Anna Hazare with Swami Ramdev at a Rally
Delhi, India (CHAKRA) – As the protests continue, the anti-Anna brigade and the staunch Congress Supporters are creating more and more rumours about the Janlokpal Bill and Anna Hazare. They usually repeat the same old arguments that Congress leaders put on the media. Following are the few criticisms and rumours that one may find from these few people :
1. It is Anna’s fight.
No. It is ‘Team Anna’ consisting of Kiran Bedi, Bhushans, Arwind Kejriwal, Sri Sri and many more, supported by millions across the world.
2. Anna is inflexible
Its not about Anna. He pioneers the movement with his team and the issue is thoroughly discussed by the team and suggestions are made on social networking sites like Facebook. Moreover, there are pages and websites like India Against Corruption where people can bring in their suggestions too.
3. Civil society is adamant
The Civil society knows how the so called ‘democracy’ has been working for the past 60 years where kasab gets lavish food and Anna’s supporters don’t get even basic amenities like washrooms or food in Jail, where Congress took months to arrest corrupt leaders like Kalmadi and minutes to arrest freedom fighters like Anna and forget about anti-nationalists and separatists like Syed Shah who are still roaming free and giving anti-India speeches all the time.
If corruption is controlled, then the police would be able to do its duty properly and the government would be denied its corrupt vote bank policies which lead to a direct hike in terrorist activities. Many high level politicians, as exposed by media, have direct links with the terrorists and the underworld and hence no quick or concrete actions happens against the terrorists. Following are some of the features of JanLokpal Bill :
– Power to probe into allegations of corruption by Members in Parliament like MPs taking bribe to vote.
– Today, CBI comes directly under the Prime Minister. So, unlike Lokpal, CBI is not an independent organization in this scenario. Therefore with the Janlokpal it will have the authority to investigate allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister and the Anti Corruption Branch of CBI will be merged with Lokpal to give it more independence.
– Lokpal will give permission to tap phones of people suspected to be involved in corruption
– If Lokpal finds that business entities are involved in corruption, then Lokpal will have the right to ban such companies from taking part in future government contracts and to black list them
4. Anna is forcing the implementation of Janlokpal Bill by all means
No. Its the “introduction” of a strong lokpal bill like Janlokpal bill in Parliament from where the talks would be taken further. This is the key elements that critics of Team Anna and Janlokpal usually ignore in their criticism. The whole fight is for the introduction of a strong lokpal bill in Parliament and implemention of a strong lokpal bill for which Janlokpal Bill has been created as an example by the reputed people in India, because of which people are constantly exposing the difference between the government’s lokpal bill and the Janlokpal bill.
5. Anna is corrupt
Anna is 74 year old freedom fighter who had a bullet on his head, who is disconnected from his family for the past many years, who made his village self-sufficient, who lives without any major bank balance in a small room in a temple and today is fighting for the nation to get back those lakhs of crores looted by politicians in scams. What political motive can Anna have?
In a hypothetical case, even if Anna is corrupt,
a) then what about Kiran Bedi, Arwind Kejriwal, Bhushans, Justice Hegde, Award winners, IPS officers and millions who support team Anna?
b) Then, via the implementation of a strong Lokpal Bill like JanLokpal Bill, Anna too can be tried!
c) What about Rahul Gandhi, hailed by the same critics, who violated Section 144 of CrPC in Uttar Pradesh when he visited the villages of Bhatta-Parsaul earlier this year. The move was not just supported by the Congress but was positioned as the party lending its voice to the ‘aam aadmi’.
d) Going by the track record of Congress who tries to shut anyone who speak against it, he would have been jailed by now if he really was corrupt.
6. People are blindly following Anna
‘People’ include IITians, students from DU, educated middle class, employees, national award winners, IPS officers etc and millions across the world i.e globally and not just limited locally to India and hence the argument that “people are following it blindly”, becomes void!
Ironically, the people who criticize Anna are not able to hold the debate further and they themselves do not know the difference between Government’s lokpal bill and Janlokpal bill. They can be found plagiarizing secondary criticisms instead of reading themselves, the text of Janlokpal Bill, and expressing their own doubts. It is rather surprising that a 74 year old patriotic freedom fighter is fighting for the nation and people are busy analyzing his personal character unable to look at the bigger picture.
By Sagarika Kapoor
References :
Government Lokpal Bill, Jan Lokpal Bill and their differences : http://www.
http://www.hitxp.com/articles/
http://timesofindia.
If govt demands ” more time” to pass LOKPAL bill– Anna Team must ask them to at least pass following small laws, these can be passed in 5 minutes as they pass their salary hike bills—(1).Immediate “Right-2-Recall” of MP/MLA by citizens.(2).DEATH-penalty to LOKPAL/PM/ Ministers, if they go corrupt/ LIFE-TERM for MPs/MLAs/ Ist Class OFFICERS if found corrupt. their WIVES / CAs/ accountants to also be given life-term as they fully cooperate the crime.(3) Reward of 1000 times the bribe amount if any whistle blower reports his paying a bribe in 3 days with proof. ( amt 2b recovered from bribe giver..(4) A PCR Van in each city to reach in 5 minutes whenever a victim calls demand of a bribe. (5)A fixed time schedule to completion of jobs in offices,. If violated sud b treated as demand of bribe. (6) All criminal cases be disposed by day2day hearing spl courts. so that a case is solved in 3 months. (7) Income & assets of All MP/MLAs candidates n their near relatives be scrutinized before election. 8)Salary of Ministers etc shud not be more than a School teacher & they shud live in 2 room flat in a slum area in their constituency, always travel by ordinary unreserved train coach so that they know plight of ordinary people.(9) Election campaigning shud b only thru. National TV ( FREE slot), SMS/E-mails, so that election expense is ZERO henceforth.
