There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. But there is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation.
The 1990s saw marketing whiz kids at the largest English daily in the world steal a term then in vogue among sexually discriminated minorities: PLUs — or People Like Us. Media content would henceforth be for People Like Us. This served advertisers' needs and also helped shut out unwanted content. As the daily advised its reporters: dying farmers don't buy newspapers. South Mumbaikars do. So the suicide deaths of a couple of fashion models in that city grabbed more space in days than those of over 40,000 farmers in Maharashtra did in a decade.
February 2011 saw one of the largest rallies staged in Delhi in years. Lakhs of workers from nine central trade unions — including the Congress party's INTUC — hit the streets to protest against rising food prices and unemployment. This was many times bigger than the very modest numbers at Anna Hazare's fast and larger than Ramdev's rollicking ‘yoga camp.' These were workers and unions not linked to the state. Not market-driven. Not corporate-funded. And expressing clearly the interests and values of their members. In fact, fitting some classic definitions of ‘civil society.' The rally was covered by the BBC, Reuters and AFP but was mostly invisible in mainstream Indian media except when attacked for creating traffic jams.
Perhaps the whizz kids were on to something larger than even they knew. At least one dictionary has since added this entry under People Like Us: “A subtle reference to people of the same socio-economic class.” Only, there was nothing subtle here. The Indian elite play the PLU game like few others do. Entry into the club is by birth or invitation only. And getting certification from the classes that matter takes some work. Your own background can be surmounted however, even turned to advantage, if there are enough strong PLUs around you. Anna Hazare had this. Baba Ramdev did not have it. Both claimed to speak for ‘civil society.' A media applying that word with reverence to those around Anna Hazare, denied it with scorn to those they saw as Ramdev's rabble.
Sections of the media embarrassed by Ramdev point, in contrast, to the ‘many fine people' around Hazare. Most of them part of the Delhi elite with indeed impeccable records of service. Yet, how did their approach differ in principle from Ramdev's?
Both were self-selected groups claiming primacy over the elected government. Both asserted they knew what was best for the nation. (Rather than an electorate they scorned as sold on a bottle of liquor or a hundred-rupee note). Both had no qualms about breaking down the walls between the institutions of state. Never mind the Constitution, they sought a body whose members they would largely appoint. A super organ above the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Take the government notification on the drafting body for the Lokpal bill. It uses the words: “The five nominees of Anna Hazare [including himself] are as under…” When have such vital national appointments been made by and in the name of one individual, however noble?
Both felt they had the best solutions for fighting corruption, which is fair enough. Both, however, demanded that their fatwas be written into law. That their will prevail in the writing of the bill. That the Constitution assigns this right to the legislature mattered little. Both saw themselves as more representative of the nation than its people. In months, they would succeed where “in 62 years” the nation had failed.
Electoral democracy drew special contempt. In this, they were at one with the top tier of PLUs. “Who takes all that stuff seriously?” asked one celeb on a television panel discussion. Well, it seems people do. Voting in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu crossed 75 per cent in May 2011. In West Bengal and Puducherry, it edged towards 85 per cent. Tamil Nadu in May 2011 saw its highest turnout in 44 years. And voters there showed how vital the issue of corruption was to them. Money power has surely corrupted the electoral process severely. But does the electorate deserve the scorn poured on it by ‘civil society?' If the latter has struck a chord at all, it is because of the deep concerns of the former.
So who do these versions of Indian ‘civil society' represent? Do we take the World Bank's definition? Civil society would then be: “a wide array of non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations that have a presence in public life.” And which express “the interests and values of their members or others, based on ethical, cultural, political, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations.” The European Commission states flatly that there is “no commonly accepted or legal definition” of the term. It also “does not make a distinction between civil society organisations or other forms of interest groups.”
The U.S.-based Civil Society International raises the question of whether the media should be included in ‘civil society.' More so when they are privately-owned and hyper-commercial in character. It points out that some notions could render both the League of Women Voters and the Ku Klux Klan part of civil society. In India, the RSS is a large voluntary organisation claiming to be cultural and non-political in character. Ergo, civil society?
Theory aside, civil society in India seems defined by exclusion. It is crowded with human rights lawyers and activists, NGO leaders, academics and intellectuals, high-profile journalists, celebrities and think tank-hirelings. Mass media debates never see landless labourers, displaced people, nurses, trade union workers, bus conductors being asked to speak for ‘civil society.' Though, indeed they should.
Marketing minds would define civil society more clearly as a prime PLU platform. They'd be right, too. Who else do we see out there? The PLU syndrome goes way beyond the Lokpal bill. When Kaushik Basu, chief economic adviser to the Finance Ministry, called for a certain class of bribes to be legalised, ‘civil society' simply shut its eyes and brain. The National Campaign for Peoples' Right to Information — a flag bearer of civil society — maintained a studied, shameful silence. Professor Basu was not pushing this idea in his private blog. He put it up on a Government of India website. Yet, thundering anchors who ‘skewer' politicians in television interviews uttered not a squeak. Had this insane idea come from a Ramdev, or even a Lalu Prasad, and not from a certified PLU member, imagine the fun the media would have had trashing it. As for the NCPRI, it might have begun a special desk to campaign on the issue. True, an individual associated with it did write a mild critique of the economics of Prof. Basu's folly — evading its moral degeneracy. But the NCPRI let itself down (and all those who support the RTI movement) with its craven silence.
The same media now trashing Ramdev came out snarling in his defence when he clashed with Brinda Karat in 2006. That was over the exploitation of 113 workers thrown out of the pharmacy controlled by Ramdev's Trust and facing false cases. The media brushed that aside and slammed Ms Karat. In the PLU food chain, workers are a low form of pond life. (Oh yes, the PLU syndrome has a strong caste component, too. But that's another story.)
Ramdev had carved out a base in sections of the elite. He also counts some media owners amongst his followers. Though not, perhaps the more anglicised anchors of television. He even has a following in Bollywood. He had attained the celebrity status so vital to gain any media attention at all. And had done so by using television itself for his ‘brand' of yoga. But he overplayed his hand when the desired ‘A-level' certification from the south Delhi elite was still pending. Otherwise, his claim to represent ‘civil society' is no weaker than that of the group around Mr. Hazare. The ‘my-civil-society-is-more-civil-than-yours' squabble has begun. And both groups have failed to pin down a corrupt, bungling government that made such a pig's breakfast of the Ramlila event.
There is nothing wrong in having advisory groups. Not a thing wrong in governments consulting them and also listening to people, particularly those affected by its decisions. There is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation. When they seek to run the government and legislation — no matter how well-intentioned they are. Pushing a coherent vision is a good thing to do. So is demanding that the government do its job. Beyond that lies trouble.
Meanwhile, a section of Platinum tier PLUs have become champions of the parliamentary democracy they actively helped undermine during the past two decades. They cheered loudly for giant economic and financial decisions taken outside the budget, bypassing Parliament. So long as the destruction of institutions favoured corporate power, they welcomed it, collaborating with corrupt governments such as this one wholeheartedly. The Ramdev route would have done much the same in time — the Baba himself is a spiritual corporation. But he just wasn't one of us. These new champions of parliamentary democracy have no qualms when the groups dictating terms to the government are CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM or their ilk. They didn't like it when the bypassing of institutions came from Mr. Hazare. They hated it when it came from Ramdev. Dumping democracy is, after all, the privilege of the Platinum PLUs.
Movements such as those started by Anna Hazare, Baba Ramadev, howmuch ever noble they may be or may have started out with, are basically short-term fixes to long-term systemic problems. Kind of like when an obese peron hopes to turn slim by crash-dieting. In India, corruption has outgrown the 'problem' status and has become so systemic that it's now a cultural phenomenon. Eradicating corruption will involve untying knots, one at a time. For example, when Indian Railways introduced Computerized reservations, the bribery in the Railway booking offices dropped significantly. Why? Because this added traceability in the system and hence accountability among individuals. So if we gradually keep adding transparency and traceablity in our system, we could eventually reach a stage when corruption is zero or at least under control.
@Vijay Galande Would you support anyone claiming to have the answers without checking whether the cure was not worse than the disease? Would you not first ask what the motives of those answer providers are? Or would you blindly provide support?
If Writing is what you do for a living then you have done a good job. But it reminds me of an e-mail I received telling me that I had been selected for a lottery of 1 Million $, it talked about every thing other than how to get the money.So I sent a reply " cut the crap and send the cheque". I ask you 3 questions and if you agree with my answers 1. Is there corruption ? - Yes. 2. Does it affect all of us ? - Yes. 3. Do you have a solution to this problem? - NO
Then let us support the lot that claim to have answers, instead of commenting on what they are doing.
Up to some extent i agree with Mr. Sainath but even after 63 year of independence. our politician are unable to solve any problem faced by the country. Even though we elect politician but after election politician behave like they are super human being ,also not accountable to people of country. Present civil society movement is also backed by media but to question the intention of media for promoting particular individuals or interest is not going to serve any useful purpose. In 2005 central government enacted RTI act not because government want to bring transparency and accountability but due to sustained pressure put up by civil society groups. Also it is wrong to give civil society a special position in the society undermining the credibility of elected government. No doubt all the decision in country should be taken by elected representative of people but to enrich the decision making process all stake holders should be consulted.
Let us talk specifics. The two main parties Cong and BJP would like a weak lokpal bill. The Left has no interest in a week lokpal bill but it is helpless because it is unable to succeed in the elections. The majority of voters are not too bothered about corruption as long as policies which can provide them concessions ,albeit justifiable are implemented. The link between corruption and their welfare appears to be tenuous.(The Tamilnadu elections , conceal more than they reveal, when seen against the thumping majority of YSR's scion ). Low level corruption hits the common man, but scams leave him unaffected. Operationally, big corruption leaves less money with the government and more with corporates, increases social disparities, and leads to high prices of commodities and services offsetting,in the long run all freebies and concessions offered to the less privileged , and disabling the middle class pronto.Our Constitution has inadequate checks and balances.Where do we go now ?
Thanks Sainath once again for excellent piece for opening the ears and eyes of Indians ! You have rightly said Indian mentality of self-styled saviours in the country notwithstanding the corruption is big menace in our society. So called civil society and its self-styled members as well as babas and sadhus want to rewrite the Constitution of India! While Anna and company wants to usurp the right of making laws in their hands by dictating terms to draft Jan lok Pal bill, Babas and Sadhus like Ramdev want direct election of head of the government by people of India besides unearthing black money, stashed in foreign banks of neo-rich Indians bypassing global laws and rules and also Indian laws! All these so called sadhus, babas and so called civil society activists, being encouraged by so called elites and a few middle class people, ignoring 78 percent Indians, living in poverty. Strangely nobody has concern over price rise, inflation, sad plight of labours and farmers.
Article by SaiNath is slightly tilted against Civil Society but since Media is seen today as one most unreliable friend of Civil society, this tilt against Civil Society is understandable.
If the system fail to function properly and Govt of the day think that they got the licence to loot the nation as they wish what Mr.Sainath wants us to do? Simply be a silent spectator or do something to get rid of this rotten system. Somebody has to take the initiative to fight this menace. Mr.Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev have taken the first step forward and there is a awareness among the common people about this. The govt is answerable to the public.They are not the Master but Servant to the people in a democracy which they ought not to forget.The movement of ANNA HAZARE and BABA RAMDEV will strengthen the democracy in this country. So every citizen of this country must support their movement and stand solidly behind them to fight this corrupt govt.We have tolerated a lot and we can't bear it anymore.Enough is enough.
If Civil Society groups have no legal or constitutional sanction then why did the government not arrest Anna Hazare? The constitution does not prevent any government from talking to any group! Governments have talked to terrorist groups - many opinion leaders in media have argued for political and not a military solution! So what is the issue here? Why was the government forced to talked to Anna Hazare? Why could it not it face the public and call the bluff of these groups?
Constitution provides for freedom of association and anybody can petition the government. Petitioning as Mani Shankar Iyer would like it - to the standing committee would not achieve anything. So Hunger strike! The government could have ignored this. But they couldn't. As Chomsky argues, historically the powers controlled the population by force. Now they manipulate the minds - information war - and in India many times by force too. But now all have now tools to engage in info war by themselves. See Arab Spring!
Suppression of people especially if they have a just cause will lead to disintegration of the country and the nation. If the society is unable to stand up against evils of the powerful, and especially if the intelligentsia begins to endorse the corrupt system in the name of democratic right of the MPs to rule no matter how the national character continues to slide downhill and huge sums of money are siphoned out when the poor beg and farmers commit suicides, the country is certainly doomed. The democratic principle of one vote in five years to the parliamentarians is a the order of the people to rule the country for the welfare of people and not licence to unbridled power and corruption. We need to reflect where we want the country to go.
@jyothi-- all these cannot do so because they are kept under the tabs by the govt. Is it not bad for democracy that when govt. has to pass any bill in the Parliament then the charges are dropped by CBI against certain individual at the behest of the govt. How can you err on that and lable it as coalition dharma. Thats why need a new bill.
Very good and brilliant article. If the judiciary, vigilance and anti -corruption agencies, lokayuktha and other plethora of agencies cannot eradicate corruption then how lok pal bill drafted by the self appointed civil society members can do the magic. Finally the question boils down to 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' (who guards the guardians)
One question to Sainath: Who apointed Mahatma Gandhi to fight for freedom. If Sainath was there he will ask Mahathma Gandhi to go to British and get permission to fight for our rights.
@Wakeel - Ramdev having an ulterior motive behind his agitation cannot be denied, but bringing Hazare and ramdev under the same roof is utterly absurd. Hazare went into a fast without any fanfare and people came to support him unlike ramdev where people came for the shivir. I just want that people like Sainath do not scuttle the efforts of people like Hazare. We often say India lacks a true leader and when we get one then we question his/her motives and actions and use mocking terms like "ceremonial" or "self-appointed" etc. The other day I read the people representing Civil Society as labelled as "Team Anna" by ToI. How absurd is that? It shows clearly that this paper was trying to belittle his credibility as a representative of the people. Tell me a procedure to appoint a leader (id there's any and please dont say elections, they have failed us everytime). Was every Indian consulted and then Mohandas Gandhi was chosen as the representative of Indians against the British? Leaders (good or bad) come to picture to fill a void many a times and Anna did the same and we can be confident by his past credentials that he will do good for India. Hope Mr. Sainath reads the comments and does not lambasts it as he did the the civil representation.
A very good article.As an individual I am contributing a bit to improve governance,which may reduce corruption for a conman man."All of us forget that when we point out a finger to some one, the four fingers are pointing towards us." Let all of us look inwards to improve this society itself
Only Sainath can put into words what silently gnaws the entrails of anyone who really cares. To say it was well written like always would be stating the obvious. What does a common man do, yes we can change the party in power but does that really make a difference? Then don't we actually have the representatives we deserve? It's time to reflect as to how many of us are genuinely honest in their dealings. Honestly (for a change) I am not. Another bothersome point is that where do these extra-constitutional civil society groups finally lead us to? Are we not too eager to give too much moral and political authority to them? What happens if they too finally can't handle the deified status we are giving them? I don't know the answers to all these questions but am bothered nevertheless.Regarding someone calling Sainath a congress stooge, It would be good if the same gentleman reads the previous stories done by Sainath specially about the farmer suicides in Maharashtra and the paid news scam which led to the resignation of a congress chief minister. I see Sainath as a watchdog who does not claim to have any divine motive or solution.
