A 71 year old man named Anna Hazare has decided to fast unto death unless government rectifies and gives more teeth to a bill called Lokpal bill ,do we really care??
Many people start fasts these days,they go on strike for every possible reason,there are dharnas everywhere so whats so special about Anna.
First of all who is Anna Hazare : Anna is a social activist of wide acclaim,he was awarded both padmabhushan(1992) and padmashri(1990) among various other awards. He served in Army and later became a social activist. He is known to be a man who can think far far ahead of most of us. He converted a village Ralegan Siddh to a model village which is a model of environmental conservation. Most notable about this village is that the entire village is powered by solar power.
So What is anna fighting for. Anna Hazare is fighting to give Indian population the legal muscle to wipe out corruption. He is fighting to give more teeth to a bill called Lokpal bill which has been hanging in parliament for more than 40 years chiefly because it will give us the power to bring to justice the corrupt politicians ,hence they never let it pass.
The current lokpal bill being considered is a total sham ,and as one judge rightly said it is shamelessly tooth less. Here is the version of bill the government wants to give us and what Anna is demanding(from wikipedia)
Govt. Proposal
1. Lokpal will have no power to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public. It can only probe complaints forwarded by LS Speaker or RS Chairman.
2. Lokpal will only be an Advisory Body. Its part is only limited to forwarding its report to the “Competent Authority”
3. Lokpal will not have any police powers. It can not register FIRs or proceed with criminal investigations.
4. CBI and Lokpal will have no connection with each other.
5. Punishment for corruption will be minimum 6 months and maximum up-to 7 years.
Hazare’s(Civil Society) Version also known and Jan Lokpal bill
1. Lokpal will have powers to initiate suo moto action or receive complaints of corruption from the general public.
2. Lokpal will be much more than an Advisory Body. It should be granted powers to initiate Prosecution against anyone found guilty.
3. Lokpal will have police powers. To say that it will be able to register FIRs.
4. Lokpal and anti corruption wing of CBI will be one Independent body.
5. The punishment should be minimum 5 years and maximum up-to life imprisonment.
So how is this fight soo soo important, it is important for various reasons
. Anna Hazare is fighting for us: Even if the bill is passed possible Anna Hazare will not be able to see the corruption free India he is fighting for. He is doing it for the coming generation,he is doing it for us also he is doing what we should be doing. We keep complaining that “This is the way it is and this is how it should be” and “Nothing can change” corruption is too deep,politicians are too powerful,but we do NOTHING about it,now here is a 71 year old guy who is showing us what can be done. If he fails we fail and all the cribbers win. Out procrastination wins, we add one more thing in our list of excuses for doing nothing. He looses we loose the idealism of an entire generation
Anna is doing it Gandhi style, a very civilised and peaceful protest. No blocking trains,no burning buses ,no violence .
He is showing us how it should be done,how Gandhi ji used to do it, how its more about inner power than external. He is showing us that Gandhi Ideals still hold true ,they still work. If he fails we loose trust ,we loose trust in the very basis of Indian freedom struggle.A base which is already shattered ,most people don’t understand What Gandhi ji stood for what he did. Ana Hazare is a shining example for the entire generation to come( see how to support Anna 1)
And at last ,if Anna looses this time ,we can safely say bye bye to lokapal bill for another 40 years. Politicains would never pass a bill that would make it easier for us to bring them to book ,it will take people like Hazare to build up a movement to force them and sadly we don’t see likes of him very often(also see How this is a leaderless movement).
If hazare looses today ,nothing changes,yes nothing changes for you or me. We will still live the way we live,keep cribbing about corruption in India,red tap-ism and bureaucracy but if he wins it will be a huge step to a better India .An India with no corruption,an India where even the Prime minister would be afraid of taking any bribe ,an India where the public servants will finally be accountable to the public ,the way it should be. An India of our Dreams….
God ,let Anna Win
do see:
How to support Anna 2
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