By Anirudh Prakash
Instead of taking the allegations seriously, the ministers prefer to be on the offensive to put opponents in the wrong and create confusion in the public mind. Such a strategy is not going to work. The people by now are well aware of the fact that the system is corrupt to the core and the government not serious about tackling the problem.
During the cold war years, dubbing someone as a “CIA agent” was politically seen as an abusive term. To silence such “progressive” elements Swatantra Party leader Piloo Modi came to Parliament with a placard around his neck proclaiming “I am a CIA agent.”
In the UPA-II regime every convenient question and every inconvenient activist are dubbed as “anti-national”. The message is clear: if you are not with the establishment, you lose the right to be nationalist or patriotic. Nothing can be more farcical than such a line of thinking.
Earlier Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh used to specialize in catchy naming games. Now these “anti-national germs” have reached even the prime minister’s office. Bugged by the coalgate charges levelled by the Anna team against the prime minister, minister of state for PMO V. Narayanswamy followed up a curt letter to Anna Hazare with a fusillade against the Gandhian leader’s associates Anand Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi, calling them “anti-nationals” and alleging that their financial dealings “are not above board” and that they are propped up by “foreign” forces. Minister of overseas affairs Vayalar Ravi has gone a step further. He linked Kejriwal and Ms. Bedi “foreign connections” with their Magsaysay Award which in turn is supported by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Ravi apparently has not done his homework since Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council has three Magsaysay Award winners — Aruna Roy, M. S. Swaminathan and Deep Joshi. This again shows the UPA ministers’ low-level of politics to earn elusive extra power points!
The Team Anna’s allegations are supposedly based on the leaked draft of the CAG on coal block allocations. Facts and counter-facts in this matter are to be debated, properly investigated and verified and finally tested in a court of law. Loose talks do no give credit either to the PMO or the Anna Hazare team.
Having said this, I record my disapproval of the former IPS officer calling Dr. Manmohan Singh “Dhritrashtra”, invoking the character of the blind King in the Mahabharata to attack the PM. Earlier the Team Anna had dubbed him “Shikhandi”.
Nationalism is not the monopoly of the ruling establishment. Patriotism and credibility of public persons who do not toe the official line of thinking and action cannot and must not be questioned. Voices of dissent and alternative lines of policy thinking are equally valuable in a democratic polity like ours.
Playing cheap and dirty games by ministers only show the ruling establishment’s lack of confidence to stand up to corruption allegations and answering them logically point by point.
It is a pity that while the PM remains silent, his ministers talk in different languages and tones. This is not the way the government should conduct its public affairs.
I also strongly believe that the Anna Team and Baba Ramdev ought to keep utmost restraint in their utterances and keep their focus fully on the issues of corruption and black money, after proper homework. Talking in isolation and going off the tangent from the issues at hand would only prove to be counterproductive.
Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev ought to realize that the public opinion today is very much with them. The people are thoroughly fed up with big scams and medium size and small corrupt practices in the system of governance which are badly affecting their day-to-day life. The high inflationary factor has only made matters worse. But then, who cares?
Instead of tackling the problems of growth and development on a war- footing the Manmohan government gives the impression of indulging in shadow boxing. What is not realized at 7- Race Course Road and 10- Janpath is that the public is no longer amused by these shadow plays in the Theatre of the Absurd!
Anna and Baba must be given all credit for their fighting spirit and for having mobilized the middle class voices against the multi-million scams and scandals. They have changed the national mood against the corrupt system. The writing on the wall is sharp and crystal clear.
We must continue to question acts of corruption based on hard facts and evidence. In the massive 2G scam, it was the Supreme Court on November 17 that raised a pertinent point “why the prime minister, the sanctioning authority in the 2G scam, remained silent for 11 months over Subramanian Swamy’s request seeking sanctioning for the prosecution of former telecom minister A. Raja?”
The methodology of the ruling class has of late undergone a change. Instead of taking the allegations seriously, the ministers prefer to be on the offensive to put opponents in the wrong and create confusion in the public mind. I don’t think such a strategy is going to work simply because the people by now are well aware of the fact that the system is corrupt to the core and the government is not serious about tackling the problem.
No wonder, the CBI is used for political purposes on all sensitive matters of corruption.
Looking back, I believe that the Anna Team and Baba Ramdev’s brigade must keep the focus on real issues. As of today, Baba seems to be going his way. His meetings with various party leaders may be well intentioned, but in the process he seems to be losing track of the overall perspective of the movement.
Baba need not go extra soft if Sharad Pawar, Ajit Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav agree with his black money plan or BJP chief Nitin Gadkari performs a shocking spectacle of bowing down and touching his feet.
The job of both Anna and Baba is to create public opinion against the loose ends in the system and the law which enable the corrupt and black money wallas to go scot free. Better informed citizens and formidable public pressure can be built up only on hard facts and not on loose talks.
Here I must emphasise that less of secrecy and more of openness are the basic requirements for building a corruption-free society. Such an approach can help strengthen the roots of democracy. Are we ready for this? Are the political bosses prepared to take a plunge in these muddy operations? A lot will depend on how the Anna team and Baba go about their task in a coordinated manner at this juncture.
The corrupt must not be allowed to get away with their ill-gotten wealth. Public money must not be diverted for personal gains. Public accountability has to be part of governance. INAV