I am a hard-nosed ‘start-up’ entrepreneur, trained to create value out of thin air. My business involves motivating people, making them believe in a ‘do or die’ cause and then ‘Pied Pipering’ them towards an end goal.
I relate to Anna Hazare and his valiant efforts. However, Anna fails to impress me.
This is why:
Intent:
The Intent of Anna Hazare’s mission confuses me. Is it to end corruption or to insert his own bill in the Indian Governments system, or is it both?
I question if this ‘intent’ really worth the brouhaha? I mean ending corruption is like ending prostitution. Noble in ‘intent’ but impossible in execution.
Don’t misjudge me. I’m not ‘for’ corruption. I’m questioning if a struggling, underdeveloped country like ours needs to more focus on eradicating poverty and illiteracy, rather than struggling to cure a disease called corruption; which sometimes hurts but does not kill?
Method
I don’t appreciate the mass agitation; lets hold the govt. and country to ransom method.
Tomorrow, what stops a leading Bollywood Actor (who has a larger mass following than Anna) from sitting in the middle of Delhi streets and urging that the Babri Masjid be rebuilt?
Isn’t this movement wrongly educating Indian ‘influencers’ that they can paralyze everyday life in the interest of their cause? Also, shouldn’t the approach be to solve one tangible issue at one time ?
Say if its corruption at the Octroi Naka in Mumbai, then let everyone get together and just eradicate than one problem. If that is successfully resolved than we leap to the next problem!
Promise
What will Indian citizens like me really get at the end of this Anna Hazare charade?
Another bagful of promises from the government? Or a real tangible end result? A ‘movement’ means nothing to me anymore. I want real results.
For example, Unicef promises to erase polio from India and they are systematically doing so year after year (less than 10 cases reported in India this year).
Promise me something realistic and make that happen.Then I will buy from you next time also.
Repeat worthiness
Who will follow Anna Hazare’s act?
A gentleman called Baba Ramdev tried to, and self immolated his image. Is this process of hunger striking and create chaos actually ‘repeatable’?
How can anything become really successful if it cannot be smoothly repeated, with each cycle becoming bigger, more effective and generating more impact than the last time?
Think hard – will any sensible government allow this kind of meet, fast, go to jail, come back and parade all over the country mayhem to repeat itself?!
End Goal
Every movement, every business, every mission has an End Goal.
When I build a business, it is to make money. When Bill Gates attacks Malaria it is to eradicate Malaria from the face of the earth.
In Anna Hazare’s case, what I see is a loosely hanging, ‘in the air’ movement. It seems to drift, gather steam and then dissipate again. What exactly is the End Goal?
Is it to just to get some Bill into the Indian Government’s judicial system? That’s it? What after that? How does a bill and its enactment still end corruption – which is the real problem?
I mean there are enough laws in India that castigate and punish murder. But murders happen everyday!
Scalable
Anything that creates massive value (monetary or social) has an infinitely scalable DNA. It’s like a movement developing a life of its own, that propels itself towards, fulfilling its cause.
I do not see ‘disruptive’, pressure- tactic movements and missions being scalable. On the contrary, they deflate quickly and self-destruct.
Sociality
Honestly, the more I look at the current Anna Hazare movement, the more it looks like a ‘social’ rock concert.
Image courtesy – Yahoo India
Indians celebrating rebellion more than they cause for which they assembled. I bet that less than 10% of the youngsters rallying don’t even know what the Lokpal bill is – leave alone what’s inside it.
Also, given that this event takes law and order in its own hands, is this mission what we want young Indians to emulate? What stops an altercation with the police from becoming a riot?
Is this the place where our young sons and daughters should gain their first ‘social’ experience?
Anna Hazare has to realize that what he did fifty years ago is passé. He should be motivating Indians to attack real social matters with their brains and not with their slogans and stomachs.
This is the full article of the slightly shortened version carried by the The Economic Times Sunday Newspaper.
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You can read the compilation of my articles on
AAP, Arvind Kejriwal & Anna Hazare in AAP the BIG Fail
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Anil B Vedmehta
Mr.Kejariwal ,You are fortunate to get into idea economy and could access right type of resources to nurture those ideas think of the lakhs of youths wants to join the league in which we all are and find the red-tapism and corruption incurable,Corruption is a necessary evil for development but the proportions in which it has spread is the bone of contention. Due to the corruption lot of bright students can not make it to the right colleges. Its not the Bill its the will to uproot the corrupt politicians from the system has attracted the youth of this country to the Anna Movement.
Saket Khanna
Intent…
The intent is very much clear to get corruption free India…They r not saying get our bill passed as it is…but they r saying we r open for the discussion and let the best bill prevail and be made law….Now to ur point of removing poverty and illiteracy see both r directly linked to corruption a poor has to bribe the govt rashon shop to get his grains kerosene oil a small autowalla has to pay bribe to policeman every single day so that they don’t stop him every now n then….children don’t get admission unless they don’t pay donation towards school since when this become the qualification to get admitted…hope that tells u how poverty n illiteracy is linked with corruption.
Method…
Since last 42 years the same bill has seen 8 parliaments ignoring it…the current PM too was sent many letter starting dec 2010 but he didn’t give a single reply until April 2011 when this protest started….n to name it as mass agitation its undermining the people’s intelligence n there will n wish to bring the change Anna is fighting for himself n so is every single person who’s there to protest….Give me s ingle example of social reform that has come through a single person going through very theoretical process …n please give me n example…? FYI RTI act has come through similar kind of protest though on smaller scale n the same Anna was the reason behind it.
