By S R Nair

Indeed, Anna Hazare’s crusade against corruption is laudable. Anna has made the government realize that the larger issues affecting the common man has to be dealt with  expeditiously and in a manner which will lead to the objective with which the issue has been raised.  The issue of corruption is global in nature. The 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index shows that nearly three quarters of the 178 countries in the index score below five, on a scale from 10 (highly clean) to 0 (highly corrupt).  The information about the most and the least corrupt nations as available at the link http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results indicates that the state of corruption worldwide. Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore are tied at the top of the list with a score of 9.3,  (most clean governments or corruption free nations) followed closely by Finland and Sweden at 9.2. Bringing up the rear is Somalia with a score of 1.1, slightly trailing Myanmar and Afghanistan at 1.4 and Iraq at 1.5 (most corrupt nations). India is ranked 87 with a score of 3.3. The UAE is ranked 28 with a score of 6.3 whereas Japan is ranked 17, higher that the US which is ranked 22.

The basic function of Parliament is to make laws, amend or repeal them. Law making or the legislative process, in relation to Parliament, may be defined as the process by which a legislative proposal brought before it, is translated into the law of the land. All legislative proposals are brought before Parliament in the form of Bills. A Bill is a statute in the draft form and cannot become law unless it has received the approval of both the Houses of Parliament and the assent of the President of India.

The movement for eradication of corruption is definitely novel and has the support of the mass.  The fear of the people is, the government bill would be passed without any discussion since the Government has the numbers and therefore the action of Anna is very much justified. The demand of Anna should now be that this Government Bill should be passed only if there is 100% voting in favour of the bill.  Thereby the legislative process would not be aborted.

It is time for Anna to realize that the entities having vested interest including media has started using him for their own gains. Anna should end the fast by giving a reasonable time line to the parliamentarians to take into consideration the aspirations of the people raised through the IAC and vote for the Jan Lokpal. In case, if the bill is not passed before the end of the Monsoon Session, an undertaking from the Government be obtained that it would convene a special session of the parliament to discuss and adopt the resolution for the passing of the Bill.

In case, the bill is not passed with the demands made by the IAC, then Anna should recommence the fast and the nation would once again support him for carrying out amendments to the bill to seek the demands.

In so far as the arrest of Anna by the Government is concerned, it is not new. In his crusade against corruption, he was arrested in April 1998 and was later released on a personal bond of  5,000.On 9 September 1998 Hazare was imprisoned in the Yerawada Jail to serve a three-month sentence mandated by the Mumbai Metropolitan Court. Later, due to public protests, Anna was released from the jail. The Government of the day was the BJP-SS combine.

So, it is time for Anna to take a brief stop and allow the Government to do its duty since the purpose of the fast has been achieved by Public awakening. Under no circumstances, the parliamentary democracy and the legislative process should be threatned. It appears that certain section of the civil society is now endangering our democracy and taking the route of seeking ransom for unjustifiable reasons, at this point of time. Here they are bullying the Government to accept their view and blackmailing them with an indefinite fast. This is undemocratic.

JAI HIND.

(The views expressed in this article are of the writer’s)