Author: Krishen Kak
Publication: Vijayvaani.com
Date: May 11, 2011
URL: http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1774
Three earlier essays on "the Hazare phenomenon"
enlarged on the duplicity involved of Hazare and company in their crusade
against corruption.[1] The essays noted, in particular, the shady financial
dealings and absence of transparency and accountability in the publicly-presented
accounts of the NGOs of Hazare & co., though they demand transparency
and accountability from others. Scanned were data in the public domain of
Anna Hazare and his NGOs, Arvind Kejriwal and his NGOs, Kiran Bedi and her
NGO, Swami Agnivesh, Mallika Sarabhai, Shanti and Prashant Bhushan, Medha
Patkar, Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander. Justice Hegde's association with the politically-biased
Hazare & co., while still Karnataka State Lokayukta, was questioned. Noted
too was the gross hypocrisy of their alignment with the person publicly described
as the source of corruption in India.
In "The ox calling the donkey horned",
Aruna Roy was quoted on the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by Kejriwal with support
from Hegde and Prashant Bhushan. She called it "a Frankenstein's monster
that will devour all of us". Aruna Roy is Convener of the Government
of India's National Advisory Council Working Group on Transparency, Accountability
and Governance. She is thus Sonia Gandhi's NAC mukhota in the war against
corruption, just as Anna Hazare is Kejriwal's PCRF's IAC's mukhota.
This fourth essay, in continuation of the
three earlier ones, attempts a response to the NAC perception of the Hazare
bill as a Frankenstein's monster - the wheels within wheels of these so-called
"civil society" activists apparently confronting the corruption
of politicians while in reality working in tandem with them. "Roy said
it was absolutely crucial to impose accountability on the Lokpal. 'Accountability
is exceedingly important. How can there be a super-structure like the Lokpal
which is above everything else. And this question has not been adequately
addressed in the Bill. If we do not have a critical review of the Bill, we
will create a Frankenstein's monster that will devour all of us,' Roy said."[2]
"The ox calling the donkey horned"
concluded with two straightforward tests for the bona fides of Hazare &
co. The first, that they demand the Prime Minister give sanction to Dr Subramanian
Swamy to prosecute Mrs Sonia Gandhi for the colossal corruption he details
she is involved in. The second, that any entity - NGOs included - that receives
largesse in any form whatever from the public exchequer be brought within
the purview of their Jan Lokpal Bill.
To date there is no report that these self-selected
"civil society" representatives are inclined to have their bona
fides tested, other than by themselves asserting their good faith and abusing
for mala fide - "smear campaign" - those who dare question them.
If they preach accountability as "exceedingly important", why are
they excluding their own NGOs from such accountability? If the monster will
devour "us", who is this "us" for whom Aruna Roy is so
fearful?
A civil society member Shanmuga Patro, Advocate,
has petitioned the Delhi High Court that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation be declared
a "public authority" within the meaning of the RTI Act.[3] The Rajiv
Gandhi Foundation is headed by Sonia Gandhi with Rahul Gandhi a trustee and
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as executive trustee. It was set up in 1991 and is the
recipient of considerable public largesse, including the possession of a very
valuable piece of centrally-located public land in New Delhi. Its official
website gives its partners and donors for only some years (many are PSUs and
government departments and offices), its annual reports presented are only
for 2006 and 2007 and, two decades after its founding, it's "Financials"
page remains "under construction".
Former policeman and staunch Hazare supporter,
Y.P. Singh, was asked why he hadn't joined Hazare's April agitation. Here
is his reply:
A. Activists should never be part of any government
committee or else they shall be a judge in their own cause while evaluating
the outcome: After I quit the Indian Police Service, it was my resolve not
to become member of any government committee. The reason is that if constructive
critics themselves become a part of any government committee, then who will
be there to put forward a critical account of the final outcome. The activist
shall become a judge in this own cause, which would force him to support an
undesirable outcome. Now the position is that even if the Lokpal Bill does
not come up to the mark, Anna being a member of the committee shall have to
praise it.
B. Why I decided to keep away from Anna's
campaign of April 2011:
I was the one of the first persons to have
sat along with Anna for a couple of days in his week-long fast starting from
9th August, 2003. At that time I was in the IPS and was posted as Commandant
State Reserve Police Force, Mumbai and which had caused a tremendous harm
to my career at that time.
