreme views on Anna. Now, I find your anger was born out of your concern for me as a friend. This is how I am …., and have not changed a wee bit since I started developing an understanding of the world around me. I have survived somehow in spite of these flaws by God's grace and am not all that unhappy. And I do regret being born. Life is such a headache. I did write an extremely positive review of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara by the way.
A Friend From Canada: …not sure about your thoughts and line of thinking on this. i thought u r happy that all this is going on. isn't this what u wanted all these years fighting the establishment or r u unhappy you were not the first to spearhead the on- the- ground protest instead of merely being a paper tiger - which of course like most journalists u are good at. no offense meant - just an observation!!
My Response: No... I am really anguished. I don't like an idea that negates the existence of another and does not allow an honest discourse. This is what is happening. What really pisses me off is the way the media morons are manipulating popular opinion. It is also injustice to those who are being swayed by all this. It is bizarre. This guy is an idiot. I have known him since my Vivekanand Kendra days. Just a few weeks back he was in Mumbai, leading a motorcycle rally. There were hardly 200 people with him. Suddenly he has been turned into another avatar of Gandhi. He is obviously a media creation. Anyone who says my way is the only way is an anathema to me. And I hate any kind of browbeating. And I have never nursed the ambition to spearhead anything and has simply tried all my life to be part of something in some way to keep myself occupied since I live in this world. I just hang around the place, seeking in some ways a sense of an ever elusive belongingness. I like it that way and need just that much space to go on existing. I am damn scared of taking on the huge responsibility of leading another human being or even a dog or a cat or a plant. I can only play with my life, not someone else's. That is why I did not create an organisation around me in spite of being capable of doing that. I have never actually been part of an establishment, not even my own family. I am neither a paper nor a jungle tiger. I am not a journalist either. I keep trying being a filmmaker though, since films have formed a major part of my occupation since childhood and I know the art and craft and business of cinema a little bit now. I am just a normal guy who gets upset about things and reacts.
A Friend From Canada: ok rajesh thanks i got your pov, using a cinema term in screenplay writing. but there was a long-list of scams that i was forwarded recently by a friend on how the govt. over these many many years is taking indians for a ride so it was purely in that context i was looking at the anna hazare ' andolan'. nothing more to it than that. who knows and one can't tell for sure whether this hullabaloo and natak will send some kind of a message to the govt. to look before you leap(into scams.) every andolan-ist can't be a dev saab who decided to fast unto death for the elusive rains to aid poor farmers and simple village folk in 'guide'.
My Response: This Government is corrupt. Every Congress Government is. It must be thrown out. I also fear that Janlokpal bill is taking the focus away from the scams of this government. Anna Hazare should have targeted the government and not the entire political class and the Parliament.
A Senior Alumni of My Alma-mater: "Dear Rajesh. There are far many intelligent people than you and I (who) are part of the movement. If you are happy with the corruption encircling our lives you may continue, we can't take it no more."
My Response: You are commenting on an 'insignificant' me instead of rebutting the points raised in my post. Which is strange. There have been others who have reacted similarly. Why are we so averse to an honest and even bitter discourse? And I am sure very few who seem to be concerned about corruption have read the JLB. And how can you reconcile with the arrogance of the movement leaders and how can you be blind to the devious role of the media in whipping up this frenzy and turning the people into a flock of ignorant sheep? I am firm in my belief the right to recall is the real issue. And to tell you the truth, I am not seeing any display of intelligence at the Ramleela Grounds in the utterances of Hazare and his cohorts and the way media is going about it. We cannot have extra-constitutional entities to dictate terms in this manner. And as far as crowds are concerned, the number of Govindas on Janmashtami on Mumbai roads was 6000 times larger than Anna protesters. Please respond to the ideas, and not to me as an individual. I am nobody.
A Senior Alumni of My Alma-mater: "If democracy gives the right to bhends, then they have every right to do a yatra ?! Don't try to intellectualize corruption please. If you can't join and contribute at least you can be respectful to people and not use such terms. I am a supporter and if you think you are an intellectual and people like us are bhends, then you need to introspect."
