Friends;
here is a statesman who has declared unequivocally that he'd go to any lengths
to contain corruption, which is the most vexing issue irrespective whether we
have a socialistic or capitalistic development model.
Even Govindachary endorses
Arvind:
Here
is a pertinent article where Govindacharya (who called Vajpayee a Mukhota- mask
when he was the PM) so succinctly points towards the genesis of AAP:
...In
the Mahabharata, the gurus broke the rules to attack him, and Arvind (Kejriwal)
too might face such unethical attacks, from thaili shahs (bag men), to naukar
shahs (bureaucrats) to rival parties. But the fact is that in terms of a
political continuum, the process will be on, many experiments like this are in
the pipeline.
Source:
Corruption is the real issue of the
third world:
“The scourge
(corruption) debases democracy, undermines the rule of law, distorts markets,
stifles economic growth, and denies many their rightful share of economic
resources or life-saving aid," – Kofi Annan (former UN Secretary General)
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-06-10/us/27198347_1_corruption-democracy-secretary-general-kofi-annan
People
who understand the importance of containing corruption over bland developmental
rhetoric should get United and pave the way for the foremost anti-corruption
crusaders - Anna Hazare and AAP.
If 95 paisa of a Rupee spent on development in India does not reach the
intended beneficiaries then what so ever developmental model or how-so-ever
much money the traditional political parties may pour into the system the
common man would still remain poor and suffer from gross corruption.
I
absolutely agree with the people who advocate that we need a visionary, strong
and unselfish go-getter as our PM to steer the suffering multitude towards prosperity.
However, what is equally crucial is: Where " The World Is Flat " and is becoming flatter is NAMO that person? Or should
it be AK??
IMHO;
the people who fight elections with ill-gotten/ black money do not have the
moral standing to talk about eradication of corruption. Very unfortunately most
traditional parties in India fund their electoral expenses from unexplained
sources. As they cannot explain the source they grossly under report their
spending. Here is an article on this:
Is Anna with AAP?
Anna does
not like party politics. Hence he wanted people to fight corruption without
forming a political party. His opposition to AAP is ideological and hence worth
paying attention. Let’s examine this concept “Party less politics”
holistically.
Party less democracy:
Anna is not the first to advance such utopian ideas. Mahatma Gandhi wanted to
disband Congress after independence for the same reason. Perhaps it
subsequently struck him that in such a situation the fundamentalist would gain
the most and hence he did not pursue that much further.
Then
MN Roy (21 March 1887 – 26 January
1954) founder of CPI also propounded the idea of “party
less politics” after his disillusionment with communism. Though, there were few
takers at that time he remained a constant well-spring for idealistic social
workers, and continues to inspire many even till date.
In the
fight against Indira Gandhi JP stumbled upon the same ideology and "Janata
party" - the rainbow coalition of all non congress parties- was the
offshoot. The experiment failed and the major gainer of this failed venture
were the fundamentalists and the present day BJP.
Due to
this folly of JP, RSS- which till such time was avoided by the common Indians
due to their questionable role in Gandhi killing- gained acceptance and then
grew apace.
In
Odisha and in most other Indian states, guided by Gandhian ideology, many
people experimented or talked about the same. However, selfish party politics
completely shadowed all these people and experiments and by the time AAP was
formed few believed in its efficacy.
Why another political party- AAP?
In
India there are more than 1,500 political parties so was there a need for
another political party? For one, it's a potent force for eradication of
corruption. Two, it's the natural outcome of a national movement and not born
out of the fancy of a politician or a bureaucrat. Three, its deeply routed in
the time tested Gandhian ideology and out to wrest the Gandhi legacy from
Congress where it has become a showpiece of ONE family. Four, AAP is quite
different from any other political party especially when it comes to political
funding. It doesn’t say that it would eradicate corruption but before that it
would come to power by using corrupt funds. It collects and spends funds
transparently and recognizes that political corruption is the beginning of most
form of corruption and hence to have a corruption free India we have to start
with clean political parties. Five; it is aligned with 21st century
realties like open source and crowd sourcing. It's a genuine effort to harness
the power of the swarm and hence brings about a clean break with “money bag”
and “muscle power” politics. In this context it’s also pertinent to have a look
at the genesis of AAP.
Disillusioned with day to day corruption
Arvind took leave and experimented with volunteerism:
Arvind
Kejeriwal could have enjoyed a comfortable life as he and his wife were class
one officers in GOI (IRS- Indian Revenue Service- officers). However, he
decided to tread a different path. He took unpaid leave and started an NGO,
which would work relentlessly to uphold the right of the common man to
information. RTI Act was a natural outcome. Recognizing his outstanding
contribution, in passing this historic Act, he was awarded the prestigious Ramon
Magsaysay award in 2006.
Experiment with Swaraj and use of
RTI:
He
continued his engagement with the common mass and started studying the problems
of the common man by using the newfound weapon- RTI. A major scam in PDS was
unearthed but it did not result in any benefit, as the justice delivery system
is weak in India. Hence, he now tuned his attention to punishing the corrupt
through institutional measures.
