The Centre, which has repeatedly cheated on its deadlines, has run out of any more grace time for passing a strong Lokpal Bill during the ongoing winter session of Parliament, anti-corruption movement spearhead Anna Hazare said on Sunday.
Interacting with journalists after addressing a large rally, his first in Chennai, Mr. Hazare said repeated betrayals by the government despite assurances had made Team Anna sceptical about the passage of the Bill during the winter session, and the composition of the Bill, if at all it is passed.
Claiming that the people had been betrayed by the government four times in the last 10 months on its promise of a Lokpal Bill, Mr. Hazare pointed out that in spite of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance — on the basis of which he had called off his August fast — the Parliamentary standing committee report had not included the citizen's charter, lower bureaucracy (group C and D) and establishment of Lok Ayuktas in all States.
The Prime Minister is a straightforward and non-corrupted man; the problem is with the “remote control” as some around him seemed to be more powerful than him, Mr. Hazare remarked.
“If the Bill is passed, I will present flowers to the Prime Minister on December 27; otherwise it is only protests,” said Mr. Hazare.
He made it clear that there was no going back on the protest fast scheduled for December 27 at Ramlila maidan in Delhi and the ‘jail bharo' stir from January 1 if the government failed again.
Indicating that there has been no softening of Team Anna's stance on bringing the CBI under the Lokpal, Mr. Hazare said there could be no compromise on this core demand. Pointing out that there had not been any instance of a Minister, high-ranking bureaucrat or police officer being sent to jail (for corruption) as the CBI remained under the government, Mr. Hazare said the CBI had to be taken away from government control for the people to get justice, he said.
“The Lokpal will be nothing without the CBI. It is better not to have a Lokpal if the CBI as a whole or at least its anti-corruption wing is not brought under the Lokpal,” said Team Anna leader Kiran Bedi.
She pointed out that the agitation for Lokpal was started following complaints of political interference over the CBI. So the mass consensus was that the CBI should become autonomous and free from government influence, she said.
Earlier, addressing the rally, Mr. Hazare promised to build a model village in Tamil Nadu on the lines of the one he developed in Maharashtra. He said it was a shame that Tamil Nadu was one of the nine States that did not have a Lok Ayukta — a lacuna that would be resolved once the Lokpal Bill was passed.
‘A document of people'
Team Anna member Santosh Hegde who referred to criticism that the campaign was holding Parliament to ransom and that laws could not be made on streets and maidans, said the very Constitution that bound Parliament, executive and judiciary, was a document of the people in whom was vested the ultimate power in a democracy.
Civil activism against corruption at all levels is welcome. While team anna began well, they have diluted the passion in the movement as of now. To hear the team members talk as if they are the collective conscience of India and the sight of a 74 year old gandhian announcing his fasts everytime he does not get his way smacks of a poorly organised movement with more drama than substance. It is becoming embarassing to associate oneself as an Indian with team anna.My advice to Anna is "do not deride parliament or elected leaders with your diatribes and populist remarks. you do yourself, the cause for which you stand and Indians a great disservice !!!"
More than 40 years already went into vain and government of India wants more time. Why? it is now or never. We need strongest Lak Pal for eradicating corruption from roots.
Anna and his team should sign a long term lease at the Ram Lila Grounds and stage a 365 day show! The theatrics of this self-appointed "team Anna" is getting so objectionable that the Government should call their bluff! Who elected this team and what are their credentials? Every day, Anna comes up with ridiculous comments and a mob of Reporters capture these for the TV and he genuinely thinks he is profound! Calling politicians crooks,personal attacks on the Gandhis, supporting non-Congress politicians at elections etc, cannot be for the cause of a Lokpal. The Government blundered by giving Anna prominence by arresting him and now has to deal with this daily soap opera from team Anna. If what is passed by the Parliament is not good enough, India should ignore the man and move on!
95% peoples haven't read what exactly Jan-Lokpal bill is. I think every indian should read it at least once then comment about Team Anna activities.
Thanks God India has got Anna in the time when she needed the most to get people free from this Nehru dynasty rule.
There are already some ministers and bureaucrats either in jail or on
bail,contrary to the statement of Hazare.They are there because of the
prevailing system of investigation and the judiciary, not because of
Hazare,Kejriwal,Kiran Bedi or Bhushans.Shri.Santhosh Hegde`s words are
startling when he said"the constitution was a document of the people
in whom was vested the ultimate power in a democracy" First of all the
constitution of India is still strong and is respected currently by
all proud citizens of India; hence need not be mentioned in the past
tense.Secondly,where ever the word people have been used, it means the
elected representatives of the people,whose collective opinion is
considered supreme.That essentially means the parliament.No single
individual like Anna Hazare or a group of activists do not constitute
THE PEOPLE. The parliamentarians are elected by the entire population
of this country--THE PEOPLE. Shri Hegde would not have meant what he
said.To err is human.
