Politics around the anti-corruption agency Lokpal in India

-DR. ABDUL RUFF

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Behind the facade of democracy, India, which is among the most corrupt nations on this earth, does every thing anti-democratic and hides the irregularities very tactfully. The founding leaders of a newly freed India PM Jawaharlal Nehru and police minster Vallabhai Patel, and military minister Menon, by sidelining MK Gandhi who fought for and won freedom from UK,  created a system which essentially anti-people; and they are chiefly guilty of creating such a criminally corrupt and  state terrorist nation in Asia in the first place.

The corruption situation from top to bottom has become so intolerable that in recent months thousands of youth came to the streets in New Delhi and elsewhere to protest against national corruption affecting common people  and they have done it braving possible repressive measure of New Delhi. 

The state promotes rich and crushes the poor.

Social activist Anna Hazare and a group of serious people have, at long last, emerged to save the Indians from practices of corruption that is slowly but steadily eating away the  positive crops off society.

By using his own life as a bargain chip, Anna Hazare sought to rally public support for his anti-corruption demands to create an independent anti-corruption agency, known as the Lokpal, to remove the accumulated corrupt practices from the nation.

This has ignited capstone political fight between the ruling Congress party and opposition parties, especially the BJP eying on the next elections and the confused communists.

The issue of official corruption has dominated India’s politics this year almost threatening every powerful politician and bureaucrat.  Corporate world, shielded by the regime and major political parties of the nation and states, is also entirely in disarray.

Anna Hazare, old, sick and weak, fasted for days in New Delhi in a campaign that pushed the Lokpal issue to the forefront of India’s political agenda. Hundreds of thousands of supporters poured into the streets and forced the Congress party to agree to certain demands in shaping the Lokpal legislation. Hazare’s movement tapped into widespread public anger over corruption and managed to awaken India’s usually politically apathetic middle class. He also fasted in Mumbai which has more cricket fanatics. 

A fully charged Hazare has vowed to wage a nationwide campaign to force lawmakers to create an anti-corruption agency to honestly work for the nation. 130,000 supporters have volunteered to participate in similar civil disobedience campaigns intended to force the government to carry out mass detentions. He is also planning to campaign in state elections against Congress and other parties in the coalition government.

The ruling Congress party took the emergence of Anna Hazare to champion the cause of nation and people, as challenge to their supremacy in Indian politics as every increasingly popular Hazare and leaders of the political opposition have criticized the party over corruption scandals.

It is apparent the Congress party is responsible for the rampant corruption in the country, equally promoted by all other parties including the BJP that claims patriotic credentials. Congress party leaders appeared determined to use the Lokpal issue and the parliamentary debate to place the political onus on their opponents, especially the BJP which it considers a threat to retaining power after the poll. .

Under tremendous pressure from Anna Hazare, for the first time in Independent India, the Indian political class felt answerable to the people and  the lawmakers in the lower house of India’s Parliament, the Lok Sabha, spent hours waging a contentious, nationally televised debate before finally passing the legislation in a late-night voice vote.  The diluted government’s Lokpal bill which was passed by the parliament is criticized by all, especially the leaders of the anti-corruption movement, although it would be created through a constitutional amendment, as a constitutional body, rather than as part of the broader government bureaucracy.

Congress decision to get a government sponsored Lokpal bill and get it passed in the parliament is not entirely surprising. Congress cannot ignore the poplar sentiments and the designs of opposition BJP.

Corruption is the central issue and it is not that easy for India, a close ally of corrupt imperialist nations such as USA and Russia, to make the nation and institutions corruption free. 

Corruption free electoral reforms and genuine auditing for all financial deals in both state and non-state systems would go a long way in cheeking deep rooted corruption in India.  Sources of party funding and assets and accounts of every leader, including the so-called lawmakers,  must be properly checked. commissions from foreign arms deals, all economic deals, IPL-cricket financing, blackmoney, money laundering, and literally every important aspect of transactions must be properly scrutinized.

Even as the anti-corruption has rocked the Parliament and forced the government take shelter under some provisions, corruption is going on in all offices and corporate lords are freely doing their "grey business" with concurrence from the regime. Politicians and bureaucrats think they simply cannot exist if they are denied  the opportunity to take bribes. Why the already paid officials seek extra money from the public  for dong their job?

The corruption-criminals, protected by the state, must now be made to fear punishment. Anna Hazare struggle would likely to continue as a permanent revolution, irrespective of change in government. After all the politicians, among other self-interested "patriots", want to swindle the nation's resources in their own way, irrespective of nature and strength of laws, both Lokpal and  the anti-corruption movement should exit to contain, if not arrest, them.

Since corruption and related crimes affect the daily lives of common people, anti-corruption movement is a permanent phenomenon to function as a key watchdog of corruption crimes in all walks of life!