It was indeed an unprecedented step taken
by any serving IPS officer at cost of great harm to his career. Hardly had
any IPS or IAS officer had the courage to openly align with anti-establishment
activists while in service. Ironically, it has become a fashion among IAS/IPS
officers to turn anti-establishment activists after retirement. [Singh's fasting
with Hazare was reported in the Times of India, June 01, 2003]....: However,
after some time I realised that my way was different. Hence I decided to keep
away from the April 2011 version agitation of Anna. There have been several
people asking me why I did not join Anna's agitation of April 2011. I think
I owe an answer to them. Hence state my reasons as under:
Specific reasons why I kept away from Anna's
April 2011 agitation:
1) Anna gets impressed by colour of authority
- e.g. his getting impressed with Sonia Gandhi: I have been seeing for the
past 8 years of my association with Anna, he is one person who gets impressed
by the colour of authority. If a senior politician or minister calls up, he
gets overwhelmed. One can never fight against an authority if you get impressed
by his stature. His praise for Sonia Gandhi is one such example. The effect
of this praise was like a pronouncement of a PR person trying to show that
a corrupt government was honest.
2) Anna rejoiced moving in government vehicles
with red lamps - very demeaning to activists: After the 9th August 2003 Anna
started moving in government vehicles with red lamps.....
3) Anna accepted government hospitality and
stayed in government circuit houses meant for dignitaries high in protocol:
Maharashtra Government, in order to quell his voice, accorded great hospitality
to the willing Anna. He would often come to Mumbai and stay in the posh government
guest houses like High Mount in Malabar Hill. These guest houses were meant
for government functionaries high on protocol. This was highly objectionable
for an activist fighting against the Government. If an activist accepts government
hospitality how can be fight against the Government. (This can be confirmed
through RTI to General Administration Department, Mantralaya).
4) To quell Anna, Government of Maharashtra
accorded him de facto extra-constitutional authority to him: All limits were
crossed when Anna became an extra-constitutional authority and started chairing
meetings with IAS officers and other Mantralaya officials in the Chief Minister's
Conference Hall on the 6th Floor of Mantralaya, Mumbai. Secretaries and Ministers
would report to Anna of the works being done by their respective department
with reference to Anna's demands. (Details of his meetings can be obtained
through RTI to General Administration Department, Mantralaya).
5) Anna's people, many in conflict with the
cause, were given office space in Mantralaya to operate from there: Many of
Anna's local associates, led by one property broker, were given separate office
space in Mantralaya. Anna's office started operating from Mantralaya against
all rules. It was just like Anna's men had started running a parallel government.
A history was created when an activist like Anna Hazare, fighting against
the Government, started operating from State Secretariat itself.....(This
can be confirmed through RTI to General Administration Department, Mantralaya).
6) Anna took papers from us on Adarsh so that
2 Union Ministers - Vilas Rao Deshmukh and Sushil Shinde who are involved
in Adarsh Scam be removed - Suddenly Anna turned silent:
The most serious thing happened when Anna's people kept on calling me up for
giving papers on details on Adarsh scam where 2 Union Cabinet Ministers, namely,
Sushil Shinde, and Vilas Rao Deshmukh were involved. I sent the papers in
the hope that Anna shall seek the ouster of Vilas Deshmukh and Sushil Shinde
from the Union Cabinet. However he never did so and turned mysteriously silent
on demanding the ouster of the 2 Union Cabinet Ministers after taking papers
and details from me.
7) Anna took details on Lavasa Hill Station,
which was declared illegal solely based on our hard work, and where it was
proved on document that Supriya Sule, daughter of Sharad Pawar held 21 % shares
- these shares of a company worth many thousand crores were sold later at
a pittance - Anna suddenly turned silent on Pawar after taking details from
us:
Anna also sought details on Lavasa where because of my diligent efforts on
the legal side and along with untiring efforts [of] Medha Patkar and her co-activists,
a brilliant case was made. The Central Government had to declare that the
project was illegal after a PIL was prepared by me and filed by the Group
of Medha Patkar. Further, there was documentary evidence to show that the
daughter of Sharad Pawar, Ms Supriya Sule held 21 percent share in this very
high net worth Lavasa Corporation, having thousands of acres of precious land.
Most intriguingly, despite the fact that Ms Sule sold 21% share in this company
of many thousand crores, her net worth remained just Rs. 42 crores! Had the
transaction been true her net worth should have been at least Rs. 500 to Rs.
