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Journalism of Courage
Recent events have a surreal quality how could the sphere of legitimate and serious politics cede so much space,so rapidly,to this brigade of righteously aggrieved people?
Regrettable as this turn of events is,UPA 2 has only itself to blame. It has failed to speak up forcefully for its own arguments,whether with opposition parties,allies,or even an extra-parliamentary caucus like the NAC,and it has been strangely weak-willed in pushing the legislative agenda. By exposing its vulnerabilities,it practically invited this civil society insurgency. The trouble,after all,began with the governments first capitulation inviting Team Anna to a joint drafting committee for the Lokpal bill,but not the opposition. The government broke with established process and enlarged Team Annas aura then by choosing it as a stand-in for all of civil society. And after the negotiation went off the rails,the government then turned around and announced that Anna Hazares agitation encroached on the legitimate role of Parliament. This episode has been nothing but a straightforward crisis of statesmanship,as the opposition was quick to point out. It is an instructive study in what happens when the government slacks on law-making,and undermines Parliament with its own lack of direction. UPA 2 has displayed neither the courage of conviction to stick to its stands nor the ability to work at legislative compromise,to soften the opposition in the interest of getting critical bills moving. The last two sessions were largely thrown away,holding up crucial legislation intended to directly take on some aspects of this ongoing discontent.