In neoliberal era the attitude of media has changed. Now most of the news are published for the promotion of goods and services. So naturally, the main audiance of media is middle and upper middle class. These peolpe are now irritated with corruption in the public activities. So for the gratification of their readers media highlighting the anticorruption activities of non-political groups. At the sametime the are downplaying the genuine causes of people. Here, Sainath is correct. Most of the media are not opposing the neo liberal policies which is the root cause for terrible growth happened the quantum of corruption
The column by Sainath is superb; it may be supplemented but cannot be faulted. The scale of anguish on misrule resulting in various forms of corruption and perversions in the society is very large but it gets enveloped by anger of various groups as expressed by various agitations and they try to dominate and thus fritter away the created energy. In the past also, the so called revolutionary movements started on the strength of the mass sufferings and their support but the resultant force has generally been used by the crafty for groups of vested interest: the sufferer has generally been overlooked and institutional framework has seldom been repaired and strengthened. Now,corruption is also measured in money terms and hence the low-value corruption does not catch the public eye. Police personnel not paying the price to the vendor or an attempt on the modesty of an underprivileged person is now not considered a crime simply because you cannot have a proof of it to prove in a court of law whereas the perpetrator of the crime can pay the price and purchase false witnesses to go away with his perversions. The real sufferer is at this micro level whereas the public eye concentrates on the 'billions' marked scams and their supposedly big beneficiaries . Hence, the result is that the so called success of JP movement was politically hijacked to the extent that a large number of honest workers just under JP found themselves in the jail when they protested to this form of 'corruption'. I feel that even Gandhiji was sidelined after the deck was prepared for the attainment of freedom. Hence, even though the opposition to the corruption in any form will remain, the success of counter-moves will remain doubtful unless a well thought out strategy is worked out based on the dynamics of the system so that the loopholes are plugged and scope for big scams are minimised. To begin with, let there be full expression of dissent without personal attack or hate campaign so that the understanding of the point of view of one another increases and various groups start to visualise the basic truth that an unbridled exploitative society is bound to collapse on its own weight and hence big ones have a larger stake in maintaining the 'tolerable' limits of governance intact. The agitating groups should put their grievances and suggestions and not the draft of laws. The agitating groups should leave some space of good will for the authorities so that if they feel to correct the course of action they have the face to do it. Similarly the official side should have concern for the agitator and should not try to sabotage the protest.The type of satyagrah we adopted during the British period cannot be applied in the present times when we have representative democracy (of whatever type). Similarly, the government should also not try those colonial methods of suppressing the dissent. The invisible demon is there but it is of our own creation over a long period of time by our omissions and commissions; it is in the fitness of things that we devise a long term strategy with its time specific programmes or else we will prove to be a failed 'crowd' with multiple geniuses.
Excellent article! All the various disturbing things that you hear and see every day on mainstream mass media fall completely into place once you use the concept of PLUs....thanks for this extremely relevant write-up
Wonderful article - true to the great tradition of Mr. Sainath - thoughtful,incisive, penetrating and very clear in vision and perception. These civil societies,by and large,despite the presence of some well meaning individuals, are ideologically committed to inject the highly pernicious dose of 'identity politics' in India, obliterating the 'class angle'. That's why, the civil societies everywhere, not only in India, have become darling of the corporate media under the direct patronage of global finance capital. This is the reason, as rightly pointed out by Mr. Sainath, the corporate media in India feel totally committed to black out the news of lakhs of Indian working class thronging the streets of New Delhi on 23 February 2011 demanding an end to 'corruption-breeding' so-called neo-liberal economic policy followed in our country. On this, the so-called civil society has almost nothing to say. Anna Hazares, Ramdevs, Medha Patekars' principal aim is to dissemble this stratagem of neo-imperialism to continue the corporate loot of India - by creating a safety valve like "Lok Pal" and obfuscate the larger issue of class struggle being waged now by well meaning United Trade Union movement in the country like the financial sector employees who have organised no less than 39 strike actions since 1991 against this pernicious neo-liberal policy - the fountainhead of all corruption in India now.
It is good to hear many voices are being raised against the prevailing rampant curruption amongst INDIAN Society.Unless and until people change their attituded nothing will work.
These days there are many sprirutual leaders also mushrooming in society, but they also turn out to be in the path of amassing wealth and material benefits.
The governmental set up , be it a public sector undertaking, educational institution or any other official machinaries everywhere the key positions are all filled up for a price.
The cases related to 2G scam,the common wealth games etc are only the tip of the ice berg.These will be there in the news for somedays only to divert attaention of the public at large.
Where is the energy and strenghth for common man to fight against these?Life will continue like this only.
Men may may come and men may go, but the river will continue to flow.
Heartfelt applause to P.Sainath and The Hindu for making the one bold decision of publishing this article amidst the high risk of heresy! Well,comments seem to reflect a truth sans sheen- an article brilliantly written with prime honesty but miserably deciphered (otherwise why should Sainath be accused of being pro-Congress when he clearly states in the simplest of English- "so long as the destruction...collaborating with corrupt govts. such as this (emphasis added) one wholeheartedly"?). Possibly,the diagnosis needs a minor corrigendum - the real issue is not the employment of "sophisticated language"(Sainath is a brilliant writer and orator who believes in receptivity and reciprocal flow of ideas and the last one to resort to fancy vocabulary gymnastics) by the writer but probably the sheer inefficacy in comprehension. May be a little indulgence in Platonic metaphysics might help- the dichotomy between 'real' and 'ideal'-the protagonists are not Mr.Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev.They are more or less syndromes of a much inflammable, highly sensitive yet an all the more grave malice (which actually makes the situation extremely tricky and hence makes a critique apparently esoteric and folly).
Sainath's article one of reminds the epilogue of a popular satire -Orwell's 'Animal Farm' where it speaks of a 'supra egalitarianism'(where "some are more equal than others').The current warfare on corruption demands a serious introspection-Who is speaking on whose behalf?And if so,Why?(the unending tussle between legitimate authority and illegitimate power).The simple question is all about the 'use value'- why do we need parallel systems(which as if now,appears to atleast theoretically have a singular,desired telos- 'for the people')of democratically elected government (kindly discern there do exist differences in political terms-government,state and political parties.All are not to be employed synonymously) and civil society. Sainath rightly underscores a conveniently veiled fact-'classes of lives', some less civilised than others('landless labourers..bus conductors'). Hence the 'imperative need' for a civilised civil society to speak on behalf of the barbaric (desi version of Whiteman's Burden'- 'la mission civilisatrice'!)
Also,article throws light to a more ontological question(not to make the issue sound all the more alienated and esoteric)-the purpose behind the creation of State and its paraphernalia.The frontispiece of the 1651 edition of Thomas Hobbes''Leviathan' is symptomatic-though Hobbesian Leviathan seems all towering,in scrutiny the Leviathan/State is a product of innumerable human figures who wilfully consent and thus enter into Social Contract-State is thus not an infalliable supra entity.It owes its existence to those who consented and thus created.It would be awesome,if we spare sometime before debunking the term democracy and deifying a self appointed civil society!Corruption has to be definitely fought against and uprooted-no arguments or defense.Electoral process is definitely not to be a sham and the time is quite unripe to trash it as'unfashionable'.
Also,the "agreement to disagree" is undoubtedly a sign of 'civilised',rational debate and discussion but it also demands a good homework.It would have been highly appreciated if Sainath's articles(previously published in The Hindu - "The Lurch of the Lemmings", on paid news,Kadapa election etc) were read before indulging in mindless criticism!
The author is probably has pretty low expectations from a good governance and hence sees no reason to bring about a change. Fortunately not everyone thinks like that. Anna's movement is great simply becuase all other ways to stem corruption have failed. India figures amoungst the most corrupt countries in the world. What Anna ji is doing should have been done long ago.
Well written and so right. In fact, I did not and do not approve of the 5 members of the civil society. Who are they? Why did they get to the comittee. Increasingly Anna is just another egotist like a poltician. But then, that is the power of Media.
Excellent.
"Both were self-selected groups claiming primacy over the elected government. Both asserted they knew what was best for the nation. Never mind the Constitution, they sought a body whose members they would largely appoint. A super organ above the legislature, the executive and the judiciary."
Keep it up Mr.P.Sainath.
The Common man requires result, does care whether he gets through democracy or any other means.
The above article can be applied to Gandhi by replaceing the name Anna Hasare. British and their colluders whould have written the same as above against Gandhi in Supporting Monarchy. They will use all "big" words to cheat the common man. What common man wants is corrup free government so that their life will be uplifted. Why the so called democratically elected government unable to control the very simple thing - corruption.
End of the day, Gandhi emerged victorious and then every one wrting against Bristish now.
The same thing will happen if Anna Hasare wins for the people of India.
Sushant-I do agree once lokpal bill is passed,no one will be spared out even erst while govt will too face the music.But,can you let me know how Ram Dev Baba,a televengelist has amassed millions of ruppes? It is hard to believe that one can amass such a huge amount of money only through yoga.What i meant to say is that Ram dev Baba is paving his path before floating a political party.Baba Ram dev seems to be in a hurry if he conceive to form any such political party in league with RSS. Dharna, demonstration,hunger strike and mobilising those people will merely jeopardise the country and its progress, besides fritterig away theirs time and energy.Is he not fishing out in troubled water by observing fast unto death with the help of those patients being treated in his shivir? Does it not smack he foresees it as potential cadre?
Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev may not be as acutely intelligent as the intelligentia many of whom desire to be known as part of a civil society. Isn't it naive to believe that a *right to recall* the elected representative cannot solve much of India's contemporary evils? Will the elected institutions have the courage to draft a bill that seeks displacement of its own people ? Will these institutions favour a bill that seeks to redefine development of a territory as development of some corporates ?
Well... it is very fashionable to make speeches about corruption now a days!!! We rather fail to introspect. If movie like 'Dabbang' can be a hit & the movie of the year.... you can well imagine the mindset of our people. The people epitomize corrupt HERO in this film & make this movie a super-duper hit. Why blame politicians? They came from the same background as everybody!!!
To me it seems from my experience that the root cause of the large scale corruption lies with the huge amount of funding that our elections now require and the manner in which these are funded. In many states the party cadres (from right, left and center parties) gather this fund from businesses, government and foreign funded projects in lieu of which they allow corruption (which directly impacts the common people). The agency (government) that has the authority and moral obligation to prevent and punish such practices turns a blind eye towards it because they cannot point fingers at individuals and other agencies if they themselves need corruption. While this is a simplistic view of the complex perverse relations in corrupt system of governance I think election funding is the core. And importantly Lokpal does not include it under its ambit.
Its too early to comment on how selfless the campaign led by Hazare is. The constant rhetoric of fasting-unto-death does instill a doubt in one's mind whether Hazare's actions have evolved into becoming a kind of 'Gandhian Bullying', whether the campaign is for the true betterment of people or just a crude imposition of ideas of those who calls themselves civil society?
I agree with Mr.Sainath. Civil society constitutes people with different walks of life. They should be nominated by the parliament from different sections of society from all over India who have achieved laurels in their fields and no corruption charges against them. It should address corruption from the grass root level to the top brass politicians except the President and Vice President of India, PM and Chief Justice. They can be brought under the bill after their retirement from Office. It may take decades to eliminate corruption at all levels. All said, the common public should inherently change for eg. accept no bribes or freebies from politicians for Electoral Votes!!
My mornings are revitalised when Sainath starts the day....today was special. I loved the term spiritual corporation. We are hurtling - Goa is worse, actually - into deeper chasms of poverty and despair yet today's paper announces "a special destination demands a special location...."- yet another 5 or 7 star obscenity.
As far as the article goes it is quite nice, but the point it makes is the issue that is before the whole nation.We love to be a democratic nation, but at the same time we want our nation to have a functioning democracy - a democracy where the voice and the will of the people are respected and acted upon.If our democracy represents the poor then let it represent their voice and if does represent the Aam admi then that should also be represented. If so does the common man in the street like the type of corruption going on in this government? I don't think so. The failure of half a century of governments have brought the country to this pass. Today,the politicians be they Manmohun or any other, command no respect and when people demand for a change they shield themselves with theories about democracy and constitution. Why didn't they respect these theories when people watched and prayed them to function.Their arrogance as the elected lot has reached to such a height that they simply ignore all that is reasonable and necessary for the progress of our nation. The peoples' support for the Civil society is peoples'way of saying enough is enough. Maybe, Anna and his party is corrupt,as someone writes,but the point they are making is right. Today,the Indian parlimentarians are bereft of discrimination,so we need to follow people like Anna.To fear these people as a super structure is simply to argue again as a theorist and to shield the corrupt politicians. I think Indian democracy is quite strong to check such eventualities if such phenomena become commonplace,but it is weak to check corruption because the system is in the hands of the corrupt. Somewhere a break is needed. So I think Anna's claim and demands are not unreasonable.
Lokpal Bill in the form as suggested by Anna and his team will require a huge manpower in itself with its own investigative and vigilance wings from the top to the district level with they being outside the preview of the executive and judiciary, in short a parallel quasi-government with no responsibility towards anyone but to a select committee of individuals who themselves will be nominated and not elected. I see corruption becoming more easy under such a system then under the current system of our government.Can these so called 'civil society' guaranty that not a single personnel under the lokpal will not be corrupt. After all lokpal personnel will be running into thousands if not lakhs and most likely will be recruited from various government services. Also the suggestion that all cases have to be investigated and disposed within 6-12 months might give rise to shoddy investigations thus coming to wrong conclusions and justice being denied.
Your comparison of Anna Hazare's agitation with the PLU plank is unfounded. Anna had begun the fast on a low note which gained support and media attention later on. He has concentrated only on measures to control corruption in government and is focused on it. The government is behind these people, but could never book Satyasaibaba for possessing so much wealth & foreign exchange. I had seen Anna toil in the fields at Ralegan in 1982. He nursed dreams of strong India & has successfuly got RTI act implemented in Maharashtra in 2002. The nation brought it much later. Who in the Anna's nominated society is hungry of power or comforts? They have demonstrated in the past the way they look at their lives. They could have easily led life of comfort and happiness instead of tussling with the government.
An article like this from the stature of P.Sainath - never expected that !!! The article smacks of the attitude of 'Arm Chair Intellectuals' who pin point inefficiencies in the Support Systems of the state but do nothing to improve it, also smacks of the arrogance of a Senior Journalist who has a Bio-data that boasts of experience in various chronological events that saw the growth of a corrupted nation - again doing nothing to improve it ! What if the Civil Society is not elected ? Have the so called Elected Pillars of a democracy helped making a Change that is so needed at this hour? Yes, Change needs to come from the grassroots, that need not be in the form of waiting every five years to elect between a 'Corrupted' and 'Not so corrupt' System. At that rate, give this Muck of a System another 50 years to clean up! Lets not analyse the person/group who is leading the Change; Let us analyse the Change itself - is this needed today? If yes, nothing else matters!
Nicely written article but not a nice article. We DO need good civil bodies to challenge leaders, government and even the law. We all know very well that once our leaders get elected they are not OUR leaders anymore, they become dictator. We give them freedom to do whatever they LIKE to do. And most importantly we give them power to stop something which is good for country but not good for them. There are countless cases like RTI, Jessica lal case, Bhopal Gas tragedy etc when these civil bodies have pushed our elected govt to do what they elected to do. As long as these civil bodies are doing right things with noble motives, I don't really think it matters whether they are elected or not.
I think this article is biased and with blinkered outlook. He has asked does electorate deserve the scorn?Nobody scorned the electorates. Do the electorate have a proper choice before them? They have to choose between one corrupt for another corrupt. All political parties are together comrades in corruption and they will not allow any major change that will be detrimental to their interest. This has to be done ONLY by somebody outside the system.