1,000 crores. Since Anna had taken the details from us, we expected Anna would
demand Sharad Pawar's resignation but suddenly he remained silent, leaving
us in the lurch to fight the battle alone.
What Anna has been doing since 2003 is being
repeated once again. Anna and his people have monopolised a committee in toto
and have anchored themselves in Central Secretariat just as they did in State
Secretariat earlier. Fair play and expediency commanded that Anna and his
people should have been out of the committee and should have critically scrutinised
the final outcome. Unfortunately, now being a part of the Government, and
singing praises for Sonia, Anna has become a judge in his own case. Indeed,
a grave infringement of the rules of natural justice....[4]
Recall from "Jai ho, Jan Jokepal"
of Justice Sawant's finding that Anna Hazare's "activists" in his
aptly-named Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan Trust took bribes from supplicants,
and Hazare turned a blind eye to the corruption in and extortion by his own
so-called anti-corruption NGO. And this is the Anna Hazare whom "civil
society" trusts to lead its war against corruption?
Look again at his company:
There are "uncanny parallels" that
make "the honourable leaders of IAC ...look like caricatures of the politicians
they are taking on".[5] Like Arun Shourie's "eminent historians"
who back scratch each other as authorities, these "civil society"
activists believe their certifying each other's integrity should be enough
for lesser mortals.
Harsh Mander was publicly called a "liar"
by one of his ActionAid ex-colleagues as also, more tactfully, by the Press
Council of India. Aruna Roy declared Mander's "integrity cannot be questioned".
Mander responded by declaring Aruna Roy's FCRA-dodging MKSS as having "no
funding whatsoever" (though the MKSS website solicits and reports donations
and it reports Harsh Mander's donation to it too).[6]
So too, forest-land-grabber Arundhati Roy
for Prashant Bhushan "would vouch for his integrity anytime, anywhere".[7]
And, of course, Hazare & co., by initially announcing that they would
have nothing to do with corrupt politicians in the drafting of the Lokpal
bill, obviously certify as not-corrupt the government ministers they have
accepted in the joint drafting committee, and by declaring they and Sonia
Gandhi are on the same wavelength, they certify she is not corrupt either.
The Bhushans received in a discretionary allotment
by the Mayawati government enormous plots of land at considerably less than
the market value when there was a clear conflict of interest involved. Shanti
Bhushan pretends naiveté: "There may be a case for a scheme like
this to be cancelled".[8]
Hazare & co. presented to "civil
society" their Jan Lokpal bill drafted by a former income tax officer
with support from a former judge and two lawyers. Hazare & co. collected
from "civil society" more than Rs 82 lakhs to sell this draft to
"civil society" as a take-it-or-Hazare-dies Gandhian threat to the
government. Of the Rs 82 lakhs, they claim to have spent Rs 32 lakhs. The
remaining Rs 50 lakhs is with Kejriwal's Public Cause Research Foundation
(PCRF). Having made their money - IAC does not report any donations after
April 13, 2011; PCRF does not report these at all - they begin to backtrack.
In response to NAC and political pressure, they pretend they are open to wide
popular consultation, to negotiating their draft, and to the eventual parliamentary
will.
Justice Hegde now describes as a "perfect
model" the 1968 Lokpal bill passed by the Lok Sabha in 1969. It was already
in the public domain, yet he and the Bhushans were unaware of it? What does
this say of the legal acumen Hazare & co. boasted of to justify the Hegde/
Bhushans nomination to the joint drafting committee? Why didn't Hazare &
co. use the Gandhian blackmail of that so-called fast-unto-death to push this
"perfect" 1968/69 bill again through Parliament? The judicial system
relies heavily on precedents - and Justice Hegde and the Bhushans surely know
this. So, when drafting their bill, did they not look at preceding Lokpal
bills, did they not look at the precedent of the Lok Sabha approval of the
1968/69 bill? Hadn't these legal eagles done their homework - or were they
persuaded by Kejriwal to go along with what he wants, and marketing which
his PCRF netted Rs 50 lakhs?