My Response: Everyone needs to be introspective and open to a free discourse. Since when hard-headedness has become a positive trait? I am not intellectualising corruption. What I am suggesting is that the grand fight should be for the people's right to recall, and not for piddly concessions like a Lokpal Bill. And it is not 'bhendyatra', it is 'bhendtantra'. In fact when Arvind Kejariwal says that the political parties must use a whip to pass Jan Lokpal Bill, he is actually suggesting that Parliamentarians are turned into 'bhends' to pass IAC's Lokpal Bill. Ironically, IAC leaders also appeal to the conscience of the MPs in the same vein. We tend to become 'bhends' in certain circumstances. Our behaviour shows it. Indian democracy has survived so far because of an elected Parliament and our electoral system. We must not try to overrun it in a media-driven frenzy. And my views are based on what I saw happening in 1974… I have seen how euphoria driven movements evaporate after having set and achieved minor objectives. It has always happened. You cannot sustain a euphoria beyond a point, more so if you are dependent on the media for it. The TV media is only interested in your newsworthiness. It forces you to create news, in fact eggs you on to do so. It also inhibits your capacity to sustain a struggle. I also have another issue. I fear that a too independent Lokpal or Lokayukt will be used as a tool to harass, humiliate, and hound the honest, hard-working, and result oriented political leaders like Narendra Modi by the wily and motivated activists and the media.
My View On Facebook: I have seen how euphoria driven movements evaporate after having set and achieved minor objectives. It has always happened. You cannot sustain euphoria beyond a point, more so if you are dependent on the media for it.
Indian In London: "yes we should have a 'neutered' anti-corruption structures like the CBI, CVC, ED who can be unleashed by the politicians to score their difference. and while we are at it, let's also bring our election commission and our supreme court under the direct purview of the elected corrupt representatives (since "we must not allow the bureaucracy and the judiciary to have an upper hand...."). and no one is challenging the rights of the parliament to develop and enact laws but demanding more accountability."
My Response: That is why I have been talking about the 'right-to-recall'. That will really make our representatives accountable directly to their constituents. We should fight for that. Anna Hazare should have been fighting for that. It will help us keep our representatives under the direct control of people. Please remember, it is the wily and devious bureaucracy that is the bane of our governance. It controls everything. It also corrupts the political class. You should read the first draft of the present JLB and the last (17th). Between April and August it has undergone serious transformation, though Shanti Bhushan was in a big hurry to pass the first draft in April itself. And contrary to what IAC may make us believe, almost 90% of those who will select the Lokpal are still political appointees. There is no guarantee that the Lokpal will actually be independent. He can be another megalomaniac with his personal and ideological idiosyncrasies. The bill envisages the Lokpal to be an all-powerful watchdog not directly accountable to the people or the Parliament, and a super-prosecutor. However, he has to work with the existing laws. Now, giving these kinds of near absolute sweeping powers to any entity is fraught with dangers. What more, he has a whole lot of discretionary powers that remain undefined. You should also know that the investigating machinery under the Lokpal will consist of the same IPS officers who are presently working in CBI and they will be working with the existing procedures and rules. Suppose we had the right-to-recall our representatives, Anna and Kejariwal and the rest of IAC could have used their media, SMS, and youth-power to unseat those who are opposed to their version of the bill without resorting to a fast like this or sending their over-enthusiastic cohorts to browbeat MPs into wearing Anna caps. And it would have been a democratic and sane thing to do. It will make the voice of people heard loudly and clearly without going to the Ramleela Grounds every time. I am also surprised and shocked at the big haste of IAC and their autocratic attitude about the passage of the bill in the Parliament. They are not willing to have a discussion on their bill. They want a whip to be issued to the MPs by their parties to vote for the bill and if the changes to the bill are minor they will accept it. And then they also appeal to the conscience of the MPs at the same time. They want the bill to be passed with some kind of a sham discussion. How can an anti-corruption crusader even suggest such a corrupt course? They are asking the government to follow an extremely abhorrent practice it has been following since ages and thus devaluing the Parliament. It means they don't have respect for the Parliament or dissenting opinion at all. They should in fact have asked the parties not to issue whips and let the matter be decided by the independent vote of MPs. They should have been talking to every political formation instead of the government alone. They have done it deliberately. They wanted to settle everything between the government and them. I don't know why? I don't know why Hazare has always been insisting on meeting Rahul and Sonia and writing letters after letters to them. He has legitimised the most corrupt party and the Nehru Gandhi family. His supporters like Agnivesh also keep praising this corrupt government.