ANNA and the national resurgence
against corruption:
In
UPA-II many big tickets corruption were discovered with almost mechanical
precision. RTI helped unearth these daylight robberies by the Babus and Netas
and the entire country was getting ready to take on these cohort of corrupt
netas and Babus head on. Arvind understood the need of a staunch Gandhian to
lead the movement and Anna Ji was rightly requested to lead the movement. IAC-
India against corruption- was formed and peoples imagination was fired by the
nationwide peaceful demonstrations that followed.
Jan Lokpal became the new war
cry:
Anti
corruption measure in the form of a stringent Jan Lokpal Bill became the war
cry of the people who were fighting an apolitical fight to institute this
systematic measure to contain corruption.
Disgust with political double
speak and toying with the idea of a political fight:
As
mentioned above; the political class is good at at-least on thing: playing
politics! Repeated fastings by Annaji and other people was not yielding any
tangible result and gradually the it was becoming clear and clearer that unless
IAC thought out of box this movement would simply become another event in
history and the politicians would continue to laugh their way to power without much
accountability.
AK
suggested they should also explore the option of fighting elections. All the
senior leadership of IAC got together and did a brainstorming. Anna ji opposed
forming a political party, as he believed in party less democracy. However, overwhelmingly
the mood was in favor of it. Besides the conscientious opposition of Anna Ji
and Justice Santosh Hegde there was a small section of people- in this senior
leadership- which was sympathetic to saffron politics and hence were happy
seeing the benefit of this groundswell going to BJP. They opposed formation of
a political party; for, they sensed it would be an obstacle in the path of BJP.
AAP was born on 26 November 2012:
On the
53rd anniversary of adoption
of Indian constitution (26 November 1949) AAP was formally launched. Unlike Anna; AK is a very learned
person and hence didn't want to repeat the mistake of JP neither he got carried
away by idealism which has failed many times in the past. Hence, he didn't want
the benefits of anti corruption movement to go to BJP entirely. Despite his
serious doubt in current day politicians he had to form a political party. How
apt for AAP to contest the unconstitutional provisions which grossly undermine
the sanctity of Delhi legislative assembly and require prior approval of
Central government before a bill can be placed in Delhi assembly?
A few more words about Lok Pal:
Dr L.M.Singhvi coined the
word 'lokpal' - a constitutional ombudsman -in 1963. The first Jan Lokpal Bill was
proposed by Shanti Bhushan
in 1968 and was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969, but did
not pass through the Rajya Sabha.
Subsequently, 'lokpal bills' were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996,
1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008, yet they were never passed. After AAP routed
Congress and threw cold water on the aspirations of BJP (8 December 2013), a
“Lokpal Bill” which could not be passed for Fifty-five years got passed
hurriedly within just 10 days (0n 18
December 2013).
AK had
rightly judged the situation. Unless they- the traditional political parties-
faced a political threat they (most of whom are corrupt politicians ) would
never let a LokPal Act see the light of the day! This time around also Mulaym
Singh of Samajbadi Party was hell bent against passing of this bill (There are
many cases of disproportionate assets against him and his family members);
however, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party were very concerned to perk up
their image and hence they passed a toothless LokPal Act.
Talking about the Guarantees
dished out by Ms Kiran Bedi:
Kiran
Bedi didn’t want formation of AAP as she has sympathy for BJP. So her position
is completely different from Anna ji or Justice Hegde. She is also likely to
contest on a BJP ticket. So it was with a selfish intent, not ideological
difference, she and a few others opposed formation of AAP. For them, they would
contest with a BJP ticket and AAP should not be a spanner in their path of
political one-up-man-ship! Now Ms Bedi gives guarantee about good governance by
Modi! The moot question is: How can Kiran Bedi give Guarantee about Modi? And,
what use such cheap tricks are when essentially these are meant for hoodwinking
the masses?
If Ms Kiran
Bedi and General Singh support BJP then that's their personal choice and if
they contest with BJP tickets that would be fine. But what moral right they
have to say that it was wrong in part of AK to form a political party when they
have their own political axes to grind?
There are historical evidences
where…
Let’s assume Ms Bedi and General Singh are good people. Then,
have not good people been misled in the past? Read about the rise of Nazism and
you'd be shocked to see how many well-meaning people were mistaken by Nazism’s
appeal and that's why it gathered such a potent force. The scale of genocide
and destruction that followed, with the rise of Nazism and Fascism, is already
well known and documented in history.
The rise of AAP
is a natural remedy against corruption:
Friends; its heartening to notice the courage displayed by AK;
when he says he is ready to sacrifice his chair to uphold our constitution,
federalism and pass a tough “Jan LokPal Act”. It's a crucial time and we have
to understand that containing corruption- both ideological and financial-
should be the real concern and hence we should be happy for the rise of AAP.