Justice Hegde wants politicians and bureaucrats
brought under the Jan Lokpal. He is silent about judges being brought under
it though two of his colleagues, the Bhushans, have sworn affidavits describing
chief justices of India "of doubtful integrity" / "definitely
corrupt", and a third colleague, Hazare, wants judges excluded. Kejriwal
"categorically" denies the prime minister or the judiciary would
be excluded from their draft.[9]
Hazare & co. mounted a "civil society"
assault with a draft Jan Lokpal bill that would take effective control of
corruption away from the NAC Chair and into their Jan Lokpal, even though
"Jai ho, Jan Jokepal!" cites both Hegde and Prashant Bhushan believing
the real problem is maladministration, not corruption (that is, enforcement
of existing laws, not creating new ones).[10]
The Vigil book has shown unrefuted the real
agenda of these self-selected "civil society" representatives as
a category. Kejriwal (and Mallika Sarabhai and Medha Patkar) from Hazare &
co. and Aruna Roy, AK Shiva Kumar, Harsh Mander and NC Saxena from the NAC
Working Group on Transparency and Accountability feature in the book.[11]
The NAC Chair's political activists attacked
the drafters of the bill directly. Hazare & co. appealed directly to the
NAC Chair who expressed solidarity with their motives. Meanwhile, her "civil
society" activists within the NAC responded with oblique criticism of
the draft bill but not of its drafters.
And the drama plays on, with Sonia Gandhi
still sutradhari. Observe:
"The NAC Working Group on Transparency,
Accountability and Governance held its first consultation with civil society
groups on the Lokpal Bill under the convenership of Smt. Aruna Roy on 4th
April, 2011. The meeting discussed the draft prepared by various people's
movements and groups. After exhaustive discussions, there was consensus on
most of the general principles underlying the draft Bill, though some provisions
need to be examined further. The NAC WG on TA & G, will finalize the principles
and framework, on the basis of this discussion.... The attendees included
S/Shri/Ms: Shanti Bhushanji, Prabhat Kumar, Aruna Roy, Trilochan Sastry, Jagdeep
Chhokar, Kamal Jaswal, Zaware, Santosh Hegde, Narendra Jadhav, Nikhil Dey,
Shekhar Singh, Vrinda Grover, Harsh Mander, Wajahat Habibullah, Arvind Kejriwal,
Swami Agnivesh, Sarvesh Sharma, Usha Ramanathan, Amitabh Mukhopadhyay, Santosh
Mathew, Shanti Narain, Prashant Bhushan, Sandeep Pandey and members of the
NAC Secretariat."[12]
Note how the NAC "civil society"
activists tried to take over the drafting of the bill. That was on April 4,
2011. It didn't work. On April 19, 2011:
"In view of the constitution of the Joint
Committee comprising of Group of Ministers (GoM) and Civil Society representatives
for drafting of Lokpal Bill in a time bound manner by the Government, the
NAC Working Group on Transparency, Accountancy and Governance will not be
dealing with this subject for the present in order to avoid duplicacy. However,
it will continue to deliberate upon reforms for bringing accountability and
transparency in governance."[13]
The NAC then meets with the sutradhari chairing
it:
"Shri Harsh Mander, Member presented
a broad outline of a comprehensive anti-corruption strategy highlighting (i)
preventive measures such as strengthening RTI and social audits, administrative
and police reforms, electoral reforms, judicial reforms, pre-legislative consultations,
transparent public appointments, independent grievance redressal systems;
(ii) punitive measures such as independent Anti-Corruption agency and stringent
punishments; and (iii) promotional measures. It was agreed in the NAC that
a Discussion Paper on the subject will be prepared by Shri Mander incorporating
suggestions of other NAC members for consideration by NAC. The Council decided
that the Working Group on Transparency, Accountability and Governance would
work on 'Strengthening Implementation of RTI Act and Social Auditing for Prevention
and Control of Corruption'."[14]
So, a discussion paper is to be prepared.
The NAC "civil society" activists may have given up on "duplicacy"
but they haven't on duplicity. In a clever move to regain the tactical high
ground, Roy and Mander "pointed out that for both the middle class and
the rich corruption is only a selective issue" and "suggested that
the NAC should address corruption from the poor's viewpoint" (i.e., Hazare's
was a tamasha marketed by the mainstream media primarily to the middle class
and the twitterati).[15] That was on April 28, 2011.
On April 29, 2011 Anna Hazare threatened that
if the Jan Lokpal bill was not passed in the time stipulated by him there
would be another "jantar mantar", but this time he would go to jail
(and not fast-unto-death - his doctors have advised him not to "skip
meals").[16] On May 4, 2011 there was the news report that Justice Hegde
considered a "perfect model" a Lokpal bill that had already received
its first approval by politicians as part of the system of parliamentary democracy.