Dear Annaji,
With Due respect Please give the Govt some more time in addressing the
Jan Lokpal bill.As Our only hope now rests on Parliament and as the people watch the dillydallying tactics they will give a fitting reply
when time comes if we are betrayed in this Great cause.
All the talk about Ministers, MPs & MLAs; why isn't A.Hazare not talking
about including NGOs within the purview of JLPB ? It is a well-known
fact that NGOs are as bad as, as good they want to do. Arvind Kejarwal's
NGO is yet to clarify on what it did with $400 thousand donation(s) it
received from foreign individuals/organizations. Nor did Kiran Bedi is
cleared of the Air-Ticket scandal. This movement would have been a
success if not spearheaded by RSS activists like A. Hazare.
If the Govt or current parliamentarians claim laws could not be made on streets and maidans; that parliaiment is the ultimate law making body for the country and that the sentiments of the people does not matter then , here are 2 questions to the current parliament : Can 162 MPs (29.83 %)with criminal charges and 76 (14.00 %) MPs with serious criminal charges ( Statistics courtesy ADR website)be among the exclusive law making authority for the country ???? 2)Since parliament is sacred institution in a democracy , can crime tainted persons be part of such institution & empowered to make laws for the country ?
If the answer is NO ! , THEN PLS CLEANUP THE PARLIAMENT FIRST .
If the answer is "YES, then its better laws are made on the streets and maidans 'by the people' .
I accept Lokpal points and it should be implemented immediately but this is not possible to do within a few days in Parliament. All of us know, our parliament times were wasted by Opposition parties. Whenever he protested against government our economic came down. Many share holders were affected. Its better He and His team members will get concurrence from all opposition parties before he is going to fast in Mumbai.
Just because Anna has the support base of an emotionally driven section of the society who know nothing more than, that they are against corruption does not mean he represents all the voices of the civil society.
There are people too who have not lost all faith in the sacred institution of the Parliament veritably elected by the masses. It is important that the bill be given enough time so as to enable peruse deliberations and debate by the veritable people in charge. This is necessary so that we can have a Lokpal void of any loopholes and discrepancies which can vitiate the system in the future.
Anyone who has seen a water well being dug can't forget that wonderful sight. Those little drops of water that seep down from the sides forms a slushy puddle of water. After a few days those tiny drops will become an inexhaustible water well.
Those tiny water drops are the fount of massive corruption. The lowest echelons of government employees - who interact with the public - indulge in corruption on a daily basis. The "tiny" bribes extorted from the public - ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand rupees each - will pass upwards to the higher echelons before ultimately landing at the chief minister's or the prime minister's office. At its final destination the bribe will be hundreds or thousands of crores of rupees. Along the way up every one will extract their share before sending it up to next level.
It's at these lowest levels that corruption must be attacked and destroyed. And that's exactly why the government wants to shield them. Let's not be fooled by argument.
We respect M.K.Gandhi as 'the father of Indian nation' not only because he lead the freedom struggle, but he did not want to be in power after independence and always kept a low profile in life and words spoken and deeds performed. The highest office was always within his reach!
Anna Hazare, though a good follower of Ghandhiji, a different individual altogether. The period when Gandhi fought, it was with the foreigners, now Anna with own people, the ruling class and the bureaucrats,may be running out of patience..or he has many other things to fulfil as well with the available time period.
We, the moderate Indians, all stand with you Anna for this CAUSE till you are successful.
All the comments are interesting to read. But only a group of persons are in the streets to demonstrate against the parliament functioning who are busy inducting Ajith singh and all the roaring to stop the proceedings. People should arose and make the change to happen. As long as this is not possible, there is nothing to except. People arosing meaning, not a revolution, peaceful demonstration like the wall street protest. People should develop maturity to fight principles in non-violent means. Surely Govt will act when a mass say a million people gather and have a peaceful demonstration.
Through the medium of 'The Hindu' I would like to request Mr.Anna not hasten things.Lokpal will be a major impact and change in our system, hence I think the Parliament should be given more time if required.The ultimate aim is to get through a strong lokpal,I think the country should have patience to wait if needed.Its true that Anna has a strong public backing, including me. It is also true that people make the Government. But we have to realize here that at times publics feelings are motivated by sentiments and emotions, and Lokpal is one such issue, because no body wants corruption. Anna has to be very careful in managing the people who follow him. The energy and force of the people must be used in the nations interest, a mismanagement here would be detrimental to our system and our nation.
