Anna, Ramdev and second freedom struggle...

Anna Hazaare is calling it second freedom struggle. Baba Ramdev is calling it his ‘Rashtadharm’ to start movement against Black Money. We all know what has happened and what is happening at present. We have seen lots of discussions on the cause and expected consequences of this movement. As the things are going by, we may get a Lokpal and a law against Black Money.

Although I support both these issues of Lokpal and black money, I have some doubts how much effective, the proposed solutions are going to be. I was having a discussion with one of my friend on Lokpal and I told him about my doubts regarding Lokpal. He said even if institution of Lokpal fails, this movement is successful in itself as it is spreading awareness about corruption. Youths are joining this movement. They are with Anna Hazare.  It’s a positive sign.

I agree but if we look back at Indian history, there is very less chance that Lokpal is going to be very effective let alone removing corruption completely. Many scams have been unearthed and consequently, many laws have been passed since independence. But, I don’t think our system has been able to punish any politician. I don’t know how Lokpal is going to change that. Lokpal has to work under the current system only and we know its speed. I don’t know how Lokpal is going to change that scenario. As proposed, it will be an independent body and proposed Lokpal bill provides sufficient cover for it not to be affected by external influences. Even then if someone is found guilty, is the current system capable enough of punishing him on time. Is there not a possibility that like all previous cases it will lost between different layers of judicial processes? And if our, proposed Lokpal system is not able to punish guilty ones on time, it’s futile to expect that it is going to affect corruption scenario drastically in coming years.

The second point, about spreading awareness among youths and common junta about corruption is no doubt a very valid point. It’s the first time we have seen such a large demonstration against corruption in years. But it’s another thing to take part in demonstrations and it’s totally different to practice that in real life. Can we say for sure, youths who are motivated to take part in this movement are going to refrain themselves from any corrupt activity? Is this movement going to motivate common people to stand up against corrupt activities in their day to day life? Some may say that I am expecting too much, but if the movement doesn’t motivate people to go against corruption in their day to day lives, then this awareness is of no use. We all know about scams and black money. So, just to tell about these should not be understood as spreading awareness against corruption.

Unless and until we take stand against corruption in our day to day lives, I don’t think any law or institution is going to abolish the corruption completely. Corrupt people will find some or other way to bend the laws. To say that we are corrupt because system is corrupt, is just an excuse to turn away from our responsibilities. There is an urgent need to change the whole social structure against corruption. If that is not done, I don’t think Annaji’s second freedom struggle is going to be successful.