So what is going on?
"Jai ho, Jan Jokepal!" pointed out
that under that 'civil' veneer affected by these activists, there are deep
rifts of ego and ambition. It seems Arvind Kejriwal is trying to do a Mander.
Harsh Mander, promoted by the mainstream English-language
media, exploited Gujarat 2002 to morph himself into middle-class India's conscience-keeper
for secularism. Likewise, Kejriwal, capitalizing on middle-class revulsion
over the extent of corruption unearthed in its own midst, and with the support
of the same media, is leapfrogging over Baba Ramdev and Dr Subramanian Swamy
to morph himself into middle-class India's anti-corruption conscience-keeper.
The five "civil society representatives"
in the joint drafting committee do not speak with one voice. Hazare and the
Bhushans are being hoist with their own petard. Hegde flip-flops, and has
compromised his neutrality as Lokayukta. That leaves Kejriwal, who out-manouevred
Kiran Bedi and the others and appears to call the shots on the Hazare side.
Kejriwal's PCRF has also cornered the IAC money. Till May 10, 2011 neither
the IAC nor the money collected by the PCRF in the IAC's name featured on
the PCRF's official website.[17] "Hazare and company" should really
be "Kejriwal and company".
The sarkari side is represented by ministers
who are Sonia loyalists and Sonia is advised by Roy and Mander. Kejriwal's
only real rival for India's Anti-Corruption Conscience-Keeper is the ardh-sarkari
Aruna Roy and, so far, he is out-manouevring her too. Roy has the Gandhi patronage,
but note that Kejriwal, for all his loud anti-corruption bluster, shrewdly
hasn't said a word against Sonia Gandhi.
Meanwhile, Baba Ramdev, after having been
gulled by Kejriwal & co., has chosen to play their game. His earlier route
was a relatively straight one - creating mass awareness of black-money corruption
that won him lakhs of supporters and hopefully would have been converted into
votes for clean politicians. Had he lent his considerable popular weight to
Swamy's demand to the PM for sanction to prosecute Sonia Gandhi, there could
have been a big breach in the dam of black money corruption - and this by
using the instrumentalities of our parliamentary democracy rather than by
subverting it as Kejriwal & co. want to do.
Instead, Baba Ramdev has proclaimed his fast-unto-death
from June 4, and declared he can go hungry for 40 days (as against Hazare
declaring 10 days for himself), and has invited Hazare, Bedi and Hegde, but
not Kejriwal and the Bhushans, to his satyagraha.[18] Prakash Singh has written
that "the Mahishasur of corruption is threatening to devour India"
and called for a new avatar of Durga to destroy him.
Though Congress party activists in UP optimistically
portrayed Mother Sonia as Durga slaying Mahishasur as corruption, "civil
society" activists explicitly rejected the Bharat Mata image that Hazare
initially ventured because Bharat Mata is "identified as a Hindu religious
symbol... Bharat Mata is considered an incarnation of Devi Durga." As
"The ox calling the donkey horned" showed, Hazare agreed with them,
preferring to genuflect before Mother Sonia. Why? Y.P. Singh above helps us
understand.[19]
Sri Aurobindo said "politics is the work
of the kshatriya, and it is the qualities of the kshatriya (kshatra-guna)
that we must cultivate if we are to be fit for freedom."[20]
Subramanian Swamy publicly identifies, and
repeatedly and fearlessly attacks the mahishasur of corruption.[21]
The Supreme Court uses words like "astonished"
and "flabbergasting" to describe just one scam that S Swamy has
brought to its judicial notice.[22]
As for Kejriwal & co., the two straightforward
tests for their bona fides remain untried - that they demand the Prime Minister
give sanction to Dr Subramanian Swamy to prosecute Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and that
any entity - NGOs included - that receives largesse in any form from the public
exchequer be brought within the purview of their Jan Lokpal Bill.
Such largesse would be cash or kind, including
salary, allowance, grant, subsidy and, especially, land at discounted value,
and given directly or indirectly (e.g., by or through a PSU, or received by
one NGO and then funneled or made available to another). This would certainly
cover Hazare's NGOs and Bedi's NGO, and most of the "civil society"
activists named in these essays if they've enjoyed board/lodging/TA/DA on
the government account. It may include Aruna Roy's NGO, and it will certainly
include that of her husband.