Annaji..With all due respect to your age and what you do for the country, Why dont you stop grabbing attention of media by threatening the govt?.Sad to tell this, Off late you have become like a villain always threatening. With this mentality of you and your team, i seriously have a concern about country's condition after a strong lokpal. Are we heading to an era of dictatorship? For GOD sake respect the PARLIAMENT. If nothing happens even after the session you have the right to agitate the people. So for the betterment of your image, please stop threatening!!!
we know our leaders very well.How do they pass any other bill without any discussion any delay and then why do they not take time but in case of lokpal they are just dragging it out.They have been provided a lot of time and they completely wasted it on rubbish discussion.And Anna ji what he doing is right.All the media attention should be there. He deserve it and he is really a hero so heroism suits him.Only one thing that is deviating lokpal from its path that is a lot of discussion about it by the peoples by the media and by the MPs
Both the commenters do not seem to know that this legislation has been dragging on for the last 42 years. And so much background work is available with the Govt - including the first draft made by Abhishek Singhvi's father long ago. If you do not want to support, atleast please do not oppose. It is high time a start is made to control the corruption which has manifested into a monster.
I LOVE ANNA. YOU ARE A GREAT.ALL INDIANS WITH YOU. INDIA NEEDS YOU.
There should be no undue haste in passing a crucial legislation like lokpal which is going to impact the country on a wide scale. The government while presenting lokpal should make sure that in-detail discussions are held on pros-cons and should not bow to any kind of pressure. In a country of 1.2 billion, any legislation formulation should not be to satisfy few individuals; rather the sanctity of the parliament, larger implications for the existing system and the welfare of the people must be held supreme.
Its pseudo-Gandhism
I want a strong Lokpal., and I support Anna's mission. But I don't accept the ways he is adopting of late, may be the extra attention from the media and public has changed his approach a lot. He and his team has to realize the attention was for the cause and not for the individual team. We have a system in place, and are bound to abide by the rules, no one is above the constitution, and it applies to Anna and his team too. Acting or speaking superhuman doesn't serve the cause.
The Lokpal will be a toothless tiger without the CBI or at least its
Anti-corruption wing is brought within the purview of the Bill.Anna's
main demand itself begins with this.Anna has correctly observed that not a single minister or a high ranking bureaucrat has ever been
convicted in the country's history.Let us face facts.Even the opposition and all other party MPs are not too keen on a strong Bill being passed. In such a situation,it is a given that the Bill in its final form will be bereft of all the main demands of Anna and his team and the Lokpal himself will have to wait for all the wounds of
total dental extraction to be healed before being fitted with a set of new ILL-FITTING DENTURES.
I am worried that Advaniji and Manmohanji are talking the same language, that
parliament is supreme.
The struggle to end corruption is an extremely difficult one and I hope India
succeeds in this with minimal trauma.
Corruption at the core of Indian polity, leaves the entire nation poor.
Doesn't Mr. Hazare sound a bit comical when he speaks about no "grace
time" to the government and all that stuff? Does he think that he is
above the Parliament? that he can dictate terms to a democratically
elected parliament? Why does he go about issuing ultimatums and diktats
to the Parliament? His is the voice of a despot, not of a democrat. If
he were a true Gandhian he would have been less bombastic and would not
be touring the country savoring the limelight.
Super Anna Ji. We are all with you. Defeat this government. I will vote whomever you point.
This Lokpal issue seems to becoming a major issue in the next election. Manmohan Singh is a sincere man but lacks leadership quality. He is surrounded by lots of cronies and even Sonia Gandhi has become less effective in guiding the Congress party. Many national leaders are losing their credibility by reducing themselves to be parochial and Chidambaram is the latest in this category.What India needs is unselfish national leaders who serve the country and not a region. Educated younger generation of India should begin to think beyond politics to see a better India and the country cannot depend on a single fighter like Hazare only. Indians need to share responsibilities and come out in support of issues like Lokpal.
When Anna Hazare pointed out that there had not been any instance of a
Minister, high-ranking bureaucrat or police officer being sent to jail
(for corruption) as the CBI remained under the government, he could at
least have wondered what Kiran Bedi, a former senior police officer, is
still doing in his team when she has been charged with swindling money
through air-tickets.
Politics in this country has become a business and it's business
model is corruption. Honest and sincere MPs and MLAs are rare
and an exception. How can we get a strong Lokpal Bill? The very
fact that no such bill was passed for the last 40 odd years is
proof enough of what the politicians want. Anna Hazare is trying
his best to bring a second independence movement but the root
of the matter is the electoral system. If the electoral system
encourages honest and sincere people to be elected then we can
get rid of corruption to a large extent. But today even criminals
get elected and our electorate is ignorant about the result of
this.I wish Anna all the best especially when our Parliament
hardly works due to one reason or the other.
It is back to square one after having received a written commitment from nobody less than a PM of the largest democracy in the world. So, can anybody now trust such people let alone the parliamentarians? Annaji you have your work cut out for you. The people of India will understand and support you more than ever before after this shameful u turn by the Government. Go ahead; we are with you to the bitter end, because we cannot get we deserve even after 64 years of so called independence from the British Rule.
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