To remind a similar situation, when judiciary intervened in governance and administration ,it was considered as 'judicial activism'. Now this role of judiciary is accepted . All these scam would not have come to this stage if judiciary did not moniter them and were left only to government agencies.
Extra ordinary article..every politician and journalist must read...keep it up, Sainat -garu..
@Raghu: "Excellent article. Many readers seem to take this article the wrong way. Point is why are 6 self appointed members of the drafting committee claiming to represent 'civil society'?"
Did you do anything to root out corruption that is so prevalent amongst us today? Arm chair commentators like Mr.Sainath and you have no solutions on hand, but seem to criticize someone who fights for a common cause.
Well written, keep it up.
Brilliant article. It's people like P. Sainath who makes it worthwhile to still read Hindu which is not immune to its own set of marketing whiz kids.
The fact that some people are not interested in any long-term solution but just want passing of some bill shows the commitment of such people to the ideals that they espouse -- real victory comes only when there is awakening of the people and determination to strike at the roots of corruption.The snake of corruption will also slide into the Lokpal Institution just as it has done into pillars of democracy including media. Blame must be taken by the ruling party's spokespersons for the arrogance with which many of them speak and the kind of high-handed actions that the present Government takes.
It is high time that the Government starts acting with maturity based on principles of keeping up the democratic spirit which this so-called civil society(mostly elite) hates so much as well as rooting out corruption by breaking the businessman-politician nexus and ensuring transparency and fairness in financial deals and transactions .
PLU's are known to jump onto any bandwagon they see, today on the lokpal, yester it was women's reservation, next it will be tiger conservation..He has put it beautifully calling this self appointed civil society as the 'platinum tier'...ppl like the Bhushans and Kejriwal tend to be anti-state which suits the chest beating overnight twitter/fb revolutionaries. The govt must not bow, it must enact a good lokpal bill..and the consequence be tested in the general elections!!
The biggest problem in India is the lack of education in the lowest rung of the population. They are poor and the children do not get proper education. They grow up and support any party blindly because they are bribed small. Politicians bribe in many ways and collect when they come into power. If the people are educated- say at least year 12, they learn to think. They understand that by taking small bribes to vote for the corrupt politicians means they pay 10 to 100 x over through corrupt administration and practices. Corruption is all the way top to bottom and costs the country much. India would have been far richer than China if not for corruption. The only reason why many politicians want power is to enrich themselves and several generations. They care too hoots for the country. Common people must learn but too stupid to do so. Since 1848 how much education has the country achieved? It is in the interest of politicians to keep the majority ignorant as they ask no questions and suffer in silence. Very sad.
Mr. Sainath, your analysis is incredible. But, tell us who will lead us honestly from the front? When can a 'common man' be heard. Those two people have just given the start-up. At least many people talk of change. People around me have started to feel for the nation. Now, its up to us, including me and YOU, to take this forward. You have inspired a lot of young journalists in rural reporting. You have somehow connected the mass reality and mass media.
I must say that I am astonished to see such a hodgepodge article by Mr Sainath. There are merits and demerits to everything, but the author has tried to overplot everything on top of each other and then deduce his conclusions. This approach is clearly wrong and misleading. We don't live in an absolute world. For one, there is hardly any similarity between Ramdev and Anna Hazare. Ramdev can go on claiming whatever he likes, but it was more than obvious to many people that it was just a red herring to mask his extraneous ambitions.
Also, Anna Hazare never really claimed supremacy over the government. he said that he fully accepted the authority of the Parliament. And, there are many things Anna Hazare or, for that matter, other NGOs should have done. I guess we can fill several books if start making a list of what even Mahatama Gandhi could have done, in hindsight. Same for many groups fighting for a particular cause. But just because they did not fight for each and every thing that went wrong and focused their energy and time on a few doesn't make them any lesser. Just because they did not adequately take on Mr Kaushik Basu does not decrease their contribution to public service. Even though, I agree to to a great deal about your critcism of media focussing only on 'PLUs', I think it is incorrect to extrapolate it to each and every aspect of other distinguished individuals who have spent a lifetime for their nation.
Brilliant analysis and playing with meanings and words but largely missing the point...only by public weight will the government change. They are all for the maintenance of the present situation which leaves them in control of a situation, where they and the corporates are the beneficiaries. Nowhere near has the public health system and education system benefitted from the economic growth. Infrastructure and power which will again benefit politicians and corporations are being pushed. In the foreign press there are articles detailing how the economic growth of India could leave the country not as a developing nation but as a developed nation with modern health and education system for all. Anna Hazare is perhaps stubborn but his fast and agitation is to benefit all of us and the government's stance is only to benefit themselves by taking from the common man his care and education..farmers have to surrender their land without re-education or adequate compensation for loss of income, this is looting. Army generals benefit from land for widows of those soldiers who defend India, this is looting. The police is abusing their power daily by raping(minor girls), torturing(son of lawyer in Tamil Nadu), illegal encounbters and collecting money from drivers of four and two wheels daily, visible and blatant, this is looting! Politicians left, right and centre are implicated in defrauding the nation....and now what action taken ???? The elected government only takes action when no other possibility remains without they implicating themselves in the culpable matter! They wriggle and writhe to escape the public glare. By all means govern the country by elected representatives, but do not give them the freedom to take at will which belongs to the nation!
@wakeel ahmad -- you are thinking very narrowly. Once Jan Lokpal bill is implemented the members of the erstwhile govt. will face the music too. What rule are you talking about?? IS this how a country is ruled? And @ Mike...can you please elaborate the 'culture' you are talking about??
I do agree with Mr.Sainath in principle about the undue importance given to Anna Hassare and Ramdev. But does that mean civil society and non political party sponsored agitations should be shunned at all levels. There are millions of Indians who vote in every democratic election but doesn't belong to any political party. Their sympathies keep changing in every election based of issues and performances of govts and political parties. Moreover it is not a secret that Ram Dev's was a camaouflaged Sangh Parivar person. Civil society is not the eduacted urban middleclass. It is everywhere and consists of people who can not toe the lines of any political party. Same like Sainath.
The importance of democracy cannot be undermined. However, if the elected representatives do not work to fulfill the aspirations of the people they represent, then there has to be mass movement. It has been mentioned that large number of voter excised their vote in recent election but everyone knows that Ms.Jayalalitha is as corrupt as Mr. Karunanidhi and what option people has except to elect the lesser evil. Ideally, both should be thrown out. Secondly, what the MPs has done in last few years for the better India. They have always refrained from implementing any reforms like, Electoral, Judicial, Administrative, Police, Land etc. In recent past they only talked about women reservation bill but never passed the bill. Why they continue to pass SC/ST/OBC reservation bill decade after decade. Is there not any development of these people. Don’t you think that more than 50 percent MPs are not interested in controlling the corruption and black money. If this is not true, then can anyone justify there silence on this issue and why they do not introduce private bill in this regard and support it. Failure of such institutions force the people like Anna to take the Govt.head on. Thirdly, it is often asked by the cynical who has given the authority to Anna and his team. Can such people answer who has given the authority to Gandhiji to discuss issues with British Govt. on behalf of Indians. Because he lead from the front in the mass movement, which gave the authority. What is NAC. Who has given it the authority to guide the Govt. Only because it is headed by Congress Chief. At least Anna has the support of people. Anna and his team is not blackmailing the Govt. Let the Govt. shows his intent to act forcefully in tackling the issue of corruption. In last three months not a single step has been taken to curb corruption. Issue related to inclusion of PM,MP,Judges can be discussed subsequently but before that immediate steps be taken to control the corruption at lower level officials with whom a common man has to interact daily like in Municipality, Development authority, lower courts, police etc. Unless Govt.shows some intent, they should be ready for the mass movement.
Well written piece but does not seem to address one critical issue pertaining to the rise of these groups: most of the PLUs are completely bypassed by the present system. No one ever comes to ask PLUs for votes because every constituency is dominated by lakhs of slum dwellers, mainly illegal squatters. I have voted in every single election for last 40 odd years but my vote counts for little. Elections simply offer me a choice among bad but electable candidates and a couple of decent but unelectable ones. How can I get my voice heard other than by supporting movements like Hazare's? I don't agree with 80% of their draft Lok Pal bill, but at least the issue of Corruption is now centre stage. I will probably support the government's version because it is likely to be more practical but Anna Hazare and his team will deserve a nation's gratitude for making it happen.
The article by sainath is of course an eye opener and must help the readers in updating with ground reality of the deep rooted corruption in the country.The fast unto death by Anna Hazarre or Baba Ramdev are nothing but a viable power centres.If Anna Hazare is follower of Gandhijee, but What about Ramdevjee? Each and every people will agree that corruption is the most talked about issue which has been eating into vitals of our system.The virus of corruption has ,however, been transmitted by erst while govt.So, they should also highlight the issues which had been associated with the previous government also.Instead of attacking the govt they must help the govt to rule rather than ousting the govt.Are they not spoiling the precious time of people who have been mobilised and asked to gather to show the strenght at the beck and call of Anna Hazarre and Baba Ramdev?
well written piece.. I agree if all and sundry hold the Government ransom by calling fasts, instead of working towards enpowering the common people to vote in the changes the civil society will lose its focus as there will always be issues that will get people in the media lights..it will regress into 'my group has a more better cause that yours' and thus a house divided against itself cannot stand.
All people who read this news paper are well aware of the cancer of corruption in our country. We need to take action to cure it, not sit and categorize A, B and C cure to this cancer. Dear Sainath, your article is good...it analysis many things but one, the medicine to the cancer. To me the medicine should be to eradicate the cells that are already affected whatever the cost be and however the pain be. But it will give others a chance to recover and be healthy again. Please spare a thought and write articles which inspire people to do the right thing to eradicate this cancer...highlight the efforts of people who are taking steps toward this cause of eradicating the cancer...if their way is wrong show, another example whose way is right...if there are no such examples be one...
But please stop being one of another kind of PLUs yourself. India can not afford any more to lose its responsible people waste time in analyzing various medicine or the lack of it to cure the cancer. Every one please spare a thought and take your one step to cure our nation. I have taken a step and made a promised to myself to vote in all elections based on the record and ability of the candidate to do the job for which he or she is contesting the elections. I have also made a promise to myself to not bribe in any condition even though it costs me my dearest wish/desire/relation...
Sainath: Till we have people like you, trying to derail the revolutionaries through their writings, we surely are bound to remain in the shackles of corruption. For years, people like you never came up and questioned why so much corruption(no doubt you might be one of the beneficiaries of it) but now when you see men rising and fighting for a corruption free India you have started asking why so much agitation.
My point is straight as long as the cause we are fighting for is correct, we'll keep supporting the cause.
In last 62 years our parliamentarians have failed to curb corruption, instead it allowed corrupt to go unpunished. It is now or never, people have to rise against politicians and change the systems. Whether you call people's movement as 'civil society' or not, it doesn't matter. The focus should be on the movement against corruption and corrupt politicians. Many of the educated political commentrators are talking that parliament in supreme in passing legislation, but time has come to put intense pressure on the legislatures to change the law.
Mr.Sainath seems to have a problem with Mr.Hazare not being an elected person though he has no problems with 'elected' persons being corrupt. He has no sympathy for the common people's impatience about the growing corruption and its direct impact on our day to day lives. I would say this inflation is a direct result of the growing corruption of 'netas' most of whom are illiterate and whose CVs are adorned with murders, extortion and fraud.Should we allow these people to dictate terms to us and shut Mr.Anna Hazare and knowledgable people like Kiran Bedi who are voicing the popular discontent. And it is completely illogical to say that Hazare team are not fighting POSCO in Orissa and for bus conductors and all.
I have been reading Sainath earlier but this piece seems to be confusing. On which side of the divide is he? Ok, he doesn't have to be on any side and it would give an objective perspective. But does it? Like some readers have rightly commented where is the NAC- the biggest extra-constitutional authority and rightly recognised as a super PMO! And why write as if these were Anna Hazare's or Baba Ramdev's movements? Agreed, even while being sold on a bottle of liquor and a hundred rupee note, the collective decisions of the public during elections have been encouraging but what are the options available to them- during and after the elections? Devil and the deep sea during elections and nothing after that? How do we, the People, the real and only sovereign entities in this democratic republic, make our elected law makers deliver? Why the Lokpal was in the dustbin for over four decades? Why has not even the simple, straight forward, unambiguous RTI Act been implemented properly? (I suggest that Sainath file an application and get the feel of it directly!) But, for the record, why is it that the Chief Justice of India who blatantly abused his office to subvert the law- K G Balakrishnan- instead of being impeached, appointed as the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission? Again, to set the record straight, KGB as the CJI had written to the PM to exempt judges from the purview of the RTI Act. Obviously this was not accepted. So his holding that his office was out of purview of the law was treason of the highest order and the least that should have been done was to impeach him. So unless our whole system is overhauled and the people in govt recognise that they are public servants and behave accordingly, there will never be an end to these kind of confrontations. That people will not put up with injustice for ever needs no reiteration. But what we need to wait and watch is how smart the people in govt are and how long they will take to recognise this fact.
Mr. Sainath, you are completly lost in this article. You neither support Anna's view points nor you can say YES to all the dealings of the Govt. It is true that the Govt is loosing its face in all corners. These scams make us ( we indians) very very shameful about ourself staying outside India. You know the 2G scam, which amounts to be around 30billion dollars is almost in the same order as 5 years science and technology plan of one country. Can you imagine this? Does this not send a clear message that the indian Govt is making us citizens 'fools'? I dont know how many scams yet to uncover. IT is true that the corruption should be rooted out from the grassroots !! But who is going to do that ?? your points have put me in more doubts about things happening!
Even the media is backing government. Do not forget Sainath, it was few individual in the past like M.Gandhi who changed the face of the nation. I do not support Ramdev as he is profit driven but Hazare is doing the right thing. It's time for all of us to support him and get rid of corruption. Our whole system from top to bottom is corrupt and we should all support any fight against corruption.
Anna and Baba are rising as parallel structures because of lack of alternatives. Every one knows that even if congress is routed out in next election, there is no guarantee that the alternatives(BJP or Left) will give an efficient government.The mix of market capitalism without proper regulation with corruption gives rise to an oligarchy than real democracy.
The root cause of these problems. 1. Educated middleclass youth who aspires for IIT, IIM, MBA does not aspire to become a politician. Most of politics start from universities but the participants are mostly back-benchers, bullies and low graders. 2. Funding of political parties : Just to get MLA party ticket you have to give 10-15 lack party donation. In this way the people who win elections are not the ones who deserve to win. The simple, honest person cannot win election today. This finally means the present constitutional system does not guarantee the real representation of people's will.
Civil society is a godsend to India. When a bad thing happens, nobody questions it.But when a good thing is about to happen, there is a mad rush to stop it from happening.Is this a curse for India? Many agree about the importance of making the parliament to function an make final decisions, but look at the MP's getting elected to parliament through money and muscle power. Almost 1/4th of the MP's are corrupt or have civil and criminal cases on them. Many independents fight elections to make a change, do they have any chance of winning against the big men with the current political situation.
If India and the world has to prosper, we need public involvement in drafting bills and this is a good start.Long live the second independence movement. I agree people need to change and that is the only way forward.To help the people in their cause, they need direction and civil society is taking them in right direction.
Well written one side of the story...What about the other half? Is the author saving to write it or is he being paid to ignore it? What these constitution appointed leaglly elected representatives have been doing all these years? They seem to have no intention of stoping it either.
