Corruption-O Lord! Save My Country

Pt. Nehru in his famous 'tryst with destiny' speech delivered from the precincts of Lal Killa on the August 15, 1947 had said, quote," it is fitting that at this solemn moment,we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity",unquote. Perhaps most of his followers and people of India forgot his words and moved into the realm of their new world, of course not of his dreams. Sixty four years after his famous speech, a simple, not much literate man from a humble background ,Sh. Anna Hazare, from the hole of Tihar Jail, exhorted people to fight for freedom from corruption which he calls second freedom struggle.There was a overwhelming response, people thronged roads and streets across the country challenging the authority of Government , even raised questions on authority of the Parliament and its established process of law making. The Ivy League educated Ministers conceded defeat and released him from Jail on his terms.

Now Anna and his team is among sea of people at Ramlila Ground in Delhi, demanding enactment of strong Lokpal Bill, say bill, as drafted by them.

It is amply understandable that we need to have Anti Corruption Ombudsman with sufficient teeth and might but not without putting simultaneously checks and balances in place. We need an Ombudsman with adequate authority and reasonable accountability. Any institution or person with absolute powers and without any accountability becomes a monster. Secondly, in a democracy the feeblest voice needs to be heard . The claim of Team Anna that they represent all those voices is farfetched.One prominent member of the team has a strong belief that all Government employees are corrupt and collude with each other to rob the common man (who is common man, is government employee not a common man), e- media orchestrated this biased notion of his and ingrained it in the minds of the youth. Thirdly, any law, however strong it may be, cannot be panacea for all ills. Fourthly, we have a well established parliamentary democracy and constitution has granted us fundamental rights which judiciary, parliament etc have ably protected. We are only state in the world, with population of 1.20 billion and low per capita income of US 1219 , having well established and working democratic system of governance.We must be proud of it. Team Anna and opportunistic political leaders should refrain from comparing their fight against corruption with Jasmine revolution , there people are fighting against despots. It may push the youth, who are actively participating, towards political adventurism.

In democracy no party or individual is absolutely wrong or absolutely right. It believes in dialogue to arrive at consensus. Law making, therefore, in democratic set up is time consuming. The stubbornness in democracy is not an acceptable norm.If Team Anna, Government and political parties stick to their respective line of action on the bill, the one law they would certainly enact, that is, LAW-LESSNESS and they may also change form of government to ANARCHY.

OLord !Save My Country.