When Roy started her career as a professional
activist, she joined her husband in his NGO at Tilonia. Even after she started
her own NGO, she enjoyed, as the Vigil book notes, a large government-gifted
property in Rajasthan available to her for her use and that of her family
and friends - "In 1972, forty-five acres of Government land and an abandoned
Tuberculosis Sanatorium (consisting of 21 buildings) was leased from the Government
at Re.1 a month, to serve as a campus" for her husband's NGO. One rupee
a month for 45 acres and 21 buildings. And one of the buildings conveniently
became the home for the Roy family and their personal guests.[23]
So, her husband's NGO (with its capacious
house for their old age) will come under the purview of the Jan Lokpal. As
will numerous other NGOs with well-connected promoters who received start-up
capital or land at discounted value or grants or subsidies at the cost of
the public exchequer. As will the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. As will Sonia Gandhi.
In the war against corruption, Aruna Roy and
the other "civil society" activists named here are quislings. If
Subramanian Swamy makes it too hot in India for Sonia Gandhi, she can always
do a fujimori and flee to Italy. But to where will the quislings flee when
the Jan Lokpal turns to devour them?
The Supreme Court, in reference to corruption,
said "ultimately retrospection has to be done by people themselves."[24]
Now, people, do you understand why Aruna Roy
says the Kejriwal bill could become a Frankenstein's monster?
Notes:
1.: "Jai ho, Jan Jokepal!" - http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1513&Itemid=1
[expanding and updating "The company that Hazare keeps" - http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1721]
; "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion" - http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1743
; The ox calling the donkey horned : Il bue che dà del cornuto all'asino
- http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1750.
2.: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/all-not-in-favour-of-anna-hazares-bill/1/135499.html
. Of course, Roy herself in her public posturing is accountable to no one
- http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=970&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=5.
3.: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/hc-notice-to-centre-rajiv-gandhi-foundation/669565.html
.
4.: from the India TopCop webgroup, quoted
partly in JD Sharma, http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1530&Itemid=1,
and in full in an email dt. 28/4/11.
5.: Tony Joseph, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/the-faces-in-the-mirror/783243/0.
6.: http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=970&Itemid=1;
http://www.mkssindia.org/about-us/donations/; http://www.mkssindia.org/about-us/audited-financial-accounts/.
7.: http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/30/stories/2011043069640400.htm.
8.: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bhushans-get-two-prime-plots-from-mayawati-govt-for-a-song/778490/0,
reminiscent of Arundhati Roy's occupation of notified forest land in Madhya
Pradesh - http://www.hvk.org/articles/0503/164.html . See also Sandhya Jain,
http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1749 .
9.: http://www.dailypioneer.com/336167/Lokpal-Bill-of-68-ideal-Team-Anna.html
; http://www.sify.com/news/joint-drafting-committee-on-lokpal-bill-meets-for-first-time-news-national-leqlObjfhfa.html
; http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-hazares-team-making-a-mockery-of-democracy/20110420.htm
; http://www.scribd.com/doc/37841587/Prashant-Bhushan-s-Affidavit-in-SC ;
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37842301/Shanti-Bhushan-s-Affidavit-in-SC .
10.: Prashant Bhushan also says it is economic
liberalization that is the root cause of corruption (and, therefore, we must
go back to the days of social control, with these self-selected "civil
society representatives" as the controllers?) - http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/783774/
; Hegde says "that 90 per cent of his time as Lokayukta was allocated
in responding to the people's problems of maladministration and poor governance
and only 10 per cent in attending to cases of corruption" - http://www.hindu.com/2011/04/26/stories/2011042661420800.htm
11.: http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=843&Itemid=109.
12.: http://nac.nic.in/transparency/lokpal.htm,
italics added. Aruna Roy and her MKSS (with Nikhil Dey), Shekhar Singh, Harsh
Mander, Arvind Kejriwal and Sandeep Pandey illuminate chs 7 to 9 and Appendices
11 and 12 of the Vigil book.
13.: http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/19_april_2011.pdf,
italics added.
14.: http://nac.nic.in/press_releases/28_april_2011.pdf.
