Opinion Someone had to stand up

The present agitation — whatever the views of the five “holy cows” — is not about which of the two bills should be accepted and passed,but an expression of anguish that nothing concrete has been done or implemented by the government of the day,particularly by the Congress-led government at the Centre. This is a great tragedy. An instance in point is the 12-year-old 166th Indian Law Commission Report (1999),which not only recommended the confiscation of properties of those who had been proven to be corrupt,but had also drafted a detailed bill,which had only to be adopted in Parliament and made into law. Sadly and significantly,neither the NDA government (in its five years of “glory”) nor its successor UPA 1 (another five years) nor even UPA 2,have even thought of introducing this ready-to-enact bill! Protestations are many,but the will is lacking,and the lay public has now caught on.

If the agitation of the very recent past has taught us anything it is that no government,whether at the Centre or in the states,can ignore the voice of the people — neither at election time nor even between elections. This is a good thing,more pragmatic than Jayaprakash Narayan’s solution of a right to recall: the watchword of today is the right to effectively (but peacefully) protest the ineptitude of those who govern us,and so compel a change. It will come.

—Fali Nariman,eminent jurist

Middle class vote

While I agree with your views,I would like to add two minor points. The UPA mandate of 2009 was as much to do with the fact that the middle class was frustrated with the Left parties and the fact that there was no meaningful option in the opposition. I think a lot of people voted for the Congress from urban India due to a lack of options. Also,coming out of the global meltdown,India’s recovery was creditable and the Congress got the benefit from urban (middle class) India.

On education,starting with Arjun Singh as HRD minister,it has been one disaster after another. Even today the number of vacant/ under-utilised schools of the government are enormous. There is no focus on teacher reforms to make sure that government schools are made efficient — alternatively,they must work on a PPP model that is acceptable. The RTE act will create huge social discord in its present form and reduce further capacity for middle-class India. While FSA etc,will become a problem down the line,just getting existing government schools to fill up can be a start. In addition,working with two shifts can also be a model to be pursued to ensure fixed asset utilisation.

—Ashish Bharat Ram,Managing director,SRF Ltd

Accountability now!

I think that all of India,not just the middle class,is fed up of politician obscurantist doublespeak and the smokescreens that politicians create to serve their own monetary and other self-interests,which they clearly do illegally. I believe the rot started from the top and continues to be led from the top. Ministers and chief ministers,and prime ministers and leaders of political parties directly,indirectly,or by turning a blind eye,demand and build corruption into the system by instructing compliant bureaucrats to collect funds for election war chests. Turning a blind eye when this is happening has the same effect as doing it yourself. In the quest to create huge banks for political power,national assets are grabbed by the political class,and policy tilts in favour of those who contribute the most in cash or kind to votes. Hence criminals and leaders who can deliver votes by any means are valued and rewarded by politicians and also end up in state and national legislatures.

The power so amassed in the last 50-60 years has been so great that all redressal systems have been either silenced or made dysfunctional.And where do we find ourselves? Every aspect of our life has been spoilt by corrupt politicians,bureaucrats and officials.

Let me tell you what I encounter during a typical day in my super-privileged life. I wake up to breathe polluted air. The milk in my tea is toxic with antibiotics and hormones injected to cows. The fruit and vegetables I eat have toxic levels of pesticides. I don’t know how much of the morning paper I read has paid-for news. If I take my car out,I’m driving through craters. If I walk,there are no footpaths I can safely walk on.

I’m stuck in traffic for hours because for decades there has been stunted vision and minimal implementation of any infrastructure plan for this great megapolis I live in. The water that I get in my tap is transported by a tanker because the government can’t give us 24-hour water supply in an area where there is abundant rainfall. The water that the government does supply is contaminated as in my ward,where the chief minister lives,the sewage pipe leaks into the water supply pipe. Throughout the year,there are puddles in the city where mosquitos breed.

I have a simple open-and-shut breach of contract case pending in the high court for years and I have no idea when I will get justice. There is no accountability in our country and justice eludes us all. Anna Hazare is insisting that the corrupt,at all levels,be brought to book. And this is what I buy into. I want the loot to stop. When this happens,parliamentary democracy will work as intended. And I believe that every Indian wants this,not just the middle class because corruption has affected every socio-economic strata of our society.

In my view,the politicians will make another monumental blunder if they see this as a limited movement of one class of society. Anna is what he is because he is not corrupt,because he is fighting for a cause greater than himself,because he is an incorruptible nationalist who walks his talk and this is why he appeals to all,no matter how rich or poor they are.

—Kavita Khanna,Mumbai-based lawyer

India has changed

I normally agree with your views,but not this time.

The PM is the CEO of the country. For over four decades now,our PMs have,for one reason or another,appointed persons to their cabinets who they and the country know to be crooked. This has the unintended effect of making the PMs complicit. In the instant case,the very original government appointee list to the Lokpal panel says it all. It is as if Al Capone were to find place in a temperance committee. I feel not just exploited and disdained,I feel as if my government has slapped me in the face.

All pompous talk of the majesty of our institutions and the supremacy of Parliament is pulling wool over our eyes. Our institutions have long since been hollowed out and eaten up by corruption. What we see of these institutions is just the shell.

I have deliberately used strong language to express a raw emotion. Because in my interaction with scores of people,deep within,I have found this to be the only raw emotion that is driving the movement. It is a feeling of a personal affront.

Why now,why not earlier,is a harder question to answer. This may not be unrelated to the winds of change sweeping across North Africa and West Asia. Maybe,over time,we became used to being exploited,and are only now recovering some of our lost self-respect. Maybe it is an idea whose time has come. Maybe it was just waiting to happen,and required ordinary folks like Hazare and Kejriwal to stand up and say boo.

To me,the details of the Jan Lokpal draft matter less. Someone had to stand up,someone has! In civilisational terms,that is an inflexion point of far greater long-term import. India will not be the same again.

— Sanjeev Aga,Mumbai-based commentator