The People’s Movement

With the government all set to discuss the Jan Lokpal Bill in parliament today, we sent out a message into the Yahoo! Universe, to gauge the pulse of our readers. Do they support Anna, or are they against him? Do they believe Anna’s methods are democratic? Will the Lokpal bill change corruption at all, or will we just be creating another monster in the public sphere?
Reflecting the strength of the movement on the ground, our readers share their opinions, sharp and insightful, as they engage in conversation with the community.



While the majority seem to support Anna’s cause, seeing him as a “one man institution against corruption” taking a stance against the government’s view that people in power are above the law, there are a few dissenting voices. Confused about how a group with a genuine cause can resort to black-mailing the government, there is an opinion that Team Anna detracts from the cause, with the means they have employed to reach their end – dictating terms to an elected house.
Will the bill bring any sort of change? Verdict remains divided. While it appears that the cancer of Indian corruption is beyond rescue, there remains a sliver of hope; it is a step in the right direction. Recalling the skepticism that the RTI faced not so long ago, it is without question a tool that has blown the lid off several scams. Another reader rightly points out that India has no deficit of laws to control corruption, it has just shown abysmal effort at implementing them. Therefore the creation of another law will merely be superfluous, adding to the corrupt workforce, and to the list of laws that are a travesty of justice. Instead, if some of this focus was diverted into correcting our judiciary methods – expediting legal processes, cutting down red-tape, and increasing accountability to higher courts, we would have a far more efficient, effective system on our hands; one that the people would be less dissatisfied with. Reader Meenakshi agrees that it is indeed the Judiciary that has failed us, but believes that the Lokpal bill will never be implemented, as it amounts to signing a political death warrant.
There seems to be lack of consensus regarding whether Anna stands for democracy or not. Mukesch Kaley is of the opinion that Anna’s methods make it quite clear that he is against democracy. However there is a segment of our audience that believe he is in fact, the only man out there fighting for the survival of real democracy; a government for the people, by the people and of the people, not a farcical shadow of the idea, that allows the corrupt to stay in power, to evade justice, and take the country for a ride.
While it may be that the Lokpal is not nearly enough to root out corruption, it has certainly come at a time where it has found an audience, nay, an uprising, that demands to be heard. And while the bill goes to parliament, a country watches, unblinking.