A nation fooled - The Lokpal fiasco
The last week of December 2011 saw the nadir of India's democracy, where a bunch of so called peoples representatives outshouted & outsmarted each other in making sure that the Lokpal bill will not see the light of the day. The end result was a nation fooled, an institution made into utter mockery and worst still was the unpalatable sight of these shameless parliamentarians still strutting around with their cocky heads held high and slinging mud on each other for the fiasco.
The nation was waiting with bated breath to see a semblance of an anti-corruption bill passed, which the government and the opposition were equally claiming to be eager to bring it to the light, but the unfolding events in the parliament revealed to the nation the hypocrisy and double standards of our netas, tearing away their mask and revealing their ugly faces of fear and apprehension on making a strong lokpal which will almost be like hitting their own stomach. The public is no more the naive and foolish- taken for granted voter, they are highly updated, engaged, informed and networked electorate, things have drastically changed and the common man can easily understand and see through the facade and moral high ground that the political class are working overtime to create, no more can the Aam Aadmi be taken for a ride, those days have long gone by.
Of course the argument that a strong and independent lokpal will or might become corrupt, authoritarian and dictatorial, if it is not made accountable is understandable and well taken. Our very constitution and our parliamentary structure is itself a beautiful model of checks and balances and we are not alien to this concept of creating a good and accountable entity like the election commission or the CVC. But that is not the underlying truth in this argument, the truth lies elsewhere, in the fear of loosing control and the danger of being open to close scrutiny and accountability to an outside agency seems to be the actual reason for the government and the political class to fear and thus dilly-dally on the process. In an increasingly open and information flooded age like ours, unwilling to be transparent and open to public scrutiny is tantamount to ringing one's own death knell. Transparency is paramount to clean governance and winning the trust of the public. If the ruling party is cherishing even a distant dream of coming back to power, then its number one priority should be stepping down from the high pedestal of power and pride and be willing to listen to the pulse of the nation crying out for transparency at all levels of governance. Creating a Lokpal bill and having an anti-corruption body will be the first step towards winning back the confidence of the people. Hope they will be proactive than just being reactive plugging the ever increasing number of holes on their wall.
The nation was waiting with bated breath to see a semblance of an anti-corruption bill passed, which the government and the opposition were equally claiming to be eager to bring it to the light, but the unfolding events in the parliament revealed to the nation the hypocrisy and double standards of our netas, tearing away their mask and revealing their ugly faces of fear and apprehension on making a strong lokpal which will almost be like hitting their own stomach. The public is no more the naive and foolish- taken for granted voter, they are highly updated, engaged, informed and networked electorate, things have drastically changed and the common man can easily understand and see through the facade and moral high ground that the political class are working overtime to create, no more can the Aam Aadmi be taken for a ride, those days have long gone by.
Of course the argument that a strong and independent lokpal will or might become corrupt, authoritarian and dictatorial, if it is not made accountable is understandable and well taken. Our very constitution and our parliamentary structure is itself a beautiful model of checks and balances and we are not alien to this concept of creating a good and accountable entity like the election commission or the CVC. But that is not the underlying truth in this argument, the truth lies elsewhere, in the fear of loosing control and the danger of being open to close scrutiny and accountability to an outside agency seems to be the actual reason for the government and the political class to fear and thus dilly-dally on the process. In an increasingly open and information flooded age like ours, unwilling to be transparent and open to public scrutiny is tantamount to ringing one's own death knell. Transparency is paramount to clean governance and winning the trust of the public. If the ruling party is cherishing even a distant dream of coming back to power, then its number one priority should be stepping down from the high pedestal of power and pride and be willing to listen to the pulse of the nation crying out for transparency at all levels of governance. Creating a Lokpal bill and having an anti-corruption body will be the first step towards winning back the confidence of the people. Hope they will be proactive than just being reactive plugging the ever increasing number of holes on their wall.
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