Anna's Movement

My post on Facebook on Anna on 23 Aug

Hi ! Can't support the movement because I think the method and the solution are wrong.

-Using Gandhian symbolisms like fasting,going to Rajghat,call for azaadi etc. for an action that is not Gandhian is manipulative.Gandhi fasted to repent or touch the conscience not to force.

- Right or wrong,good or bad,I as an ordinary citizen,have chosen MPs to frame laws - they are accountable to us. Anna's team does not hv the right to force an act on the rest.

-Dangerous precedent - signal to many that with a cause and some noisy support, they can armtwist.Too risky for a country with diverse agendas.

-Another body(an army of inspectors -Nilekeni) with such powers in India will be a worse version of legislature/judiciary/executive - corrupt & ineffective.Does not address fundmental issues of transparency,too much power with Govt etc.Cure worse than malady.

-Need to go to top experts for curing the cancer of corruption not quacks. All sensible voices who understand law,history and society etc. are apprehensive - people like Pratap Bhanu Mehta,newspaper editors,Harish Salve,Nilekeni and many more.

- The system is terribly rotten but need the right method and right solution (decentralisation,transparency etc) for lasting change.

Guilty Till Proved Innocent

Arushi Talwar’s case illustrates the abysmal level of public discourse in India.

The incompetence of almost all the institutions is the source. The wild proliferation of media, both TV and press, has positively worsened matters. The media picks up any insinuation and innuendo and has a tendency to make it a headline. The public laps it up.

In the Arushi murder case, the cops have done a thoroughly shoddy investigation, done u-turns on their conclusions, changed completely or selectively the reporting of key evidences. The trial court judgement flies in the face of common sense. The headlines in our media have picked up some incredible allegations and already pronounced the Talwars guilty. They have floated various theories around justifying the gory character of the Talwars.

In this environment, Open and Tehelka have done a yeoman service by publishing a different point of view. Their items are sensible, fact-based and coherent. It seems that anyone who studies the case closely believes that the Talwars are not guilty.

However, the bigger question is if the Talwars are not guility, who takes the responsibility for ruining their lives and in fact, they have suffered a punishment of unprecedented calumny and slander impossible for any human being to bear. Is it the CBI with its ineptness, the UP police with its crooked ways or the media with its only intent to sell? What punishment do they get?

Who is Surprised ? Corruption is Everywhere.

There is suddenly a lot of hullabaloo recently about corruption. It is as if a very honest society suddenly discovered that its ministers and politicians were corrupt and the civil servants and army were not completely above board.

On the contrary, it is obvious to anyone who has some understanding of the country that corruption permeates every aspect of life. The constable lets you off by taking fifty rupees, the provident fund clerks want money to disclose your own balance, the income tax officer takes money to release your returns and some schools want money under the table for a child’s admission. The engineers take money from the contractors, the doctors demand money from patients in government hospitals and the bank manager expects to be bribed for approving a loan. The more powerful bureaucrats and politicians dispense favours from their discretionary powers and plunder the state happily knowing that nothing is going to happen to them. They want free passes if you are holding events, premium plots if you are selling land and petty cash if you want their signature.

This is now part of the work fabric of the Indian officialdom. Barring honourable exceptions everyone knows this. This is an open secret. Yet in the public theatre of day to day life, this is discussed only when somebody is foolish enough to be exposed. In fact the ones who get caught are either stupid or too greedy. The savvy operators keep amassing wealth merrily and not leaving any evidence behind.

The much bandied amount of 1.76 lacs cr is only a notional figure. The money actually exchanged in the 2G saga may be chicken-feed compared to the systematic everyday loot by the various state players.