Come to think of our democracy. We have to choose from a list of corrupt dacoits and then let these people build rules for us. I would have no complaints if they were also subject o these same rules. However our politicans go all the way to bend and break the very rules they make and expect us(read the poor majority who elected them in the first place) to obey it in letter and spirit leaving us frustrated. And then comes someone like Anna Hazare(whatever you call him, can you call him corrupt?) who uses the same tactics these unscrupulous 'leaders' have been using to get back at them. Sounds fair enough for me. Havent the elected rulers been doing this unconstitutional thing for the past 60 years and got away with it?
If a Rajiv can get away with bofors scandal and a cost the country a huge amount of money, if a Kalmadi can get away with shaming the nation and the Rajas and Kanimozhis share their loot (at the cost of the people of india) why cant a anna hazare get away with a lokpal bill for a change? I will say it is much more a nobler cause that what these dacoits have.
If we can see the constitution being raped and molested without any qualms for the past 60 years.(werent all the politicians always more equal than the masses?, didnt one of them have the audacity to ask our farmers to continue to die using a poison until a safer alternative is found? why did the 'elected representative' conveniently forget the Right of the farmer to live? Is he supposed to safegaurd only the multinationals interests? I will rather support a Hazare rather than a Ramesh and his ilk. As for the Lokpal bill it is doomed to fail and if Anna Hazare true to his word decides to go on fast another time he will meet Swami Nigamananda's fate. what the politicans want is everybody who is corroupt to be protected, now they want PM out of it purview and by the time it has been passed we will know it has every minister and his cronies out of its purview. leaving us with a lot of useless paper. Hazare is the only hope for common man.....(however unconstitutional his actions maybe they are more humane )
Corruption in India has reached unprecendend heights with numerous mega scams being reported during this year alone. Mr. Hazare entered the scene when the UPA Govt. was unwilling/unable to take measures to pass a good LokPal Bill that has the potential to reduce corruption in the country. Even now Cabinet Ministers and senior members of the Congress are making statements which give the impression that they are not willing to pass a strong Lokpal Bill.
The author talks about the institutions and how those institutions are being side-stepped by the 'civil-society members'. The fact remains that the rule of law is not applied uniformly across the country. One of the major factors for this malaise is corruption and the author himself has akcnowledged that 62 years of Independent India has not been able to rid the society of this scourge. It is a fact that the people who are less priviledged suffer the most. We have a government which is dysfunctional, an architecture which only serves the powerful and moneyed. For how many more years the weak and poor will have to bear the brunt of failure of the system. Currently, the weak and poor can only hope. Let us hope those hopes see the light of the day.
"Mahatmas have come and have gone but the untouchables remained as untouchables". As said by Ambedkar it applies here also. Sainath has narrated a well documented version of the form of civil society, it really is a matter of concern a person as hero as hero worship is dangerous as it could manipulate the minds very easily. It is a nice elaboration and blending of the issues which confront democratic institutions. This could taken as a reference to judge the so called civil society in another way a PLU, and build the movement accordingly.
Another important issue raised by Sainath was on the ethics of journalism, Indian journalism is following the trend of yellow journalism which popularizes sensationalism rather presenting the present day challenges like caste and communalism. The is the responsive institution which can be regarded as the fourth face of democracy and has to build an argument for development of society.
Excellent article. Many readers seem to take this article the wrong way. Point is why are 6 self appointed members of the drafting committee claiming to represent 'civil society'?
Without any pressure from any public movements on corruption, these elected representatives were sitting on the lokpal bill since 1960s.. Mr Sainath you should take this into account in your commentary. These elected representatives have failed the system so badly for their selfish needs. Over a period of time, these corrupt elected representatives are the ones who are in majority in every party.
How do you expect a cat to tie a bell on its own? Movements are needed to wake up and shake up the government to act. If this movement is able to do it, so be it. The focus should be on corruption and black money and not on fringe issues like PUL. This will address so many problems of the country. Its beyond imagination how India can be transformed if all the black money abroad is brought back and declared it a national asset.
Dear Mr.Sainath,Your brillent article is supported by many, even if a few wants a quick fix, regardless of its consequences. Another minority thought 'killing the messenger' is the best answer; thus their venom is directed against you. If we create a 'super power' above every form of democratic norms, by supporting the self-appointed 'civil society' with supreme power without any check and balance, and with no tolerence for other's opinion we will surely have dictatship. This is what happened in Iran. Ayathulla Kohmini during his long excile claimed himself democratic and moral. What happened next is history.What gaurantee is there that Anna Hasare and his successors will behave differently with supreme power in their hands? Indeed there is enough evedence that opinions different from his will not be tolerated.
One other point, please don't bring Gandhigee here. He never sought for power.Is it not paradox that a culture that contributed to his assasination is now the supporters of Anna Hazare?
Nowadays we have a trend in media to gain traction. When majority of the people support for a noble cause, not only Lokpal whatever it may be, if someone who acts or speaks against it becomes a center of discussion. Mr. Sainath seem to have tried in that direction. This article is provocative and an unexpected piece of delivery from reputed newspaper like Hindu. I fully subscribe the views of Siva Ramaswami here. How can you compare the distilled public opinion by few elites to fatwas directed towards the government? Civil society have made provision to collect the opinion of the public, even now anybody can provide their valuable cooments. Let us have your strategy on fighting corruption here as we have already lost more than half a century in discreet policy making & elected representatives. We know corruption treads every walk of life and it cannot be fought within the same system which nourishes it but only through an independent body. For sure, we have high hopes to win this battle no matter how hard it is.
It seems Indians always crib and long for a messiah or a Gandhi. And when he finally comes to rescue, we Indians ridicule and discredit him and Again start cribbing for a messiah. Its a poor article by Sainath. Before publishing his piece,didn't he realize his silence on NAC which is so visible, but his scorn on civil society, looks strange. The bread and butter issues have to be fought every day but the issue of corruption is to be fought atleast once in a lifetime. And we need to support anybody who campaigns for it. For a change, can author tell me how the issue of corruption gets discredited because RSS takes part it it. what RSS gains by it, even we get a bill and government is replaced by BJP ruling pary, doesn't it affect corrupt BJP MP'S too. By the same logic, Congress tomorrow can claim RSS hand in stoking the issue of Food security act and refuse to pass a bill which is Author's favourite.
Dear Sainathji: After reading your article thoroughly, I can surely say that you have not read the draft of proposed Jan Lokpal bill prepared by the Anna camp...you have only analysed superficially what you see on TV, deliberately attempted to defame this kind of movement for the liking of the People Like You (PLY)...You said "There is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation"....will you please elaborate what demand do you see in the draft which has crossed the line? If you say it is PM and judiciary to be investigated by Lokpal, than don't you remember that all leaders of all the political parties ( including our PM and sh. Chidambaram in 2001)have already agreed for that at some point of time in the past...or do you think it is crossing line if the civil society members are adamant for the 'zero Tolerance for Corruption'?
In all these articles and counter articles, the real issue is lost ie. corruption and black money. Now the issue has become democracy vs civil society. In my opinion, both are like two parallel lines of rail track. Civil society is not dictating. They only want a fair rules for action. What the democratically elected Govt.'s (all parties included) did all these 64 years against corruption and black money? Cash for votes or millions of rupees to cross over by MP/MLA's are democratic rights? America is the back bone of democracy and powerful institutions. Even there we hear lobbying for hundreds of years now. Did any one there criticize this as detrimental to democracy?
I am sure that politicians and vested interest will not work on any legislation and as usual they will keep on talking and buy time. Remember it is the same civil society which is going to vote in the next two years and corruption will be the main issue as seen in last assembly polls.
Well said Sainath! Who decides the members of 'Civil Society' and who checks their bonafide is a fair question. Until Ramdev was gazing at TV cameras at the Ram Lila grounds, he was considered by many to be legitimate. When news surfaced about his millions and his Companies that do not declare assets, he lost that legitimacy. Anna Hazare and his spokesperson Bedi believe that they are more legitimate. Says who? The issues raised are legitimate but not the means adopted by self-appointed Groups. The Government has been elected to do a job. It should be turfed out if it does not deliver. Unfortunately, the opposition would do no better. India has chosen a difficult path by opting for democracy. If this was China, hundreds would be either in prison or escaped to other Countries with their loot!
Your article and views expressed are a real eye-opener for many who have the tendency to get driven by the overarching presence & personalities of a few individuals. It's a real pity that we have more faith on such individuals rather than our political system which has taken good 60 odd years to evolve after some serious deliberations by our Constitution Framers and Nation Builders of Modern India.
While the entire world is proud of Indian Democracy, the values enshrined thereof and consider it as exemplary for them, we as citizens are still skeptical of our own nation building process. Before charging the system or for that matter anyone with corruption, we shall first see the mirror and stare in our own eyes. We would soon realize that we are no saints either. I am fully supportive of your views and would sincerely hope that good sense will soon prevail among these people who call themselves as torch-bearers of Civil Society.
Refereshing to read an alternative analysis of recent events. No one individual or group 'nominated' members of the constituent assembly, not even the original Mahatma. Despite all shortcomings India is a functioning democracy. Elections are the only way for any group or individual to attain legitimate representative chracter; short of that anyone is merely yet another pressure group. CAG the Judiciary separation of powers between the Centre and states under a quasi federal polity are all checks and balances which prevent extreme abuse of power. It is the existing system that has brought to light all the recent mega scandals aided by an active third estate. The problem with Mr. Hazare and his group lies in their zero sum articulation of demands where they present the government with an all or nothing choice. If Mr. Hazare is so popular and has support of the 'entire nation' and its 'people', let him and his group fight even a state lection and start changing laws as leaders of government of the day; rather than shortlived media hyped tamasha. Wonder how would the supporters of this 'noble' movement react if Sayyed ali shah gilani and the rest of Hurriyat sits on a fast demanding independence.
Readers of this article, ask a fundamental question to yourself... Imagine that your house is on fire... the fire-fighters in your area are a bunch of lazy and corrupt people and won't help you until you show them money. If the nearby residents rush for your help and try to contain the fire and save your family members, then will you in your right mind ask those neighbors to stop as tell them that they are not 'authorized/ trained' (constituted legally) to contain the fire and save your home and family...
It's the same thing here. This corruption issue is like our homes are on fire... If people like Anna Hazare are fighting for your own good then also some people have issues with it because he is not 'constituted legally' to fight against the corruption. Great!! Since when the the laws/rules written on legal papers have become greater than the moral values/human rights? Aren't those laws/rules written to protect those basic moral values/human rights?
A proactive government would have taken step to counter corruption at the very onset of it but government officials (heavyweights) buried deeply in the corruption will never like such action. India (not civil society) waited for two decades before erupting in form of Anna Hazare against the corruption. How long do you think, people should wait for a government to act. If this government takes more than two decades to act, this system needs a great reform.
You are crticizing media. Being media person, you also have great responsibility to be unbiased and not favour the ingenuity of the government. The basic necessity of democracy is that people are educated. The columnist like you never wrote an article on the reluctancy of the government to educate Indian people; they want literate people not educated people. I understand that this movement is of educated people (whom you are calling PLU) and I can assure you that the day others get educated (not literate) they will join the movement. In my belief, India needs revolution to break the spider web of corruption. Now people are agitating, but agitation culminates in revolution. The day is not far!
An excellent piece. Thanks a lot for giving so vividly picture about democracy, civil society, its role, what sud be done and all these things. Some may say this article is biased towards govt, but it has touched all issues. Those people should read the last part of the article, so that they can understand Mr Sainath. Excellent thought provoking article. One just cant hold oneself to comment.
Our freedom struggle was spearheaded by a few elite. These included those who were educated abroad and had some idea of democracy, in a sub-continent of Rajas and vassal states. They did so because they felt the need to free our country from foreign rule. They could explain to the less educated and less fortunate people on the why and what of freedom. Could we not take Anna and his colleagues as a similar small group commencing a second freedom movement to rid ourselves of the morass into which our democracy has fallen? 'Elites', if by this Sainath means the young, techies who gathered round Anna, at Delhi were the youth whose idealism found echo in his call to action. This is not to say that the Lokpal Bill or institution would eliminate corruption, but it is a beginning. We begin somewhere. Where would Sainath like to make a start?
Mr Sainath, why dont you look into the just demands put forward by Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev? Just treat them as Anna and Ramdev only. They dont require any civil society compartmental status. A government neck deep in corruption takes out all the wepons in its armory to defeat any attempt to have a serious enquiry into the scams which come out one by one every week. Any citizen in this country has the right to bring to the notice of the public the corrupt deeds of this government and fight for remedial action. Why is the government afraid of the popular support Anna and Ramdev enjoys?
Let us focus on the cause and not try to show how well we can write or speak (as many of us are trying to do). If someone has stood up for a good cause then we all should join hands instead of proving our intellectual points.If you can do it better then come and show rather than just writing or reporting. Can you? If not then dont stop others from doing it.
"But does the 'electorate' deserve the scorn poured on it by 'civil society?' If the latter has struck a chord at all, it is because of the deep concerns of the former?"
But who pours scorn on the electorate as a matter of habit? The vast numbers who came to vote in the recent elections - will they be remembered by their elected representatives now that the elections are over. Past examples do not encourage such a belief. It is the elected representatives who forget that they are supposed to represent and serve the people instead of ruling over them like dictators as they normally do, while all the time pretending they have the best interests of the people in mind and that they also serve the highest ideals of democracy.
As to Ramdev being thought a lesser section of civil society, who is doing so? None of the elites behind Anna Hazare opposed Ramdev's fast, and none of them wasted any time condemning the dangerously irresponsible midnight police action on thousands of sleeping people at Ramlila grounds. There will always be different civil society groups with different social backgrounds and with different interests and ways of looking, and with particular agendas at a given point of time. And at the moment the Anna Hazare group has come together for a specific purpose - pushing for an effective Lokpal. Civil society may not have the constitutionality of the legislature, but to depreciate it on technicalities would be to actually ignore the electorate who often don't know where to turn between elections. And if just making demands were enough, then we would not be the kind of society we are. At some point civil society will have to push the boundaries of legality and constitutionality. Like often in the past and even the present, it will always do so, of necessity.
Your article implies that just because Martin Luther King Jr. was not an elected leader his protests were undemocratic and a threat to US people and its democracy. Really enlightening Mr. Sainath! I request you and your peers who term the people working against corruption as 'Team Anna' and what not to not to scuttle the good steps being taken. It was not expected from 'The Hindu' to confuse people like this.
The article is no doubt an excellent literary product which seeks to elaborate a valid point. But the author fails to provide us the insight about what 'Civil Society' really is? What are its constituents? What is the basis for its existence? What is its role in the society? What future does it hold? The understanding of this phenomenon is very much required in order to analyze the article.
Civil Society is not a new concept. The ability to think is the only pre-requisite for its existence. I personally view the civil society as a responsible public opinion. This group does not have a unique physical presence or composition but is the constructive agglomeration of thoughts, opinion and wisdom of the educated class. It derives its power & strength from the value system associated with the people of this country which may be diverse at large but has a shared vision of a welfare state which has Justice and Equality as its cornerstones. It is coterminous with human existence and will last until the man has the capacity to think and generate opinion.