Indian In London: "i am okay with judges and CEC being part of the selection panel. i have read the bill in details. this is far better than the govt version. only two political figures in the entire panel. works for me."
My Response: Why does it work for you? Why are you OK with a selection committee of government and political appointees now while finding faults with the government version of Lokpal exactly on similar grounds? How does it ensure the impartiality of the Lokpal? Why do you hate politicians and love judges? Do you know who these judges are and how have they become judges? They are the scum of the legal fraternity, who sought political patronage to become public prosecutors, and were later appointed as judges. In fact, they are not the best of legal brains either. Now, take your time to confirm and digest this stark reality. This shows your definite bias against people's representatives. You seem to look down upon them. Why? Is it because the media has created such a perception? All politicians are corrupt. There was a Chartered Accountant fulminating against politicians in Ramleela grounds. All politicians may not be corrupt, but all CAs certainly are. Politicians don't know creative accounting, CAs do. Please, let us be fair. Don't run down the political class in this manner. And I am not comparing the JLB with the government's Lokpal Bill. The biggest problem with the institution of a Lokpal is that it will encourage Babudom and will become a handy tool in the hands of wily activists and political opponents to harass an honest hard working politician, let us say, someone like Narendra Modi, or even Nitish Kumar. It will also impinge on the powers of our representatives to make the Babus accountable to the people. Look at yourself as the CEO of a Government whose every decision is being challenged and scrutinised to book him somehow or the other by an institution that has more powers than him to reward and punish. It will also encourage insubordination in the government. It will provide a lot of room for mischief-mongering by the media and the other groups and even the scheming bureaucrats. There will be a whole lot of trials and character assassinations by the media. Moreover, the unity of command principle will be seriously compromised. Look at the issue of the Citizen's Charter. Why does IAC team want it to be under the jurisdiction of Lokpal, just to make the institution of Lokpal all powerful, or even more powerful than the ruling government? Lokpal is an investigating body, why should it deal with grievance redressal? Why are they trying to take away the prerogatives of an elected government? Is it because none in the IAC is electable in spite of their media power? What is going on here? You are negating the rights of the same people whose interests you claim to be looking after. On the Janmashtami Day in Mumbai the ratio between the number of Govindas on streets and IAC protectors was 6000 to 1. And while there are 5000 protesters at Azaad Maidan, Mumbai, there are 50,00,000 hard working people who go to work everyday ignoring Hazare hullabaloo. Someone referred to Singapore in this regard and how an institution like Lokpal controlled corruption there. We also know how drug addiction and drug peddling is controlled there. It is an authoritarian regime. Hazare could not have been able to carry out his kind of movement in Singapore. He would have been behind bars for life for disturbing public peace and all those protesters with tricolour painted on their faces would have been caned and jailed for years. Why are we inventing wholly untenable arguments like these? Where is an honest and open discourse? Why whatever Hazare and Kejariwal say is the last world just because they have those slogan shouting crowds behind them who know nothing about the JLB? They are like a flock of idiotic sheep. Are we going to turn our 'loktantra' into a 'bhendtantra' now? I hope the government and the Parliament does not buckle under any pressure and looks at all the pros and cons of creating a Lokpal before taking a final decision. It should take as much time as possible to do that. Are you really reading such long discourses of mine?
RKS