Who is going to scrutinise the scrutineers. Is there any risk the Jan Lokpal process could itself be swallowed into the blackhole of Indian corruption, especially as it’s staff will be unelected and answerable to no one? After all, Mr Hazare will one day no longer be with us.
I like the SMALL BILLS suggested by Satish
* The Government’s Lokpal version gives less power to Lokpal, but at the same time gives it more immunity from any action against the institution itself.
* The Jan Lokpal version gives more power to Lokpal but less immunity if its own actions are found unaccountable.
Corruption and Jan Lokpal Bill – Sand Sculpture by Tarani Masro from Andhra
Accountability of the Lokpal
* Jan Lokpal: Any Citizen can go and complaint to Supreme Court to remove a Lokpal if the Lokpal is not found to be accountable in his/her actions.
* Government Lokpal: Only Government has the power to remove a Lokpal.
So according to government’s draft, if government appoints a corrupt person as the Lokpal, then people have no way of seeking the removal of such a Lokpal. But in case of Jan Lokpal, I or you can go to the court and demand that the Lokpal be removed if we are able to provide justification for that removal.
Corruption allegations against Lokpal Members
* Jan Lokpal: Complaints of corruption against Lokpal members will be heard by an independent authority.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal itself will hear complaints of corruption against its members!
Which is more accountable? Lokpal hearing complaints against its own members? Or an independent authority acting on these complaints?
Probe corruption allegations against MPs in Parliament
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will have the power to probe into allegations of corruption by Members in Parliament like MPs taking bribe to vote! (Remember the Cash for Votes Scandal? )
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal will not have any right to probe into allegations of corruption by MPs in the Parliament!
Complaints against Government Officers, Public Servants
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal can act on complaints against ANY government officer.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal can act on complaints against only “Group A” level government officers.
There are around 80 lakh state government officials and 40 lakh central government officials in the country. Of which only 65000 are Group A level officers. So according to government’s draft Lokpal or no Lokpal it makes no difference to over 99.995% of the government officers! The fact is that it is these officers below Group A level who actually cause problems to the common man. If common man cannot complain to Lokpal about problems like corruption in the Public Distribution System, corruption in his local RTO, corruption in rural employment scemes etc, then what is the use of such a Lokpal?
Action against government officers
* Jan Lokpal: If a government officer delays the work of a citizen beyond scheduled time frame then he will be deemed corrupt by Lokpal and penalized for that.
* Government Lokpal: There is no penalization of government officers who do not do their duties.
NOTE: The Government had earlier agreed to the proposal in Jan Lokpal on this issue. But this again is missing from the government’s Lokpal draft!
Corruption allegation against Judiciary
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will have the authority to investigate allegations of corruption against judges.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal will NOT have the authority to investigate allegations of corruption against judges.
NOTE: Government wants judiciary to be investigated based on a separate Judicial Accountability Bill (JAB). Anna’s team is fine with that provided the the flaws in giving permission for investigations against judges are removed. In the JAB, permission to investigate allegations against a judge will be given by a three member judge team, two of whom will be judges from the same court, and even the third judge will be a retired chief justice of the same court!
Corruption allegations against Prime Minister
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will have the authority to investigate allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal will NOT have the authority to investigate allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister.
NOTE: Government wants CBI to investigate any allegations of corruption against the Prime Minister. But the fact is that the CBI comes directly under the Prime Minister. So, unlike Lokpal, CBI is not an independent organization in this scenario.
Anti Corruption Branch of CBI
* Jan Lokpal: The Anti Corruption Branch of CBI will be merged with Lokpal to give it more independence.
* Government Lokpal: The Anti Corruption Branch of CBI will continue to remain with CBI, which means direct government control over it, because CBI is controlled by government.
NOTE: Government has now even removed CBI from RTI! So nobody knows what is going on within CBI.
Dismissal of Corrupt Public Servant
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will have the power to dismiss a corrupt public servant from job.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal will have no power to dismiss a corrupt public servant. The concerned minister will decide whether to dismiss a corrupt public servant or not.
NOTE: What if the minister is also a beneficiary of this corruption? Will he in such a case dismiss the corrupt public servant?
Protection against false complaints
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will impose fine to those who make false complaints or ill motivated complaints. Lokpal will decide whether a complaint is false or not.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal will send those who make false complaints to jail for a period of two to five years! The accused can also go to court against the complainant, and in this case, the legal expenses of the accused will be borne by the government, where as the complainant has to pay for the legal expenses from his own pocket.
