Ever since the Jan Lokpal bill movement started in April last year self acclaimed ’experts' from nook and corner of the country have jumped the bandwagon of people calling Anna Hazare enemy of democracy and what not!
Some people have gone to the extent of creating conspiracy theories and cited 'hidden' agenda and 'foreign' hand behind such a movement.
Without getting into the reasons why this movement was started (which is obvious to all of us) ,I will try and examine a few allegations that have been made against this whole movement time and again, more so by people who have very shallow knowledge of Constitutional values and ideas.
Allegation 1 :Anna Hazare is blackmailing the whole country
Merriam Webster defines word Blackmail as "extortion or coercion by threats especially of public exposure or criminal prosecution"
Now, to those who have been rhetorically claiming this is a blackmail, please tell me where is the element of extortion? or criminal prosecution? or public exposure?
Anna Hazare hasn't held the so called 'political class' to ransom to pay him some money, or release some terrorists. He was asking the elected representatives, yes the very people elected by YOU and ME to show some strong political will and pass a legislation which may not eliminate corruption completely but at least address a part of it.
Let us accept it, whether it is the dwindling morals in the society or inefficiency of existing laws, we have completely failed to address the issue of corruption in particular and good governance at large. Existing institutions and laws have failed to bring any sort of relief to the common man.
This movement asked the government to carry out its constitutional obligations, is this holding the government at ransom? Demanding the parliament to provide good ,clean governance is blackmail? You decide!
Allegation/LIE 2: Parliament is Supreme/ No citizen is above parliament/ Parliament will decide what laws to make and not people
First and foremost, it is indeed a matter of shame that even the most well read people in this country do not understand what is so wrong with statements like "Parliament is above all".
So let me take the opportunity to clear airs about this grave misconception.
India adopted a parliamentary form of democracy with a written constitution, some of us may wonder that constitution has to be a written piece only and what is so special about it!
But the truth is not all the countries in world have a written constitution, the biggest example being United Kingdom where mere conventions established over years are cited for working of the parliament and establishing rule of law.
So what is so peculiar about a written constitution?
a) There is a separation of powers between various organs of the government i.e Legislative, Executive and Judiciary , and none of the organs has authority to overpower the other. In simple words all three organs enjoy their own powers and status, and there is no big or small among them.
b) All the organs of the government draw their authority from the constitution.What that basically means is that all the actions of the 3 organs of the government have to be in conformity with the constitution. So much so that if any law made by the 'Supreme Parliament' if found to be against the basic values of constitution can be declared null and void by the Judiciary. (Protector of Indian Constitution)
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| WE THE PEOPLE adopted this Constitution |
Now,who adopted the constitution?
'We the people', and what does this all mean?
Citizens of this country,the ones who adopted the constitution are supreme and not the parliamentarians who are mere servants of public to fulfill their aspirations.
So what is wrong when Arvind Kejriwal says "Every Citizen of this country is above the parliament" ?
The above particular statement was misinterpreted to such an extent that some people went on to call Kejriwal a dictator in spirit.
A particular Facebook post which I came across termed him as 'gold standard of stupidity', unfortunately people making such comments never took their Civics Lessons in School seriously.
Allegation 3: Anna Hazare will lead this country to chaos
This is probably, the biggest joke I have heard. The country is being rocked by scams where money as huge 1.76 lac crores (how many zeroes?) is being siphoned off and we don't call that as chaos?
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| Discussing 2G Scam became favorite pastime of all the news anchors |
We as a society have already hit the rock bottom and cannot go further down in our moral fabric, if there is one way that is only up the ladder.
If at all anything, this movement has strengthened our democracy, brought people from nook and corner of this country to fight for a cause and that is good governance.
Allegation 4: Anna is just good in condemning politicians, why doesn't he contest elections himself?
Do we mean to say that any person willing to change anything about this country must go and contest elections? Is fighting elections that easy? Or is it the only way one can contribute to society?
Do people making such claims even know how much money goes into contesting elections, and no I am not talking about the expenses shown to Election Commission but the real ones that go into buying liquor and meet.
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Liquor Seized during Punjab Elections from a candidate's house
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Civil society and mass participation all over the world has been recognized as one of the most important tool of democracy and we are ridiculing it as anti-democratic?
Allegation 5: Now anyone can come on to street and ask for his demands to be met
For people making such claims, I invite them to Jantar Mantar in Delhi. There are in numerous people fasting unto death for getting their demands fulfilled, and not surprisingly government doesn't give a damn.
Irom Sharmila of Manipur has been fasting for past 11 years, has government even cared to go and talk to her?
The fact is it is the anger and frustration of masses which found a vent through this movement, and that is precisely what got the ruling government worried and jeopardize their stand on the issue.
This movement is no longer about an Anna or a Kiran Bedi , it never was, it is about 'We the People'.
Leading such movements needs a charisma and personality which only few people like Anna Hazare and Loknayak J.P have, not every Tom ,Dick and Harry can garner such huge support for such a cause.
Allegation 6: Anna's claim of one Lokpal eradicating Corruption is just a mirage
True, Lokpal is not a panacea for all the problems, but so is not just sitting idle and doing nothing about it. Our current institutions and laws have failed miserably, and what we need is an independent autonomous body to look into charges of corruption against the civil servants. Anna Hazare did not invent the concept of Lokpal, this has been on anvil for last 43 years (what is your age?) .
In 1968, the First Administrative Reforms Commission headed by Dr.Morarji Desai recommended setting up on an independent Lokpal and a Lokayukta, thereafter several expert committees headed by eminent jurists, bureaucrats, parliamentarians and who's who of Indian democracy have recommended setting up of an independent body like Lokpal at centre and Lokayuktas in state.
Why have the successive governments not acted upon it firmly all these years? I do not need to state the reason. Yes, one Lokpal is not going to bring 'Ram Rajya' but atleast it will be a starting point, remember Rome was not built in a day.
I can go on and on refuting such baseless arguments being put forward by a large number of 'Intellectuals' and 'Saviors of Democracy' but the bottomline is 'We the People' need to think what is right and wrong for us.
What we know for sure is Anna Hazare and this movement have won when the highest TRP ratings are gathered by LokSabha Channel (winter session) and not some channel showing saas-bahu soaps.
P.S: This post has been written over a period of 2-3 months, so kindly excuse for the disjointed approach.
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