15.: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-29/india/29486605_1_lokpal-bill-sonia-s-nac-judicial-accountability-bill
; "A Dalit leader, talking on corruption in Jaipur a few days ago, commented
that the middle-class, which assists the giving and taking of bribes, is doing
its 'prayaschit' at Jantar Mantar with havans and bhajans" - Aruna Roy,
quoted at http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-why-they-wont-let-hazares-campaign-to-succeed/20110420.htm
; "See our nation is by and large a nation of corrupt people. When I
say this I am talking of the bulk of the urban class. There is no denying
it. But, the fact of the matter is that even those people who are beneficiaries
of the corrupt system are getting fed up with it," - Devinder Sharma,
http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2011/04/india-against-corruption-we-did-not.html
. "I was among a score of people invited to participate in a discussion
on the Jan Lok Pal bill in one of the committees of the National Advisory
Council (NAC). It wasn't a worthwhile experience to talk about. The people
who organised the discussion appeared to be speaking the same language as
that of the sub-committee appointed by the Prime Minister….. This was
unfortunate and was more out of the negative feeling (and outrage among those
who think they only represent the civil society) of being left out…If
they were included, everything would have termed as democratic. I don't know
when will civil society leaders discard their unsustainable egos..."
- Devinder Sharma, http://www.countercurrents.org/dsharma240411.htm . Sharma
is one of the IAC "founders". His first-hand accounts show that
the Ramdev phenomenon was a greater draw than the Hazare phenomenon - "a
clincher. His huge following certainly helped in turning the tables".
Events make clear the "secular" unacceptability of this to Kejriwal.
16.: http://in.news.yahoo.com/ready-jantar-mantar-again-lokpal-bill-not-passed-181000726.html
; http://www.mid-day.com/news/2011/apr/280411-news-pune-Anna-Hazare-treatment.htm
17.: http://www.countercurrents.org/dsharma240411.htm
; http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-interview-how-the-anna-hazare-movement-was-born/20110422.htm
, http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-interview-how-the-anna-hazare-movement-was-born/20110422.htm
; http://devinder-sharma.blogspot.com/2011/04/india-against-corruption-we-did-not.html
; It is interesting that Kejriwal was of the income tax service and his wife
still belongs to it and is posted in the Serious Fraud Investigation Office
of the Ministry of Company Affairs. Aruna Roy says "the need of the hour
was to create a strong office of Lokpal that would be able to deal effectively
with `big scams, big financial crimes'" - http://www.indianexpress.com/story-print/783774/
. Because, is Roy insinuating, that public officials like Kejriwal's wife
are lax in their anti-corruption duty?
18.: http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/05/stories/2011050568841900.htm;
http://www.dailypioneer.com/336353/Baba-Ramdev-to-fast-unto-death-over-black-money.html.
19.: Prakash Singh, "Mashishasur of Corruption",
Eternal India (India First Foundation), April 2011:3-4; http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060809/asp/nation/story_6587953.asp
; http://www.deccanherald.com/content/153731/symbol-hazares-movement.html
. Of course, "secularists" had no objection that MF Husain painted
Indira Gandhi as Durga slaying Jayaprakash Narayan - http://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2010/03/15/the-hindu-editor-ram-and-m-f-husains-right-to-debase-hindu-goddesses-hilda-raja/.
20.: NS Rajaram, http://newsgram.com/2011/05/bin-laden-how-a-great-power-acts/.
21.: e.g., http://www.dailypioneer.com/309011/Call-Sonia-to-the-dock.html.
22.: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4429400474217380163#;
http://www.psuindia.in/psu-news/3516-2g-scam-sc-astonished-psu-banks-gave-huge-loans-to-licencees;
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/money-involved2g-scam-flabbergasting-sc_538814.html.
23.: http://www.vigilonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=970&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=5;
http://www.barefootcollege.org/abo_history.asp.
24.: http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/money-involved2g-scam-flabbergasting-sc_538814.html
; and add "Loot le India" - e.g., http://www.wealltrader.com/film-loot-le-india-6905.aspx
- to the widely-circulating "bhrast-achar", "new accounting
terminology" and "7 scam maff" emails - e.g., http://www.flickr.com/photos/13505613@N06/5539172796/
, http://www.binscorner.com/pages/n/new-accounting-terminology-with-immediat.html
and http://mymasalastuff.blogspot.com/2011/03/7-scam-maff.html cited in "Jai
ho, Jan Jokepal!".
The author is a retired civil servant and
co-editor of "NGOs, Activists & Foreign Funds: Anti-Nation Industry"
(Chennai: Vigil Public Opinion Forum, 2007)