This one clause in the government’s draft is enough to ensure that nobody will dare to go and complain to Lokpal. If the corrupt who are also generally rich, are able to mute all evidences against them, then the person who complained will have to go to jail, do trips to courts, bear his legal expenses and what not.
NOTE: While the minimum imprisonment for a false complaint is two years in the government’s draft, the minimum imprisonment for those found guilty of corruption is only 6 months! The government’s draft clearly targets the complainant than the accused.
Selection of the Lokpal Members
* Jan Lokpal: An independent search committee which consists of retired constitutional authorities (like judges, eminent IAS officers etc) will prepare the first list of eligible candidates. Then an independent selection committee comprising of two politicians, four judges and two retired constitutional authorities will do the selection. So there is no scope for government interference in the selection process of Lokpal members here.
* Government Lokpal: A Panel of 10 members, 6 of whom are politicians, 5 of whom are from the ruling alliance/ruling party will select the Lokpal members. Even the search committee which searches for eligible lokpal members will be selected by the above mentioned selection committee. 5 members from ruling alliance and totally 6 politicians in a group of 10 will ensure that government will be able to appoint its own people to Lokpal!
NOTE: The Government had earlier agreed to the selection committee proposed by Jan Lokpal. But this proposal is not there in the government’s draft now! Instead we have what is described above in Government’s version.
Permission to Tap Phones of those alleged of Corruption
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will give permission to tap phones of people suspected to be involved in corruption.
* Government Lokpal: Home Secretary will give permission to tap phones of people suspected to be involved in corruption!
What if the permission sought is against those who control the Home Secretariat? Is it fair to expect that the Home Secretary will give permission in such cases? What if Home Secretary himself is under the Lokpal scanner?
Corruption by Business Entities
* Jan Lokpal: If Lokpal finds that business entities are involved in corruption, then Lokpal will have the right to ban such companies from taking part in future government contracts and to black list them.
* Government Lokpal: No power to Lokpal to black list any business entity found guilty of corruption.
Fast Track Hearing of Corruption Cases
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal can setup special benches in High Courts to speed up hearing of corruption cases.
* Government Lokpal: Lokpal has no power to setup special benches like this. Which means slow hearing of corruption cases.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Protection to complainants, whistle blowers
* Jan Lokpal: Lokpal will provide adequate protection and security to complainants and whistle blowers.
* Government Lokpal: No mention about any protection to those who complaint about cases of corruption.
Establishment of Lokayuktas
* Jan Lokpal: There will also be Lokayuktas established at each state level with powers similar to Lokpal. These Lokayuktas will probe into corruption at a state government level against ministers, MLAs and state government officials.
* Government Lokpal: No establishment of any Lokayuktas through Lokpal Bill.
If people have any issue of corruption at a state government level, then according to the Government’s Lokpal bill – forget it.
Method of Enquiry
* Jan Lokpal: Enquiry will be done just like in any other criminal case. After preliminary enquiry FIR will be registered, and after that investigations will be done, and then the trial will be held in the courts.
* Government Lokpal: After preliminary enquiry, before filing FIR all evidence collected so far should be presented to the accused, and he should be asked why an FIR should not be filed against him based on that evidence! After investigations, before filing a case against the accused, again all evidences collected so far should be presented to the accused, and he should be asked again as to why a case should not be filed against him!
I strongly support Anna Hazare’s Movement 4 a corroption free BHARAT
I M against Curroption.
I pray for Anna Hazare’s Good Health.
Bhagwan Unko achi sehad de.That he should fought 4 win the movement .
thanks
Prasanna Chhotray
If corruption is a virus, then anna hazare’s proposed jan lok pal bill is an anti-virus
anna reminds us of rabindra nath tagore, “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high……….”
I hope the indian middle class anger and excitement is not short-lived
i think we need to apply thoughts of bhaghat singh and subhashchandra bose we do not need thoughts of gandhiji . i think this politicans should be lined up in ramlila maidan and should be shoot dead in public then only the system will change
India definitely needs to deal with its corruption problems. I am a foreign born Indian. Once upon a time, Indians were highly regarded in the West. The Commonwealth Games however, made a laughing stock of India and being racially Indian, I was devastated by the press India got over here in New Zealand. In contrast, China can do no wrong, they are that efficient. That Kalmadi guy is an absolute disgrace!
this is one of the biggest phenomena in the recent human history.. the single window glass was not broken in such a massive protest of 1 billion population and people got their wishes.
Anna is definitely a phenomena and an amazing success. people doubted including me but he proved everyone wrong. i was so fed up of these politician and pseudo intellactuals that i thought our country had no future.
thanks for making many wrong by winning. yes, things may not change over night but if good people keep quiet then anarchy will continue because bad people always do bad things but good people always be practical.
what is the most beautiful this is he made politicians look so stupid and also all pseudo and jealous filled pseudo intellectuals like Arundati Roy and Mahesh Bhat.
after 65 years, there is a joy again in me and also proud to be an Indian again.
hurricane Irene is blasting the roof off but in my cozy apartment, i am reading about ym Anna.
Three Cheers to Anna Hazare for the Lok Pal bill !