Corruption in India: Who Is Responsible?

Anna Hazare has said that he will accept the result of the debate on the Lokpal bill in the Loksabha. We now know how the UPA is going to defeat this bill. The champions of secularism Mayawati, Mulayam, Karunanidhi etc, will all join forces in the interest of communal harmony and defeat this bill. All the effort by Anna will be in vain. Was that any surprise to seasoned news watchers and followers of politics. Anna is a passionate man, a mover and a shaker on the street. But he is not a politician. He brought a knife to a gun fight. UPA and others may have let him win the battle but they will defeat him in the war. Anna should have aligned himself or at least sought help from his best option, the BJP. That way he would have the access to some sharp political minds and requisite support in the Loksabha. He still can get it and it is in the interest of the BJP to give it but now it may be too late. A clear cut strategy should have been in place before the hunger strike, before the pro-maoist leftists usurped the stage.
Anyway, from the looks of it, no one in power seems to be interested in doing the right thing. That is the most distressing and heart-breaking thing. We were hoping that we would be able to see the new India in our lifetimes but it seems that it is not going to be possible. Everyone is scheming to derail Anna. As per Sheela Bhatt’s article in rediff, Congress is actively trying to paint Anna in saffron colors because they think that his “dukan” will also get shut down like Baba Ramdev’s. What an approach to an epidemic like corruption – forget the disease, kill the doctor!
I don’t know if Lokpal bill would have been enough. That seems to be the belief of Joginder Singh and Vivek Gumaste, two op-ed authors who have their hearts and minds in the right place. They both contend that the rot is too deep and it needs to be dealt at multiple fronts.
In the meanwhile see the video posted with this article. Abdul Karim Telgi of the stamp paper scam was the first of the multi-thousand crore rupee scams. In a truth serum test (which is not admissible in courts in western countries), he claims that Sharad Pawar and Chagan Bhujbal were involved in the scam. We have known about Mr. Pawar problems with integrity, honest and greed. But the good people of Maharashtra keep electing this man. So ultimately they are to be blamed for it just like UP voters are responsible for Mayawati, Bihar voters for laloo Yadav , TN voters for Karunanidhi, AP voters for Reddy family and WB /Kerala voters for empowering the communists.
This is a democracy. As much as we would like to blame the politicians, we cannot do so. The thief WILL steal and a hustler WILL cheat. That is their nature. If we keep them out of the jail and into the seats of power, are we not to blame?

The rot runs far too deep
Joginder Singh
While drafting a stringent Lok Pal Bill is a good idea, this alone cannot help us fight the cancer of corruption. A lot more needs to be done. Social activist Anna Hazare has rightly raised a storm against corruption which has become wide spread and shows no sign of abating. The Union Government has agreed to his demand of taking on board his representatives for the drafting of a strong Lok Pal Bill. In fact, both sides have legal luminaries as members. As the experience of Bills drafted by the Government shows, they leave sufficient loopholes for the guilty to escape the law, in the name of fair play, human rights and equity, as if victims do not have any of these rights.
The article can be read at:http://www.dailypioneer.com/332359/The-rot-runs-far-too-deep.html

Why the Lokpal Bill alone is not enough
The biggest drawback of the Lokpal Bill is that it is not preventive in its design. It is a punitive measure that kicks in after the crime has been committed and assumes that fear itself would be an adequate deterrent. Even the most robust governments in the world know how difficult it is to restore the monies siphoned off by corrupt practices despite nabbing the culprit. Nevertheless the Lokpal Bill is one step forward in this war and must be supported whole heartedly.
The article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-the-lokpal-bill-alone-is-not-enough/20110418.htm

The Sheila Bhatt article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-why-they-wont-let-hazares-campaign-to-succeed/20110420.htm