Now comes question of validity, legality and constitutionality of such attempts and the dilemma whether they can actually be involved in the legislation process. NDC is the supreme planning body in the country but not constitutional. Planning Commission which is clearly an encroachment upon the powers and mandate of Financial Commission (Article 275 & 280) is not a constitutional institution. Same is the case with NAC which clearly violates Article 74 & 75. Hence, it is not valid to judge the legitimacy of an attempt on the basis of whether it is mentioned in the constitution. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the famous Keshavananda Bharti case gave the decision that basic Principles of constitution as mentioned in 'The Preamble' should not contradicted in any case. The same preamble provides the liberty of thoughts and expression. Hence, to say that these efforts are not representative and hence invalid is to fool the people. At the same time, people like Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, who claim to speak for civil society, should not be visualized as symbols of idealism and honesty. To falter is human. If the parameter of idealism is taken as an essential qualification to represent people, I think the people would not be get represented at all.
India's struggle for independence is a victory of civil society only. If we take a closer look at the social background of our beloved leaders of the movement, more often than not we find that they belonged to the upper strata of society. Despite this they were able to connect with the people because of their commitment to the larger cause. They were also against the Government and its policies. They also made attempts to bypass the institutions. Can we say that the Round Table Conferences (1930-32) were not constitutional and hence illegal. No, we can't. To oppose the system is not seditious.
The next big question - Why did the need arise for the people to do this. This is the real question to answer and ponder over. Some of the responsible causes are as follows:1. Failure of Parliament - Where in no discussion takes place now a days.2. Failure of the Executive - Which fails to look at the wrong doings (in fact supports most of the time) and awakes only when the damage has been done.3. Failure of Election system - Which fails to elect the worthy and discard the undeserving. 4. Failure of Judiciary - Which only gives hard looks and nothing else. Unfortunately, not clean itself. 5.Failure of Opposition - Which unfortunately is not the next best alternative and lacks capacity. 6. Failure of People - Who do not want to come out of their comfort level and raise their opinion. Last but not the least, the co-existence of a super Prime Minister provides the icing on the cake. Unfortunately. The Prime Minister looks like a symbolic entity which provides the protective cover to the ruling party often keeping personal integrity and honesty at stake. This is the real violation of the constitution, not what Anna and Ramdev did.
The state in which India finds itself today is not good but I have every reason to be optimistic. For, these are the signs of a creative society which has just awaken after a long sleep and I hope the enthusiasm remains for sufficiently long time. I agree with Anna Hazare when he says that India needs a second frrdom movement to get rid of the evils of corruption, misgovernance etc. Jay Hind!
However hard one may try to debate on legality of these campaigns( such as by Ramdev and Anna Hazare), the truth of the matter can't be covered up. Few may try to paint these activists as villians but their idea is right--A Lokpal Bill and corruption removal. And if govt or the legislature is reluctant to doing things, then people may take up the matter. After all it's all for the right cause and non-violent, too.
It's sad to see media is trying to cover this currupt government here. I partly blame Ramdev for diversion of attention from core issue Anna is fighting for. It's really sad to see few people have commented Anna as currupt. This old man is fighting for you and your next generation try and help him out by supporting movement of strong lokpal bill. I knew TOI and HT are there to cover up government and congress; not sure where Hindu is heading. It's really sad to se no political party not single leader, no celebrity, no businessman is coming out with his voices to support Anna.
A good article in spirit. However, it would have been more balanced, if Mr.Sainath presented an alternative solution to tackle the issue of corruption and black money at the government level, which is the crux of the matter. Indeed, in Kerala and TN voters exercised their power and dethrone the corrupt, but to what consequence? 5 years later, we vote back the lesser of the devils! This movement is making the corrupt uneasy, is bringing about a larger discourse and that needs to be appreciated! Now, if the likes of Anna Hazare start voicing the issue of farmer suicides, doesn't that give us more hope?
May be Anna Hazare is a PLU elite.May be Sainath also.Finding out who is and who is not, will not solve the problem of corruption. These are questions that need to be answered to assess the magnitude of corruption in India. How many schools in India have ethics as one of the subjects in their curiculum? What percentage of parents in India worry about their child adhering to moral values instead of worrying about the grades the latter secures in a exam or an institute he secures admission into? Will the people who consider themselves as victims of corruption adhere to their suggestions of better governance if they themselves become people's representatives? If one can answer these questions and has still has some stamina left, then may be the efforts to eradicate corruption can be taken up.
Finally, someone writes just what was every 'thinking' Indian had in mind, rather than other kinds. However it was easy for some people to hijack the general discontent of the public towards corruption. Just like the political parties kidnapped the discontent at their opponents during elections. There is no point in pointing fingers. Everyone should realize, no matter how 'Tough' you make the law, there is going to be a way around it. And Change comes from 'with-in' like the old MGR song goes, if the theif doesn't realized his own fault there is no way you can eliminate theifs. Though its a hard thing for me to say, still 'Trust the system' and be proud you pay your taxes. Remember your social responsibility, its not only the government's job to take care of the society. Then, and only then we can have a better India, infact a better world!!
Criticize the anti-corruption campaign or the corrupt government? On this fundamental question, Mr. Sainath seems to have erred.
An excellent thought provoking article! Thank God this world still has some fearless, wise and intelligent journalists like you.
As far as media's role in creating special civil society groups is concerned, I have no doubt media is concerned only about marketing and profit making. Media tells whatever sells in the public, especially true about electronic media. But I think we need more and more participation of common people in law and decision making process. Otherwise it becomes too much representative democracy than a participative democracy. Definitely, govt. has not done its duty regarding courruption in last 60 years. Thats why these groups have to come and agitate. As far as the issue of monopoly of wisdom of certain civil society members is concerned, the good thing about Annna Hazare led movement is that they have been trying to reach out as many people as possible and have welcomed all the views from all over the country and tried to convey the reasoning and logic behind their demands. Also, they have been quite acceptive and changed their position on certain issues based on feedback of different groups and people.
Very well written.. this has become a mass-hysteria.. People seem to have stopped thinking on their own.. They believe just what they see in news channels.. Not for a moment they try to think about the intention of the person or media concerned. If such a thing called Lokpal comes into action, wait and see, for some n number of years, one 'Bhushan' will be there.. People will start to bribe to get into Lokpal.. Gradually, it will become the most corrupt thing in India.. and no one will be above that to control it. The solution will become BIGGER than the prblem..
I wish Mr. Sainath had used his intellect and energy to make the Lokpal bill better.. We don't care about the definition of a society, Its all about corruption. Probably the author could not understand the anger that the people have against the corrupt govt. I also wish that this kind of agitation should have been done by opposition parties like BJP or CPM but they are not doing this because they themselves are corrupt till the hilt ? Then now who would raise this issue ? Hundreds of RTI activists are being killed, threatened but the govt is unable to provide them safety. Don't blame Anna's civil society.
Yes Mr Sainath, I completly agree with you, any change in our democratic system should come only through a long process, that is by conducting elections (distribution of money+free boons+liquor etc), otherwise no change in our system is valid and should be banned. Talking about Mr Anna and his team (except ramdev), they are much better than the so called intellectual society sitting in AC rooms, watching happenings and writing some thing to create sensations, basically we fear change, that is our sin. and lastly once again I agree with you, our system should be bound by constitution which has brought our lives to worst ranking in corruption and human index, and the democracy which is serving people for once in five years by pouring liquor and money. change in our system should be seen in the perspective of individual's interest but not by holistic nature of the people working and the subtle support that they have. And thanks for THE HINDU for bringing such an eye opener article to the readers.
After reading this article and comments thereafter on it, there are somethings which are really worth mentioning: 1. Firstly there is a division of opinion on how the civil society should be formed, act and fuction etc. which is quite obvious to have, due to different thinking of different minds. When there can be diffrent views on whether to bring the black money(obviously which is infact the hard-earned money of common people of India) from abroad back home or not(The answer to which will be in ratio of 99.999999:0.0000001, this small fraction we know who they are.) then this quesion of working of civil society is very vague and worth disscussion. 2. Second which is important to note is, once was the time when so called media, newschannel etc. where not so in pictures as they are these days, was there no corruption, black money, poverty etc? (Indeed it was there). But the difference is now only that these things come into picture too easily and too fast. So is this a good thing to have or a not a good thing to have?(Again the thoery of many minds, many answers will be applicable here.) But the important thing here also to note is how responsibily this media and civil society responds to them. 3. Third thing which is Good to have is that at last we are moving in a direction where atlest to say we are having these civil socity institutions, which are raising the voices of a common man, otherwise once was the time when many voices were suppressed even before they were raised. Although there can be diffence among these institutions also on how to tackle or raise a issue before goverment and peoples of India, but if they serve the purpose of it, there is no reason not to have them.
Don't you think, just because you are working with a framework (parliamentary democracy in this case), you need not revere the framework like it was made by gods. Any sort of demonstration/ agitation/ protest by any non-parliamentarian individual or group is in a way undermining parliamentary democracy isn't it? However there is currently no means of answering the question of whether any of these demonstrations/agitations/ protests represent a truly democratic voice. Isn't it?
An excellent article!! Any sane person would be able to see that this is a siege on democracy. If one is not happy with the current crop of politicians, why not enter the fray themselves if they think they can do better? Rather than creating and professing this form of vigilantism, the country would be better off if the likes of Anna Hazare contested elections. The media is making matters worse through biased reporting.
All I remember is Manish Tewari taunting people like Santosh Hegde (a judge) that 'these people are not electable' and he laughed on live television! If the government is in arrogance of being elected by a majority electorate which is rural (and thus illiterate and not privy to modern performance measurables) and refuses performance measures of governance between election cycles, then they have to go. You can't ignore voters once you're elected, there needs to be a mechanism (surveys?) that should affect a government's ability to sustain their power based on performance. Is an elected government at all accountable? Or once a term is won, that's it? This cannot do. We cannot have arrogance shown by Digvijay Singh or Manish Tewari or Advani that they are 'electable' material, I doubt so - because for me they aren't CEO material (none of these people have what it takes to lead an MNC for that matter) or have been scholars from an Ivy/Oxbridge (my interpretation of electability). Ramdev and co are illiterate and the elected government is in the mythical belief that they are worthy of being elected. I run a small business and I wouldn't hire people like Tewari or Singh to sweep my office floor. This democratic mechanism of India is flawed and from what I know, the Congress are hardly 'electable' based on logical merit if you ask me. Their arrogance is unwarranted and needs a reality check - hopefully by the electorate itself, I hope.
Corruption is worse than prostitution; The latter might endanger the morals of an individual, the former invariably endangers the morals of the entire country
This article is fun filled but has no juice. What is the solution when the elected government and the opposition loot the country in collaboration? I fully support Anna Hazare. Don't you see the conflict of interest when politicians framing law to prevent corruption? This was evident when the government prepared the first Lokpal bill.
I beg to differ on your views expressed in this article: 1. As mentioned by some of my fellow-readers. It would be wise only for yourself to present an alternative form of agitation to that of Mr Hazare's which you more or less see as unconstitutional. Though i do not possess as much knowledge of the law than yourself, i am sure there are exceptions that can be made legally towards formation of a 'Civil Society' (irrespective of it being a publicity stunt or a politically motivated group) as long as their mission is of the best interest of the country. 2. When you compare the Mahatma Gandhi and Mr Hazare, their goals are not too different. Gandhi wanted a change in 'Government', from foreign to domestic hands. Mr Hazare on the other hand is only seeking change in 'Governance'. He only wants a governing body (independent of the legislature, executive and the judiciary). I do not mind my hard earned tax money to be spent on paying salaries to these newly appointed public servants (however efficient they might be) than being stored in swiss bank accounts by a politician. 3. I (when i mean 'I', i can comfortably say it includes 80 to 90% of the country's population) am no Anna Hazare or Mahatma Gandhi. I am just a normal citizen earning Rs30,000 a month. All i want is to enjoy my life with my family without hesitation in the safest and the cleanest environment my country can provide. Besides my power to vote for a change if i don't like something, i definitely do not mind supporting an extra effort (Mr Hazare) without going out of the way.
Our Mahatma, apart from giving us a weapon in the name 'satyagraha', also taught us to defy rule of law by way of non-cooperation. However noble the intent was at that point of time, it has become a more potent weapon than 'satyagraha' to hold governments to ransom. In the same way, Anna Hazare's intentions are good and I am with him. But how can he appoint himself and elite that surround him as representatives of people? The government is sovereign and there shall not be a body above it. It is like bringing a monarchy back. NGOs while trying to fight corruption, should educate the electorate to elect right representatives. The electorate is not as illiterate as the Anna team thinks. It has acted decisively in state polls. Yes, the change will take time, but that is the right direction to go. NAC is an advisory body to the government without any constitutional powers. NAC may have an influence on the government and government as such need not abide by NAC recommendations.
Coloring Ramdev with political colors is to dis-credit his movement. What else do you expect from Congress, always trying to build shields to hide their original colors.
Civil societies are not above law, but they should have the authority to challenge the law. The law makers though chosen constitutionally by constituents of these civil societies only, are too not above law. They drafts bills, passes legislations for betterment for the country, but seldom there has been any legislation which affects them, and its not entirely there fault. If you have 4 black BMW's and you came to know that their contribution in green house gases is 50% more than other colored cars and if you have the authority of passing legislations, I think like everyone else you too would be inclined not to pass this legislation. In cases like this Govt need to be pushed above the line by these 'civil societies', though I agree, there is no specific definition of this term.
But for me a group of people who shares a same vision with me, is not motivated by any individualistic or political reason, hence are putting themselves to sword for the good of society rather than any individual is a civil society for me. Its was quite clear in Jessica lal murder case and RTI, how these so called 'civil societies' pushed govt to act. Without the intervention of these civil societies neither case would have been resolved till date.
Interesting analysis and at the end of the passage, one is left a little confused as to the message the writer is attempting to impart. In a country like India which has a large percentage of illiteracy and poverty, governments are brought about mostly by the poor and illiterate by inducing bribes, patently false promises and physical threats. These voters have no time and interest in the finer points of 'society', 'PSUs', judiciary et al.Their interest is first food in their bellies for today and a roof over their heads. Essentially, these modest requirements are thought to be met by hollow promises made by candidates during election and the simple folk oblige. Once elected....we all know. It would be most interesting if there was a analysis of the worth of every MP prior to becoming an MP and their worth now. The inevitable conclusion is stark. Due to this system which has existed since independence and amplified during the current Congress regime and its cohorts, everyone is affected but the rich and famous actually benefit from it (2g Scam etc.)whereas the poor pay the price of their folly again and again. The one problem we have in India is that the country is actually growing economically and the middle and upper class (in terms of money possession) are doing OK in spite of the corruption. These people have little interest in taking time out to do anything about the rotten system - indeed most of these people think that it is beneath their dignity to go out to vote. The people who suffer the most are the very people who voted in masses for the thieves we call parliamentarians! Does the author for a moment think that these poor and dispossessed are going to rise as one on their own! We humans as a race tend to be like sheep and simply follow. Those who rise above this mentality become rich, famous or inspire revolutions. Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare are such people. People have criticised the two for having a luxurious lifestyle. We Indian are great at narrow vision and not being able to look at the larger picture. Why are we not able to capture the essence of what they are trying to do? Sure, if they attain their goals, maybe they too will partake in corruption to some level (though I am not sure I believe this), but will it have helped the country if corruption is legislated against very strictly, or if even a fraction of the Indian money stashed in what I call (economic) prostitute states like Switzerland, is returned to India? Sure it will. We will have set out on a correction path at least. At least Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare have galvanized the ordinary people's concerns. Let us support Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare in their efforts because the elected have raped the poor and the nation. If I recall correctly, when Mahatma Gandhiji started his actions on return from S. Africa, he wasn't elected. He acted out of a strong conviction in his heart born out of love for his country. How many politicians of any hue can claim this?
