In the latest developments in India, Anna and team are put behind bars on 16th August, 2011. There has been a huge uproar in the nation and across the media. The irony being pointed out that Anna and team (completely clean and non-corrupt people) are put in same jails as their corrupt counterparts (Raja and Kalmadi). My rant today is not on whether Anna & team should be caught or should be allowed to roam free, or whether Article 19 and 144 of the Indian Constitution has been misused or whether the Indian Police acted in a corrupt manner or everybody in India is corrupt except Anna and team (according to one of my friends).

My rant is basically on the incapability of Indian public to think in logical terms. Anna and team has done a pretty good job in selling a DREAM to India. A DREAM of corruption free India once the Jan LokPal (JLP) law is passed! I am pretty amused at the delusional visions and rabid ranting of all the supporters of IAC as well as the Indian media. Nobody in their right thinking capacity would get sold out to a DREAM.

We have thousands of laws and a big fat Indian constitution which could not stop corruption. So how can a new separate entity stop it? I still have all my questions unanswered from my previous post. In any sense, all the people who are out shouting at the top of their throat will not go and exercise their right to vote. All Anna is trying to do is bring in a JLP! Also his team and the media has coined the word “Civil Society”. I still don’t understand who will represent the Civil Society? What will they be accountable for? And most important of all, why is the assumption that a LokPal will be a clean person?

What a bunch of fools are we? If we can’t elect clean MPs & MLAs when we have a right to vote, we expect a Civil Society and some people with government recognized awards (and who are not accountable to the public) to bring in a LokPal who will be clean! I had a discussion on this with one of my arm chair supporter friend. He was clueless and started personal attacks! But what he didn’t realize is that bringing in a JLP is a feel good factor. It will not work as suggested in the DREAM. Of course some Civil Society members will get dictatorial powers which will hinder the basic framework of democracy. And imagine someone like sonia gandhi becoming a lokpal just without getting elected. And this is not entirely impossible, since she is the chairman of NAC (National Advisory Committee), a non-constitutional body just like the JLP.

I have the following questions for IAC and Anna supporters as well as all the arm-chair protestors and twitteraties.

– Why does Anna not start a political party?

– Anna has got the support of 1Billion+ Indian people. Atleast thats what I am hearing in the media. So starting a political party would be the right move.

– Why hasn’t Anna announced candidates for the 2014 elections? Infact, why doesn’t he contest one?

– If Anna can go on fast and try to create a law, does that mean that anybody with clean character can ask the government to create laws?

– If that be the case, we should promptly dissolve all the houses of parliaments and instead just rely on the presidential model of democracy instead of the representative model that we have.

My last and final suggestion is that Anna and team should contest the elections and win. And then do a re-write of the Indian constitution as needed. All the people should vote and stop paying bribes. My dear friend whom I mentioned before himself has been paying bribes to get his work done. And I do assume that since corruption is wide-spread in India, all the supporters of Anna and team have been affected by it. How many of them have not offered a bribe (that is beside the point though)?

Anyways, I would like to see India after JLP is formed. And nobody else would be happier than me if JLP can solve the corruption issue. But I think it is a DREAM. Miracles didn’t happen with Jesus, they didn’t happen with a religion after that, they didn’t happen with Satya Sai and they will not happen with Anna and team. But again, there are no laws that forbid dreaming. So DREAM ON INDIA. Unless and until all of us Indians take concrete steps to remove corruption from grass root levels and stop giving bribes to get work done, no LP or JLP will be able to make India corruption free.

JAI HIND. VANDE MATRAM.