CORRUPTION AND THE LOK PAL BILL by Freddy Agnelo Fernandes

Corruption in Indian politics has been gaining momentum even since independence; to start with it was slow and even invisible but today it is flourishing to the extent that it is being flaunted in the open market, as more and more scams are being exposed, over the years it has certainly gained enormous horizontal as well as vertical mobility and momentum.

Indians and Goans too have been sharing the same bed with corruption; it is we who have allowed the mole to turn into a gigantic range of mountains, under whose weight we are being crushed today, if we were not passive or even accommodating, corruption would have not been an anomaly that it is today, we have remained reticent through all these years and now needed a seventy two years old Anna Hazare to rouse us from our sleep.

Are we blind, dumb and deaf not to have realized the ever rising graph of corruption ? Today everybody is eulogizing Anna all over India and he deserves to be but why did we need an old and frail Gandhian to rouse us up ? Is it not our responsibility ? Have we all lost our civic and civil sense ?

Anna Hazare has not dropped from haven, he is a common man like any of us in all respect except unlike us, he stood up for what he believed, we may believe in the same principles but unfortunately we have not stood by them that is the difference between men of action and men in hibernation.

A lot of people now say where was Anna all these years ? Corruption has certainly not magnified over night, yes we are all to be blamed, when we ourselves did not stand against corruption, what right have we to question Anna ? If we believed corruption was an evil and fought against it, we surely wouldn’t need a seventy two year old to lead a nation wide agitation against corruption, would we ?

We live in a democracy and each one of us has rights and it is our duty to exercise those rights, it is when we fail to exercise our rights that we become victims of our own making. It is when we become morbid and indifferent to our rights and the rights of others around that we allow aberrations to sprout, strive and flourish and finally these aberrations become monsters that threaten our very existence.

Anna Hazare has dedicated his life for the service and upliftment of the poor, he strives to improve the quality of life in villages, the very nucleus of the Indian Nation. His crusade against corruption could not have come at a better time, as we have witnessed with aghast and contempt, scams after scams coming in waves far larger and more ferocious than the tsunami we saw hitting Japan. Still India survives. In a situation like this Anna gives us a glimmer of hope that we still have a semblance of a chance to uproot corruption and the perpetrators of corruption once and for all.

Anna has shown us what can be done if we stand by our principles, we have lit candles and took part in mass movements to show our solidarity with Anna and support his fight against corruption, hope everyone realizes that this is not the end of our fight but the beginning of our war against corruption and fight to the end.

Anna has forced our selfish, corrupt politicians to see the light of truth even if they were blinded by it. Let’s not question his timing or his motives, let us not take away the credit that he deserves for his fight against corruption, we should be wise enough to give credit where it is due, our support should be issue based and not personality based. Let the light shown by Anna take care of the darkness and let our actions be the answer to inactions.

At this very moment we are at cross roads, we claim to be a super power; we are an economic giant, while the whole world has reeled under recession, India has not wilted even marginally. In a few years we might have the most billionaires and a good number among the richest in the world but has the divide between the poor and the rich diminished in any way ? We have seen big business giants and our politicians amassing unaccountable wealth at the cost of the nation, this is because of the opacity that is very much prevalent in our system and governance. Lok Pal Bill should not just provide us with the much needed transparency in Governance and it’s dealings but also accountability at all levels.

Promises have been made under duress that the Lok Pal bill will be as virgin as it can be, but knowing our politicians who will do anything and everything possible not shoot themselves in the foot or put a noose round their own stinking necks. The Lok Pal Bill should be indeed castigatory with enough reformative and preventive measures incorporated and atoned, anything less will not serve the purpose, so all we want is the Lok Pal Bill and not just a look in to any silly bill, pal ! Anna Jai Ho !