The claim of the elected representatives to be the sole legitimate custodians of democracy might have been valid if the electoral process had been perfect -- but as we all know, it is seriously flawed. Criminals get elected even while they are in jail ; black money flows in abundance. The 'first-past-the-post' system of elections is recognized to be unrepresentative, but is allowed to continue. There is no system of recall and so corrupt governments continue in office for the full term. The spoils system is at its worst. To top it all, the government is now remote-controlled by an unelected 'National Advisory Committee'. The entire robber-gang of parliamentarians, regardless of political affiliation, is out to perpetuate a rotten system. In these circumstances, the voters have a right to make themselves heard. Anna is right : the people must assert that they are supreme, not those whom they elect. The Lokpal Bill can only be a start -- much more needs to be cleaned up. People like Sainath and Tavleen Singh are only confusing the issues. We must cut through all this verbiage and see things in 'black' (since there is little 'white' in evidence. The anger is justified and must not be allowed to cool !
While you have concluded your article with 'Dumping democracy is, after all, the privilege of the Platinum PLUs.', you ought to have forgotten, that you can also be with in the Platinum PLU's if you so desire. That is the movement that Shri Anna Hazare is leading now and it is nothing but people's movement. People were fed up of the corrupt politicians and insensitive governments to their problems and were looking for a catalyst. In came , Anna Hazare and people followed him , in the same way people followed Mahathma during Independence. While the constitution empowers the parliament to enact a law, we have seen in the last 62 years, the scenario on the ground.We have reached a stage, that people's movement can alone bring in a change. Out of 543 parliamentarians, we have more than 50% who either have a criminal or a corruption case or both pending. Do you expect such parliamentarians to draft a law that will eradicate corruption?
Let us not also forget that the Prime Minister himself is one of the unelected electables ( in the language of Congress spokesperson), he getting into the Rajya Sabha. Coming to your point on Mr.Kaushik Basu on legalising corruption, I am ashamed to say "Why a Government Servant drawing Sixth Pay commission salary should stoop down to such levels and that be legalised". It only reflects the bankruptcy of the Government thinking. A Government employee is generally referred to as a Government Servant (drawing his wages from the government) and his responsiblity is to work for the society. On the contrary most of these netas are the conduit for corruption to the so called 'protectors of the democracy' i.e the criminal or corrupt MPS's who frame the law of the country. Finally if we are going to have such type of M.P's framing the law of the land, then God Save This Country
Well-researched and well- written article .It has a lot of dimensions of relevance for a balanced view on the matters faced by Civil Society. The reference for an inclusive - composition of the Civil Society, corporate infuence on policy and administration individually and thro elite / platinum PLUs, inconsistancy in policy formulation outside of Parliament when it suits the vested interests and government and such other issues are very salient and free from bias etc.I compliment the writer and THE HINDU for giving refreshing articles on contemporary issues.
The phrase 'civil society' to describe Anna Hazare and his team has been used by the media in the first place. But regardless of their constitutional position, the point is they have raised the issue of corruption out of anguish and frustration, affecting all of us. The government, by not agreeing for live telecast of the deliberations of the Drafting Committee has lost a golden opportunity to let the people to see and assess for themselves the merits and demerits in the arguments put forward by both sides (so called civil society members and the government) in support of their view points. There is nothing confidential in framing of these laws so as to refuse live telecast. On the other hand, the live tele-cast would have show-cased to the world the transparency of the government in framing laws in tackling corruption. By drafting an effective Lokpal bill covering the PM and elected members as well, India would be seen as a role model by other under-developed and developing countries in framing laws to tackle corruption, which has become a global phenomenon. The government by not telecasting live the deliberations of the drafting committee and now blaming the civil society for being unreasonable has caused serious doubts in the minds of the people about their sincerity in framing an effective Lokpal bill. The people of this country are not fools and wise enough to draw the correct inferences.
Beautiful article. The so called Civil Society members should remember, that comparisons with the Mahatma and the Congress are ill found. The congress was properly elected, consensus based party; and compromise and respect for the opposition were key parts of the Mahatma's strategy. But more importantly,your article as always opened my eyes w.r.t the way the media, information and hence democracy works.
I would think the comments here are from common people. It would be interesting to know what Sainath has to say on their views. Would these people be categorized as 'people that have internet connection' - 'cream of the society' and hence not sufficiently representing whole of India?
Sainath, for once you are completely missing the point: Constitution, and everything else that flows from it, is an expression of the 'will' of the people. Forget about the 'civil society', even a single individual, which has often be the case in history of many societies, may strike a chord with the majority of the people, and they may, depending on the context, decide to abandon a certain form of Constitution and governance. Your argument holds true only if the 'civil society' fails to win the support of the mass, and remains as an exclusive group of a few individuals.
Mr. Sainath, your article is an interesting read. But, Anna Hazare cannot be called a member of the so called Civil Society. He fought with the Maharashtra government to get the RTI act passed. He never claimed to be a member of any civil society and he himself did not expect the kind of response for his fast at Jantar Manter which he happened to get. He simply chose a Gandhian way of fighting for a cause he thought is in public interest and he was successful in getting a powerful state to respond to his demands.
While I agree with your observations on the Indian media and the 'PLU's', I would like to emphasise that you can be rest assured that this kind of mass scale phenomenon cannot be repeated if either the demand is not in larger public good or the person making the demand is not genuinely moral in his intentions whether he belongs to a civil society or any of your so called PLU's.
Congress Party spokesperson Manish Tiwari says, "Our democracy faces its peril from the unelected and the unelectable." (13 June 2011) Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee labels Anna Hazare a tyrant! These Congressmen, who are habituated to mudslinging, have persistently indulged in hurling accusations at Anna Hazare and his team to deflect public focus from the Lokpal debate.
First they tried to fabricate a CD over some registration of a plot against the Bhushans, which attempt fell flat. Now they are trying to get people to believe that Mr Hazare is working for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh/Bharatiya Janata Party and not for the masses. Only the corrupt, and not democracy, should feel threatened by such a mass movement. Democracy is the people, not the government. And let it be understood by the arrogant who occupy positions of power, that democracy is not their personal domain or a 'members-only club' where 'unelected' citizens have no role to play. If that were so, should we assume that Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose and the entire galaxy of our freedom fighters got away with their sins, and that Manish Tiwari would have prosecuted them for being 'unelected tyrants'. Such people must introspect and make a serious attempt to change their outlook.
Ten observations that could help analyse the government's perception vis-a-vis the ground reality, in the on going turmoil in the country's political field. 1. No other democracy in the world has an unelected prime minister apart from India, which is supposed to be the world's largest democracy. Which is probably also why it is being said that 'our democracy faces peril from its people.' 2. No other prime minister or president of a democracy has been as silent or as invisible as is the case in India. 3. No other government in the civilised modern world receives orders from an extra-constitutional authority (10 Janpath) as obsequiously as the Indian government. 4. No other government in the civilised world has been seen staggering so indecisively, and so clownish, as our government has been. First, they tried to make fun of Anna Hazare; then, terrified at the overwhelming response to his call and the support for the anti-corruption campaign, the government caved in and set up the joint drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill. Unable to answer questions raised by the civil society members of Hazare's team, Pranab Mukherjee calls him a tyrant! Next, the top four in the government prostrate before Baba Ramdev, then beat up the yoga guru's supporters two days later. What kind of 'democracy' is this, and who is destroying it? 5. No other democracy in the world has as many as nearly a third of its members of Parliament (mainly the Lok Sabha) (about 162 plus Suresh Kalmadi, A Raja, Kanimozhi and now may be even Dayanidhi Maran and P Chidambaram) facing criminal charges ranging from trespassing to murder. (This is more than a 26% increase over the record of members in the previous Lok Sabha. There are nine ministers in the central cabinet who face criminal charges, one of them for 'theft'. (According to National Election Watch, 76 members of Parliament are involved in serious criminal cases. A total 522 cases are pending against various members of Parliament; 275 of these are under serious sections of the Indian Penal Code.) What more do we need to add, Mr Manish Tewari, that will imperil democracy in India. 6. India ranks at 87 in the survey on the 'International Perception of Corruption' conducted by the World Bank and IBRD, Bertelsman Foundation, World Economic Forum, Global Insight and Transparency International Berlin. India stands on level with countries like Albania, Jamaica and Liberia with an index of 3.3 (out of 10), that has fallen from 3.5 in 2007 and 3.4 in 2008 & 2009. 7. No sane government, other than a heartless, tyrant would unleash brutality against a peaceful bhajan-singing congregation of innocent men, women and children, as happened at Delhi's Ram Lila ground, late night on 4-5 June 2011. 8. According to media reports (The Times of India, Ahmedabad, 8 June 2011), India not only tops the list of nations having tons of black money stashed away in Swiss banks, but its cache of black money ($1,546 billion) is far more than the combined total of the next four countries in the list of black money deposits namely, Russia, the UK, Ukraine and China ($1,056 billion). Contrast this with the poor farmers committing suicides, hapless pregnant women delivering babies at hospital gates, and destitute tribal masses fed up with a callous administration, seeking solace in a Maoist rebellion. 9. No other government can boast of so many scams as the UPA government. However, these are merely some facts of the reality, not something that Manish Tiwari and Pranab Mukherjee would like to believe. They, like some of their colleagues in government, are suffering hallucinations and illusions. In Mr Hazare, they see a heavily-armed warrior-'a tyrant'-at the head of an angry army of India's masses, charging ferociously straight into them. This scenario reminds one of Wordsworth's adolescent thief, who was fleeing with a stolen boat, but he felt the hilltop behind was chasing him so menacingly, that the farther he went the bigger the shadow became that loomed over him. For, the more the government tries to shoo away the Lokpal and the uproar over corruption, the more vigorous becomes the public outcry against corruption. Indian politicians could not have asked for more decent and loving enemies than Anna Hazare and his candle-wielding supporters, or Baba Ramdev, with his devotees practising abstinence and yoga. Arrogant governments in West Asia and North Africa are facing more violent and destructive uprisings. We have a choice to change peacefully. While the anxiety of those in power is understandable, they cannot avoid the problem by looking in the other direction. The tide is unstoppable. The people deserve and they are demanding an effective Lokpal, to rein in rampant corruption and they will get it, with the government's your co-operation, or the tumult will crush authoritarian arrogance and install people's choice.
Sainath at his best as usual. His insight into the workings of PLU is enlightening. It is certainly not desirable that someone outside the lawmaking authorities dictates terms to the Parliament. Today, it can be Anna. Tomorrow it can be Ambani through a PLU. This route is bound to be misused if encouraged. However, there is a catch in this argument. What we are talking today is how to reduce corruption which has become a hallmark of all sectors of governance including judiciary. Can the system correct itself without a nudge (or push or shove as you please) from an outsider? The only right way would be for the people to resolve themselves to act against corruption at all available opportunities including when we vote, or when we go to the municipal office to get a permission. This is easier said than done and not feasible in the short term unless there is a revolution. In such a circumstance, it becomes imperative on the society (civil or uncivil) to force the arms of the government to behave properly. When it comes to systemic faults of governance, the means used to rectify it pale compared to the end objective. In all other cases, the means should be justified to achieve the ends.
Dear Sainath, I'm sorry to say but I have distinct feeling that you are in the campaign of the Govt. working to smear the efforts of Mr. Anna and others. Mr. Hazare and others would not have come into prominence had the elected government been doing its duty to curb corruption. Unfortunately, it is trying its level best to cover-up the scams and smear the activists who try to work against such a corruption.
I need not remind that 2G scam was done by the member of UPA government, preferential treatment to RIL is again by the members of UPA government. UPA didn't even care to relieve its members who were indicted of misuse of Power, Eg. Mr. Chavan. The Nuclear reactors allocated did not follow an establish bidding process and needless to say the bribing by the then UPA to win the trust vote. MNREGA is again smeared with corruption, while the actual needy are going hungry party related persons are gaining from it. Further, as 'The Hindu' has pointed out the UPA didn't even want to use the options available to it to quantify the amount of black money stashed in Swiss banks (which could be calculated by requesting the income earned by the taxation on the interests provided to these amounts). Further, in every of the scams the PMO had either turned a blind-eye or silent or involved (directly or indirectly). So, only an absolute fool would believe that the Govt. is serious towards curbing corruption, when itself is corrupted to the extreme.
When Mr. Sainath is questioning the activities of Mr. Hazare, why hasn't he questioned the appointment of National Advisory Council, an extra-constitutional body formed entirely by the UPA? Personally, Mr.Hazare is not my leader. However, I support his cause. I too believe the Lokpal bill strong enough to indict even the Prime Minister and Judiciary should be brought under the ambit of the bill. Now the politicians are afraid of the consequences and trying to take protection under the Constitution and the constitutional validity of the Mr. Hazare's group. The UPA's calculation is to introduce a bill that will not be powerful enough to investigate and indict the MPs and the party men but only a few officers, break the fast of Mr. Hazare in a similar fashion as that of Mr. Ramdev, smear the BJP as a communal party and win election by providing reservations to minorities, freebies and by buying votes. If the people fall for its tricks, I don't believe even if God could save India.
I agree in full contents with Siva Ramaswami ibid
People resort to such campaigns only when they have no other alternative. The so-called democratic systems have been in place from a long time. Yet, they have become breeding grounds for corruption. How can we expect the Parliamentarians to make a strict law for themselves, without pressure from the people? How can one's faith in honesty of our institutions stand when the mandate of the Parliament was stifled in the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and that of the democratically elected Panchayats of villages being affected by the Jaitapur Nuclear Project was over-ruled?
Had these institutions functioned with honesty, such movements would not have arisen in the first place. Anyone would confidently say that had the Anna Hazare wave not arisen, this level of awareness about Lokpal Bill would not have been generated and the present set of arrogant Ministers would have got their way.
I am afraid that the edge of Sainath's criticism of Civil Society/PLU was getting lost somewhere at the point at which he tries to make a distinction between Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. According to his own proposition one will find fundamentally no distinction between these two,in as much as both are manifestations of PLU syndrome. At the same time,the bigger problem with 'civil society activism' seems to be that the very idea of increasing disparities in society- the idea of class - is sought to be buried. Nevertheless, the article makes its strongest point where this aspect gets indirect mention;ie, whereby Sainath observes that the civil society here is defined by exclusion than inclusion.
Its baffling as to why the author seems hell bent on disparaging a cause which truly speaks much for itself.I guess a movement like this is bound to have some negative viewers clad in their self decorated world of pessimism.But undermining such a movement by providing preposterous points is not really going to deprive the movement of its credbility,authenticity and intentions.I have been following the whole episode closely and i believe we needed a crusader to lead us from the front. Corruption was rampant since decades in our country and it was sucking our country's wealth stashing them in tax havens across the world and despite knowing all, the citizens of this country were reduced to lame spectators silently swallowing their frustations. Hence the need for a figurehead spearheading a campaigning against the govt was exigent and i believe our constitutional rights and democratic liberties allow us to question the govt whenever needed.
Right from day-one, this 'anti-corruption' saga is being fought in stealth by the so-called principal opposition party, which has no principle. I never understood this 'supra constitutional' sense! Parliament is supposed to agree to give powers to some committee that is not elected by people or at least selected by those who were elected. BJP supporters too seem to get into this cowardly act of fighting Congress through surrogate means. Even more comical is those who dont want to parade as BJP supporters but support this craft of anti-graft!
