Thursday, June 30, 2011

My Criticisms of the Lok Pal movement

Let me clarify that I am no big fan of the Congress party and the UPA especially after all the recent corruption cases and the soaring inflation rate. But, I'm highly skeptical of the Lokpal movement due to reasons mentioned hereafter.

Firstly, I feel that if Anna was genuinely concerned with corruption then why does he have people like the Bhushans on his panel who are facing allegations themselves (Land scam + judge fixing charges) and how is it so different from the case of tainted politicians who should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Why is he selectively targeting only the central government (which he intends to overhaul) while overlooking the rampant corruption in BJP ruled states like Karnataka where the CM has mastered the art of horse trading & land grabbing and Gujarat, a dry state where you can purchase a hell lot of whiskey in the black market. And what about focusing on the municipal corporation of Mumbai, the most corrupt entity in the world, which is ruled by the BJP-Shiv Sena combine.

Also, why is he overlooking corruption in every nook and corner of society like schools, hospitals and religious organisations. What about the railway TCs or traffic cops trying to make a fast buck? The Lok Pal does not take care of this although these are the actual corruption issues that directly affect the common man.

I also feel that there are more important lief-threatening issues to fast for such as communalism, terrorism and regionalism but Anna won't fast for these noble causes as he supports people like Modi, Raj Thackeray, Kasab (or ISI-sponsored terrorists), Swami Agnivesh and the like who create such issues in the first place and some of them are indeed supporters of the Lok Pal movement.


Another worrying factor is that there would be no accountability for the Lok Pal members  as the CBI and CVC are proposed to be under their authority. The Lok Pal movement seeks to transfer power from elected representatives to non-elected representatives and operate outside the constitution which could likely end up in a dictatorial regime that could perhaps pass draconian laws that destroy the rights and privileges we now enjoy. As Kapil Sibal so rightly points out that we should not have "a cure that is worse than the problem."

Yes, the ulterior motives are more important than the stated objectives or the preliminary actions which in this case is the "fight against corruption." In Pakistan, Gen Musharraf's stated objective was to rid Pakistan of corruption while usurping power in a military coup. In that country the Lashkar e Toiba, one of the world's most dangerous terror outfits, indulged in acts of charity to help rehabilitate thousands of Kashmiris after the devastating earthquake but used their initial work to recruit more terrorists and increase their network exponentially. So, fellow Indians let us not walk blindly into the Lok Pal trap but judge these "philanthropists" by their motives and possible future actions. We need to think before we leap!!!

3 comments :

  1. Lok Pal should be named kala Dal as this movement is getting shadier and shadier.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna is a tyrant...what about money he spent on his birthday!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are so many issues expresses here. I feel it has been very well articulated.

    ReplyDelete

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