Very thought provoking article! But, it can be debated through many means. We have only one platform to express (The Hindu) and the Opinion does not provide PLU any space to write our thoughtful researches. And if I have to express my views I will have to open a new thread (Outside 'The Hindu'). And of course there will hardly be any reader (Compared to the number of readers of your article). So, to get more attention I will have to express my thoughts here only (In the comments section). Similarly, when Anna and team (The Civil Society representatives) were marching in different villages, streets and towns of the country no one was giving any space to them. Now they are in capital, and cameras are well focused. Media, high profile people, celebrities and even parliamentarians are rushing to Anna and team. There is nothing one can do, as law of nature can't be amended easily. But yes, we can concentrate on the bigger picture which is nation building. If Lokpal Bill is required for that we should emphasize more on its structure/pros/cons/implementation etc.
Article has very cautiously addressed the multidimensional issue of civil society like : its formation , the way these societies are financed, its neutrality and unbiased nature and its linkages with corporate families. Article has asked a clear question whether these societies are actually articulating the interest of common people without any political nclination. It has also raised the question of accountability and transparency in civil societies.
Issues like corruption, black money , poverty and inflation are not limited to few selected sections or groups and these issues have affected and is affected by public at large. To address these issue a wide public consultation is required. It also requires harmonious coordination among executives, legislature and judiciary. And more importantly the political willingness. Effort done by Anna Hazzare and his group cannot be undermined on the basis that the bill has been framed by few people and it lacks wide public consultation. In fact before framing the bill group has made a wide public consultation . group which has framed the bill have rich experience of bureaucracy , legislative and judiciary processes. And aware of lop holes , lacunas and linkages from where corruption takes place. Group has set an example of how civil society can effectively put its voices and make aware of public of its strength in democracy.
In more than 63 year of independence, India has achieved a lot , it is now a nuclear power, has made its foot prints in space and in international arena its voices and concerns are recognized . but in impressive 63 years we have not adequately addressed the problem of corruption , black money, criminalization of politics and poverty. We have formed committees and but not effectively implemented the recommendation . but is solely government responsible for all above problems? Are we 'Common people' not responsible for all above problems. In fact we have not recognized the value of our vote. It is true that concept of civil society is not new in India but the way it has emerged in recent years to articulate the common problems of corruption , inflation and black money shall be welcomed . we must be optimistic that civil society will make our representative democracy more democratic in true sense.
Out of the 28 million Indians displaced ever since independence - more than the population of the Australian subcontinent, and many world nations - 40% are tribals (tribals constitute hardly 1% of Indian population). When did the civil society showed their regard, their solidarity with the tribals? Take the ongoing struggle against POSCO. State govt fabricated consent letter from villagers in order to get environmental clearance. Now the legitimate villagers are fighting the state with their life. How many of the so called civil society activists even cared to know about their issue? Instead they tweeted comparing them with LTTE for using children as human shield.
Your article is well-written and timely. Like in Plato's Allegory of the Cave, all what seem and what we see to be right, need not be exactly so. As you rightly point out, even civil societies can be constructed and are being constructed, by the Market and the Market-driven Media, and even by the Government, at the service of the Corporate Empires. We need to save the people, with them, and not without them. We need to respect the People of India, the Legislature and the Judiciary. People are supreme and of course, as Gandhiji, rightly reminded us, "end does not justify the means", notwithstanding many Anna Hazares, Kejriwals, Bhushans and spiritual entrepreneurs like Baba Ramdevs.
64 years have been passed since independence but what the govt. has done to root out the corruption from the country. It has been increasing like the size of gourd.I personally believe nothing is above democracy.Electoral process is the foundation of our democracy.But what the govt. has made this process:a gutter like! Wikileaks exposed how votes used to be bought. But what the P.Chidambram said about wikileaks "they have no credibility". How much more time people will give these politicians?ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. public whether poor or rich all have no option except to extend our support to people like Anna Hazare and Ramdev.All have the right to express their views just like you now I am expressing.
The Congress claims that it has a mandate to rule and the non-elected civil society members have no right to advise them. In a legal sense this may be so. But one would like to remind the Congress leaders that their party got only 29.6% of the votes of the 57% of the eligible electors who cast their votes which means that only 16.9 % of eligible voters voted for the Congress party in 2009 elections.. P. Sainath should have pointed out this fact. One wonders from where the conceit of the Congress leaders come from. As regards destruction of democratic institutions,if the likes of Anna Hazare are responsible for it, Sonia Gandhi is ahead of them in the destruction procees through her back-seat driving of the government and the NAC.
A well written article. You have rightly pointed out the issues the 'civil society' conveniently avoids. It is surprising that the role of liberalisation in corruption is never a topic of discussion. There is a tendency to argue that the corruption is the baggage of license/permit raj of pre-liberalisation era, where in the source of corruption was mainly big business men bribing authorities to get favorable treatment for licenses etc. by bending rules. But with the onset of Liberalisation, license raj came to an end, but a lot of new avenues for corruption got open. If not, new avenues are created, in the quest of maximizing profit. Rules and regulations (to offer a level playing field) are bend by the corporate /bureaucrats/politician nexus. (a)Public assets started getting looted, instead of utilising it for creating an egalitarian society, in making more and more billionairs. For example 2G scam, Mining scams, PSU sell off's; for instance, 1995 iron ore mines in Bailadila run by NMDC was sold for 16 crore (previous two decades profit was 1765 crore). BALCO was sold for 551 crore (assets worth over 5000 crore). 22,000 karnataka mining scam.). (b) On the other hand govt policies are is getting fixed - policy is up for sale! Changing a policy to favour a particular company - the latest RIL Godavari scam is an example - or similar instances in 2G scam. (c) Like a nail in the coffin, our democracy now has ministers' getting fixed, exposed by the Radia tapes, have X company's minister or Y's minister (accordingly X or Y would get favorable treatment). Scams of mammoth proportion and frequency is the direct result of liberalisation. During 1948-1991, the number of major scams were around eight (Mundhra scandal, Dhamateja loan, Kairon, Biju patnaik, Kuo oil deal, Antulay trust. HDW commissions, Bofors pay-off). After 1991 the scams gallopped in size as well as in numbers. Major scam occurrences have gone up from 1 in 6 years to 1 in 5 months. Scam size grown in torrents from Rs. tens of crore to hundreds, through thousands to lakhs of crore. scam size increase rate is beyond the inflation rate. An increase of 10-100 times every decade. 20 times 2G scam is eleventh five year plan outlay. 3541 times bofors scam is the seventh five year plan outlay. If license raj was the reason, corruption should have diminished or at the best be at the same level, it cannot cannot gallop.
When even the 'civil society' leaders like Prashant Bhushan or Arvind Kejrivar raised the issue of privatisation, it was opposed by a section of the 'civil society' itself. Some want to make their own definition of corruption - corporate corruption does not come in the definition. Money/Power influencing govt policies is hurting our democratic system - govt is forgetting its constitutional obligations feels that they have obligations to the rich and the mighty. Some in the 'civil society' do not see it as an issue.
Logical and fair arguments. My main concern is the suggested democratic/Gandhian way will take ages to bring about a positive change. The current and many generations thereafter would have been dead and gone by that time. Perhaps a spiritual, philosophical, and strong mind is needed to tide over this patiently in a democratic way. But again it's so hard. Housing, Driving Licence, Current, Water, Phone - everywhere they make your life so difficult if you do not pay up the bribe. I do know some honest people that don't take bribe and that don't give bribe. But then I will have to suffer for months before I get the job done through honest means. What is delayed is as good as what is denied.
With due respect to our electoral process and democracy, MLA & MP selected serve their our cause and are subservient to their party leaders. Very few elected representatives put the country before their party and their leaders. When We vote, we vote for the lesser evil. I see the Indian political system only degenerating with time. It is really painful that we are not able to pass a Lokpal bill for so many years, being scuttled by vested interests and our own elected members. The same is the case with Reservation for women bill.
I strongly believe these civil groups of the kinds of Anna & Ramdev though not democratic plays a vital role because our elected representative really don't represent us. I've the moral freedom to support a group which i believe work for the good of the country.
Excellent write up. after watching the civil society members addressing the press conference and their increasingly stubborn attitude, many earlier supporters of them are having a second thought. the tribe of people supporting neither of the group is growing and asking uncomfortable questions to both the group. Well let the semi-civil tribe thrive and the debate will get more interesting and colourfull
Excellent article written. As usual, The Hindu stands out. As pointed out in the article, its me - the electorate who decides the Government. By mere exercise of my franchise, i give them the responsiblity to run the Government for, of and by me. In case i find the Government unable to fulfill my demands, i have every right to overthrow the Government when it comes the next time for seeking a mandate from me. These self proclaimed groups, claiming to be acting on behalf of me does more harm than good. Neither they have come to me for seeking a mandate to act on my behalf nor i have authorised them to act on my behalf. The voter exercises his right to select a government as per the framework of the Indian Constitution. The Government cannot be bullied by the socalled 'civil society ' groups.
Aptly said, and well timed too.
Dear Sainath: India is facing the problem of severe corruption cases which it has not witnessed so far after the independence. We should require a strong clear cut law which will enable to take actins against those who are found guilty as quick as possible regardless of his position in the society,which party he hails from,whatever position he holds whether it is top most minister or person holding chair in supreme court.The law should be applicable same to all. And for this purpose only Anna Hazare and his team is working.It is only for the well being for the people of India and we all must stand with Anna Hazare and his team in this movement. Any such movement we should appreciate instead of simply criticizing.
Very well written and very thoughtful article. Media condense the thinking of people in one way or another. When Anna talks about Lokpal bill that is aimed at tightening the noose around MP, bureaucrats and even PM, everyone (or it seems every one supported). But when Ramdev start taking about Black money(he has been telling this for long time), things get changed. Industrialist,film star pledged their support to it but as Ramdev hit at black money, which seems to have hard hit both politician and industrialist equally , people began to distant them from it . Also we will all agree that Ramdev was able to gather a crowd that mainly consist of his followers who in any case has blindly followed him but he was there for right cause. He may be aping Anna but a right cause. Recent example of Swami who had been fasting to protest the illegal mining and quarrying , make it to national headlines and blow horn in ear of govt only after his death . The whole thing get unnoticed for last 115 days.
But the question is whether govt has to be guided by light from media. is this the media responsibility alone to make hue and cry if some thing get wrong and then only govt look into it . Democracy does not mean that govt has only to act when media makes issue of it . Also govt should be wise enough not to bow down under unnecessary pressure . Bringing PM under lokpal is also the same issue. In democracy , we need to put our faith on some one . If we bring PM under it, then it will undermine that faith. Faith on elected head of democracy need to be there.
For those under the impression that the author has a bias for the ruling party, all I can say is please read Sainath's previous articles on various issues published in The Hindu itself. The author is not questioning the intentions of Anna Hazare or the 'civil society' so to say, but simply raising the issue of, 'Do ends justify means?'
Well written article. If every one of Anna's supporters make and stick to a promise not to give/receive any kind of bribe in their life, that would contribute in a better and positive way to reduce corruption. Wish the 10-year hunger strike of people like Irom Chanu gets at least a fraction of the media and public attention that the anti-corruption crusade is getting now.
Interesting and provocative piece, though I still didnt find what I hoped to find! A central dilemma for pro-democracy campaigners is that as transparency improves and decision making becomes more inclusive, you lose control of what the outcome of that decision is likely to be. Indeed the best process would mean that all (or at least most) participate in the decision making process, but this also makes the outcome of the decision less predictable.
And so it is not un-common to see strong advocates of openness and inclusive decision making, struggle with the trade-off between equity (more participation) and efficiency (control over the outcome) as their efforts become more successful.
A good article that shows the duplicity of our powers=that-be; however it is also slightly confusing. What exactly is the grouse of Mr Sainath? If it is that middle class is hogging too much of light, then corruption affects lower classes than the middle class. If it is against the undermining of parliamentary institutions, then one can understand his anguish. Crux of the matter is corruption pinches all of us and morality is not the only issue that makes people come together!
I do not doubt about the writer's intellect and his understanding of the matters like this which are so important to the country. However i think the writer himself is a member of 'PLU'.I am surprised by his take on the matter and also some of the readers.Here it seems that they feel cheated about not being consulted about the appointment of the civil society group. Anna Hazare and his team members may have appointed themselves but they represent the opinion of the country.The corruption is so rampant in the country that Annas and Ramdevs were to rise anyhow. It is not the individual or a group that we are supporting. The fight is for a cause which is true and pure and for the goodwill of the people.It doesn't matter that someone related to RSS or any other organisation is fighting. The cause is right and we support it.If a thief starts demanding for education to his children, it does not mean that education has also become evil.what is right is right.
Most ridiculous to date by Sainath. He comfortably mixes many issues to retrive his desired scorn at civil society.Lets see things in more clear perspective. Firstly, It was very much clear that Central Government has lost moral authority the moment it instituted NAC (National Adivisory Counsil) taking up some esteemed civil activists and giving them Cabinet rank positions. The author is completely silent when the NAC, which doesn't have any constitutional power but overrides Prime Minister and the cabinet, and may be it is making a draft bill on his favourite Food security Act. His silence in this respect is baffling. Secondly,the moral defeat of the Government is seen by the recent revelations of Scams that have blown on the face of the country right from 2G, CWG to other scams. The amount siphoned here is simply too great for comfort. Thirdly, he seems to have no clue about the fact that when Government loses moral authority to govern and widely seen by public as corrupt and impotent. Other groups try to take the baton of liberty. Instead of taking of government's impotency seen by patronising Baba at one time, He lays all the blame on civil society.
How does the high voter turn out in recent elections improve the governance standards in the country? One doesn't know how author came to the conclusion that high voter turnouts help reform the society. Indeed people want a change in rules of governance and they display it through voting out a bad government, but how could they get a good one? can the author explain it. Even Nitish government is seen as corrupt though remarkably better than Lalu's raj. Isn't it systemic and any movement which hits at the existing establishment's structure a success.
Even british government in India was legal by every standard. In the author's eyes Mahatma Gandhi's (like Anna's) agitation with few hundred lawyers at top doesn't have any moral authority to challenge the government's policies! Could all White American senate passed a bill for equal rights for blacks if not movement is taken by Martin Luther King? Could all male American (or European) Senates pass a bill for women voting rights without street protests?
It is wrong to say media doesn't focus on landless labourers, the fact that these become huge issues during elections and media's focus is not required and even without its focus political parties have enough incentive and fear of losing huge votes will make them pro-labour policies. In fact India is so pro-labour that we have failed Industrialization two time in 1950's (when western europe and japan industrialized) and 1970's (when china and east asia industrialised)!
I'm tired of hearing 'Employ Constitutional means' to fight corruption ?I want to ask a simple question. What options do we have? How can you be so confident that Jayalaitha in TN or Mamta banerjee in West Bengal will bring sweeping changes in the manner govt. operates ? Have they come from some alien planet or Are they famous for free and fair elections? Corruption is a pervasive throughout the govt. machinery. In this world of instant gratification, none of us has the patience to wait for the evolution of a political party with a clear mandate to fight corruption(which is a distant dream!!). If arm-twisting the govt. to come forth with stronger laws is the way out ..so be it !!....We just can't let the govt. go on a roll and come out with toothless tigers like the CBI,CVC etc
The usually brilliant Sainath gets lost in the semantics of civil society and misses the forest for the trees.
A few points: a) 'Civil society' is a coinage of Sainath's brethren -- not of Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev or Aruna Roy. It's meaningless to direct any arguments against that coinage at Anna Hazare et al. FYI, India Against Corruption is the umbrella organization of Anna Hazare. b) As for the 'modest' support base of Anna Hazare, pray tell us how many people will attend a big name political leader (say Sonia Gandhi)'s public meeting without the lorries fetching paid audiences? Also, why would the government yield to such a lowly support base? c) And, does an Egypt or Tunisia pass muster with Sainath who claims ".. problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation"? It's a perverse argument to say that an undemocratic government should be countered by actions that abide by the laws that the government is not following in the first place! d) The fundamental principle of democracy is that people's will should trump everything else. (I bet it's hard to argue that the common man in India is arguing FOR corruption.) That power comes through elections is secondary. People who are breaking the fundamental principle arguing that Anna Hazare is breaking the secondary principle is ridiculous.
Was it Surendra's cartoon that wondered aloud why the so-called democratically elected leaders are not leading the anti-corruption movement?
Dear Sainath: Thanks for this wonderful article. No wonder.. Those celebrity anchors dont call you on those tamasha debates.. Having said that, i would like to raise 2 points. 1) I was an admirer of KSSP ( Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishat) and for a long time it did work wonderfully well in Kerala. I hail from a village quite near to Silent Valley... And there would have been a dam killing those wonderful forest, if there was not mass movement there. 2) Kerala where we take our politics and right to vote very seriously and endlessly debate about our leaders, we dont get overexcited by the so called Civil society, even though We do love our Sukumar Azhikode and Krishna Iyers as much we love EMS,VS, Nayanar or for that matter V M Sudheeran.
Before reading this article , i had utmost respect for P. Sainath. But this article seems to be inspired by Congress ideology of defaming civil society compaign. What should matter what is being done rather than by whom it is done. I would urge a reputed daily like THE HINDU not to contribute in killing this movement which is for such a great cause. What's wrong in bringing the PM under the ambit of LOKPAL. Whosoever commits mistake should be punished appropriately whther it is PM or President. By bringing PM uinder the LOKAPL would also send a strong positive message to his cabinet too. In the end , i would request all of my fellow Indians to raise their voice in support of LOKPAL bill. Because it is not Hazare whom Govt is afraid of, it is the support of people like us which is scaring the govt.
Sophisticated writing, too sophisticated for simple minds like mine. Is Sainath pleading for Ramdev or condemning Anna Hazare, I cannot fathom. The fact remains , churning of society , socially, economically and politically brings to the fore reactionary forces and movements like Anti-muslims, anti-Reservationists, People Like US and so on once in every decades. The English speaking middle and rich class including English newspaper columnists will not let their influnece on the ruling elite diminish even a wee bit. They do not care about the sanctity of electoral democracy. My simple request to Sainath, 'Pl make it clear which side of the divide do you stand?'.
Recently I read a piece by a famous Indian blogger on the suicides of housewives.It was a great article but it left a bad taste in the mouth because he pooh poohed the case of Farmer suicides and Mr.Sainath's writing as well.However,your mentioning the suicide of some fashion models in a certain context also is in bad taste.A loss of life is a loss of life-farmer, model, engineer, PLU,PLT. Please refrain from such comparisons,even if it is to make some other valid point.The rest of the article,not surprisingly,is excellent.
Money is a big factor for all the classes, especially the middle class for whom tax is nothing less of an enemy. Nobody wholeheartedly love paying tax with pleasure and a smile just because this money funds some state school or subsidize the vegetables. And there wouldn't be anyone who have tried all sorts of schemes and techniques to save the tax. Now, despite of all the efforts we sometimes have to pay some money every month as tax. It is this piece of heart that is flowing into the pockets of certain set of people (that probably deserves only despise), explaining why corruption is such a painful thing for middle class. This explains why a dam, invading the home of a lakh farmers, or Arms force special act, curbing someone's rights, is not much of a concern to the PLUs. We witnessed several high adrenalin protests against the politicians on 2G scam. The investigation reports did mention their names so they rightly deserves chappals and eggs, but the reports also mentioned the names of Reliance, Tata, Uninor and many well known corporate houses. Forget about high decibel cries, did we hear any word being spoken about these big shots in media or any other social gatherings or sites or forums? It could be imagined that Raja wouldn't have sent out an email to all these chaps asking whether they want some spectrum. In the corporate world politicians are merely agents who gets things done for them, just like a middleman. If these middle men deserves stones and sticks, their employers deserves much more. But would PLUs do anything like that?NO.
Imagine, if Anna Hazare asks the protesters to sell all the Reliance or Tata shares that they are holding, to protest against their corruption, how many of the corruption fighters would be ready for that? What are the chances that Anna Hazare gets tagged as a joker or something like that? Some might want to argue that, as they bring 'development' and all that nonsense, it is ok. So should this all be interpreted as - I am ok for corruption as long as I am getting a cut out of it?
Once again a brilliant analysis on media behaviour with respect to civil society. The 'PLU' syndrome in fact is visible in all walks of life (school, colleges, neighbourhoods, businesses etc.) and is very much visible on media too. The opening up of the economy has impacted all walks of life including media and civil society. The anglicised and hindi (or regional) media focuses more on 'their respective target audiences'. The marketisation has made 'information' a commodity which can be used to garner 'eye-balls' and TRPs and hence generate revenues for channels. Most of the channels use 'information asymmetry' as a business proposition. The race for 24 X 7 breaking news and to provide controversial news without any substance is pretty common. The lapping up of Anna's fast while a total disdain of Ramdev (esp by English media) is a combination of marketisation and PLU effect. Even though both of them stood for same cause, English media didn't see much of 'their won ilk' present at ramlila maidan.
Similarly, the coverage of police action at ramlila maidan was again muted. Same PLU tendency is visible in coverage of farmers agitations (congress ruled states are rarely highlighted for farmer suicides), labour unions (seen to be anti-corporate, none of the channels actually espouses their cause), poorest of the poor (they are lathi-charged, harassed and killed but media don't see it as a eye-grabbing headline) and reservation protests (coverage is mostly emotional). It should also be emphasized that print media is invariably more rational and sensible in its approach since it is not bound by the pressure of instant TRPs. Moreover, media tends to over-play its own impact, specially the ability to create a wide public opinion on substantive issues. The 24 x 7 breaking news culture is totally inconducive to formulation of any views. Rather, people are becoming more and more aware of media's bias, paid news etc etc. Also, In a vast country like ours, percentage of viewers who, after a hard-day at office (or in fields, factories, labourers etc), actually tune in to television and have the patience to listen to non-sonorous rant of tv-anchors on primetime on corruptions, political games, conspiracy theories, must be very very minisicule. People would rather sit in peace and enjoy some daily soaps with family.
Inspite of all these inherent defects in media and civil society, the golden rule of marketisation will correct the aberrations over a period of time. The marketisation will bring in more competition and more fairness and people (as consumers) will surely get a better product (reliable coverage) in coming times. Even though the PLU factor will continue to dominate the scenes but the market forces indeed will dictate terms and bring more rationalisation in these fields too.
Kindly pause giving ideological thinking and interpretation and let the cause of civil society be prospered.
I have been waiting for this article for some time, and frankly, am a little disappointed. The main focus seems to be the presence of PLU's in the country's administration, one way or other. Your description indicates that the 'civil society' members have to some extent proclaimed themselves the representatives. Which they havent in writing, as anybody(civil person) has been allowed to share the stage and join the fast and other events in this movement. They have never been shy of a public debate(although some may call this a stunt). But by this definition what would you call our freedom fighters. Why is it that certain names stand out while the country fought?You say: "Pushing a coherent vision is a good thing to do. So is demanding that the government do its job. Beyond that lies trouble." What if the government is mute to any such demands, you can refer to any of your previous articles and what all has been done with regard to farmer apathy. This government as you rightfully say is being run by CII, FICCI, 10 janpath .... As long as voices are raised against such useless 'elected' members, it should not matter who is actually doing it. And the caste issue, which could be another story, what is stopping people of every caste to raise dust(covered by media or not). Today alternate media of internet or mass SMS etc are aplenty although their access may not be aplenty. But as can be derived from your articles apart from raising awareness the actual 'civil society' could not do much (by your definition). So, as long as somebody is giving voice to right causes, it should not matter who it is. And besides, wouldnt it be discrimination on our part if it is contested as to who is standing their ground. Why blame the active PLUs for media's partiality?
An inspiring read. Hope our media will have many more inspiring wrtiers like Mr. Sainath. We have now to be watchful of who are the people or class behind the 'civil society'.
It is clear that the resentment which people had against corruption has led to the creation and flourishing of civil society groups like Anna Hazare but that does not imply that majority of India endorses the rules stipulated by their Lokpal Bill. For example, by including Prime Minister and the Judiciary in the ambit of the Lokpal bill, does the Lokpal Bill wants super supreme power beyond the judiaciary? Are we relying on a mere single self appointed civil society group who decides who gets this super power. In my view, the constitution was never corrupt but the politicians who enforce it are but with introduction of such Lokpal bill I foresee a incipient system which gives room for more corruption. It is indeed a very good in the interest of the Country that the Anna Hazare's group has gained the needed attention but in dealing with such complex issues like corruption they should act judiciously considering all points of view, organising debates and focusing on issues of implementation rather than being adamant on including everyone in the Lokpal Bill.
Clearly biased towards Congress. Cannot see any role for people.Civil society is not passing the bill, they are only helping in drafting.Ultimately parliament will pass it. For 62 year we have seen enough half cooked laws to protect the corrupt politicians and corporate. Politicians + money making business (not for people). Look at how election are contested?How much we have to pay for driving licence?
Anna hazaare did a right by starting a campaign aganist corruption and he success-ed in forming sub committee for lok-pal drafting bill,but what my question how this self committee will represent the whole indian civil society.I am very much confused when media always pointing so what called civil society.What is civil society?How these people from 0.00...1% point of india will represent 100% india?
A well researched write up on 'Civil Society' vis-a-vis their role in democracies. By reading yet another thought provoking article from Mr. Sainath proves one point - he thinks and wrires well for people to grasp! Hearty congratulations to him and 'The Hindu' for enlightening the public. However, I wished he could have elaborated his thoughts when he wrote,"Pushing a coherent vision is a good thing to do. So is demanding that the government do its job. Beyond that lies trouble".
This author seems to be on Congress's payroll. It is very clear that this is a very corrupt government, stalling all attempts to put into effect laws that will make the politicians more accountable, release black money from tax havens, push forward stricter rules on corruption. The congress has gone out on an all out attack on Anna and Baba, and newspapers like The Hindu have tried their best to mitigate the damage, either writing mundane articles on everything except criticizing the congress, or articles like these, supporting the party's attempts to play down the anti-corruption movements.
While it is true that the media seldom covers the farmer's plights, that does not mean that it should not cover Anna/Baba's movements. Whatever their 'sinister' motives, which I doubt if there are any, they are supporting 'THE' most important issue in this nation- Anti corruption. And I'm not sure if it was the media that was more against the Baba or the congress- It doesn't matter if he belongs to the RSS/Sangh Parivar- The issue is about corruption in the UPA, not the affiliation of various groups/people who are in the movement. Instead of focusing on the validity of Civil Society dictating terms to the government/what steps the Congress is taking to smear the 'Sangh Parivar's campaign to destabilize the government'.
I have been wondering how have these so-called 'civil society members' got themselves self-appointed? And to be frank i am getting tired of their 'holier-than-thou' attitude! One should not forget, India as a nation is _not_ a failed state. Yes there is rampant corruption in every walk of life, in every manner possible. But remember again we are not a failed state overrun by terrorists like Pakistan or a policed state with little regard for individual rights/freedom like China.
We should be very cautious and prudent before we create any new portals of supreme power. Yes we feel anger and are incensed by the injustices and the corruption, but we should be rational and wise in how we try to fix it.
The most potent risk such type of movements carry is that the participants are driven by mob mentality. Logically, what is sacrificed is the ability to form opinions based based on your own thinking and views. Whereas at the time of voting, the people cast their votes based on their own opinions and views. Hence, kind of people's support that is portrayed in these movement may not translate into votes. Hence even if referendum is called for on the contentious issues such as inclusion of PM and/or higher judiciary under the ambit of the proposed Lokpal Bill, there is no guarantee that the majority would opt for the same. The latest instance is that of England rejecting proposal for preferencial voting system. In any case, it would not be desirable to propose anything that would require amendment to the constitution, because firstly, it would not be politically feasible and secondly it's long term impact cannot be assessed correctly in the heat of the moment. What Anna Hajare and his Group are suggesting would require amending the basic structure of the Constitution. This should be rejected outrightly and in any case would not be approved by the judiciary. Anna Hajare and his group should, therefore, accept what has been proposed by the Government and see how it works.
There is a problem when media is favoring a corrupt government.
You are talking about success of polls and huge turn outs. My questions is what credible alternate people have. Moreover what are the checks and balances when such elected people take money to vote in the parliament or take money to ask questions. Has any one been punished? This means system has failed somewhere. Moreover where there is a conflict of interest with politicians how they can frame a law against themselves? In fact I am in favour of some independent body who should make a law in cases of conflict of interest. Such as deciding MPs/MLAs salary, corruption issues against them etc. Anna is not doing this for himself but for all of us, for India, for future generations. All this can be stopped if government agrees for strong measures against corruption. Thats it.
Excellent article. Corruption eradication task must start from the grass-roots. The so-called civil society, itself is corrupt in one way or the other as their movements are funded from the same corrupt groups or vested interested groups. They say such funding does not come under corruption. Why? I know Anna Hazare when he visited Andhra Pradesh on the watershed mission. At that time he was looking like a begger on the street, though he was supported by Western NGOs. But now he is looking like a Mukesh Ambani -- lives in Air Conditioned offices, travel by air, imported cars, etc. Every corrupt person in India wants to rise like Anna Hazare and Ramdev.
In fact media is giving hype to so called civil society representatives and they wanted to be super power. See recently the Supreme Court's observation of Medha Patkar's NBA. Every body wants become famous. Civil society provide such path. Cretating another corrupt power centre. This is worse than the government corruption. Beware of such people!
Let us start routing out corruption at gross roots. In fact my proposal of increasing the land value to the open market value and reducing registration fee under real state has brought down the black money changing hands in Andhra Pradesh (in 2005 government implemented this proposal of mne). People must come out with such proposals rather than doing a law, which will be ineffective as the people to implement that law invariably corrupt in Indian democracy.
Sainath - Superb article. Its best article I ever read...
Awesome piece . very well written.
Anna Hazare, if he is real social worker and follower of Mahathma Ghandhi he should rush to Orissa to see POSCO problem. He should intervene to solve amicably, if necessary through fast. Otherwise it is only publicity stunt.
Why no words wasted on the 'National Advisory Council'? How was it appointed and what were the criteria for choosing its members? The fish rots from the head.
An excellent article. 'There is a problem when groups not constituted legally cross the line of demands, advice and rights-based, democratic agitation. When they seek to run the government and legislation — no matter how well-intentioned they are. '...A point that people should be aware of!
Dear Sainath: I am sure you would agree Indian politics is generously strewn with corruption every where and in all walks of lives. I also agree that we as citizens of India are doing nothing to stop it. Neither do our democratically and the so called constitutionally elected representatives have any slightest desire to change that and lead the country in the right path to prosperity. We also know that we lack the right, honest and selfless leadership.
Anna seems to provide that leadership and he seems to espouse right selfless cause for the betterment of the nation and the lives of the citizens. Tell me a reason why we should not follow him. Did any one question Gandhi when he fought for freedom? If you cannot provide such a leadership when we really need it, please do not get into such bad campaigns against such a noble movement. If you persist doing that, then you will be considered unpatriotic and traitorous colluding with the dishonest political class of India.
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