Promise…
U put a really great example to fight a disease like polio …u know how it became successful cos people took part they made sure their children r given the doses n they knew it affects each n every one regardless who follow which filmstar …so in this same example of urs lies the answer… A strong bill is presented àpassedàimplementedà n then people like u participate n make sure u exercise ur rights n make sure u register a complain when u find something fishy or ur work is not completed in the given timeframe …
Repeat worthiness
Again ur answering ur doubt urself just rethink over Ramdev Baba’s event he also has lakhs of followers but what happened to him police cracked down n it went off like a fuss…so the repetitive value shall come when people themselves realize that its worth fighting for ….so putting ourselves in hypothetical situation that such movements will start a lots of other movements is just ignoring the value of this particular movement…just go back to 90s when agitation against Reservation was started but it couldn’t succeed cos there it has India divided between pro reservation and anti reservation but in current protest we have no divide towards the end result we all including u are against corruption there r doubts about the methods and other things but not about the aim for setting India free from corruption.
End Goal…
I think ur talking the same things in intent and end goal at least in the first part see u need to be very ignorant towards Anna’s movement to believe that they r only interested in getting their bill passed I urge u to watch Devil’s advocate ( Karan Thapar’s show) with Prashant Bhushan and Arvind Kejriwal which was telecast on Saturday u may catch it on CNN IBN website where even karan thapar recognize that they r ready to negotiate on bill… About the point people not getting punishment for murder n other stuff ..if u read the bill it enables citizen to check on Judge’s creditability in passing the judgment …but that’s just the small take a whole judiciary reform election reform police reforms are the next in line….
Scalable
I totally agree with u on this point the protest needs to be more organized but cos its more of people’s movement other then a group movement its bound to happen…..with lots of intellectual people are joining the movement now ..ex army personal IAS IPS officers it shall take a more strong and specific shape.
Sociality
I totally agree with you on this people are celebrating youth is coming out playing patriotic songs skits and different entertaining stuff but understand one thing India has changed do think everything u do with ur business is what used to happen 60 years back I don’t think so…n it’s a welcome change atleast its not those religious gathering where people play munni badnaam hui … 2 point why 10 % there will be more who don’t know the nitty gritty of lokpal bill but they do know that govt bill cant be trusted n govt n politicians is to be blamed for this they have lost creditability…to answer the same point in different manner how many soldiers on the border know exactly what foreign ministry is doing why LOC was defined they r simply their to protect their country do you question their knowledge ?
To end my point of I believe in the fact that nothing is perfect but the intent is more important which I think is very much there in this protest…
Hope I have not made ne personal offensive remarks J
Also If you have not read the JLB I urge you to read it though that might clear thing further below is the link
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IwHOgQDXJSXIFuBiaDkqcWKt1Z7Tc5g9q2xh1Xlpnlo/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1
Nayana Somaratna
I agree on one thing : corruption is the fruit and not the root of the problem.
I mean, does anyone *like* or *look forward to* being corrupt ? I doubt it.
Eradication of poverty and provision of proper living standards will elimination most corruption.
It is no coincidence that countries with the highest standards of living (for example, Finland or Sweden) tend to have the lowest incidence of corruption.
Arijit Goon
Totally disagree with your article…..!!
INTENT
“needs to more focus on eradicating poverty and illiteracy”….there is no priority list for irradiating poverty, corruption, illiteracy etc….its not like only after India achieve 100% literacy that we can start anti-corruption movements!! ” corruption…which sometimes hurts but does not kill?” nothing to say after this comment….if somebody can talk like this even after knowing the magnitude of corruption recently exposed…nothing is left to say!!
METHOD
“Tomorrow, what stops a leading Bollywood Actor (who has a larger mass following than Anna) from sitting in the middle of Delhi streets and urging that the Babri Masjid be rebuilt?”….larger mass following matters the most in a democracy…let him/her sit like Anna….you will get your answer by the number of people following. For example Rajnikanth is a superstar in India no matter what the intellectuals think abt him….these things are well known to entrepreneurs…can’t figure out how you missed it!!
PROMISE
…people from every religion, every political color, every class, every caste, age has recognized the PROMISE in it….its to free INDIA from corruption!!
REPEAT WORTHINESS
…seems you forgot the freedom struggles and GANDHI while writing this!!
END GOAL
…its only the start….nobody is claiming it to be the end goal!!!
SCALABLE
“I do not see ‘disruptive’, pressure- tactic movements and missions being scalable”…again U missed GANDHI !!!
SOCIALITY
..when was the last time we saw the whole of INDIA united for such a noble cause…with such magnitude? let it be a social ROCK CONCERT…no harm in it as long as it gives us a strong LOKPAL BILL!!
“I bet that less than 10% of the youngsters rallying don’t even know what the Lokpal bill is”…..I bet if articles like these are written to discourage these young generation then even less will ever know what it is…but with constant support (other that criticizing) that percentage will grow…..and you don’t need to be master in Indian politics to vote…still people vote..same here…the idea is grasped by the youngsters and the common people…the integrity of the leader is clear to them…so they jumped into it….rest is left for GOOGLE!!!
Yes this is what we want young India to emulate, and yes this the place where our young sons and daughters should gain their first ‘social’ experience…no doubt in my mind!! “slogans and stomachs”…are the basis of the formation of India as a free nation…its our identity…taking up AK47s to protest is not our identity…or selling our economy to corporate will and politicians is also not our identity….that’s the reason why every Indian is “identifying” himself with this movement…in every corner of this country!!
Shreyas Ghuge
Nayan – Check out the tax rates for the Scandinavian countries. You will have a reason to why standards of living in those countries are the best. Thereafter, also research and realize the facilities the governments have in place for its citizens. Best example would be for you to study Denmark. You will then, if you can infer from relational logic, also understand why corruption is not a worry for them.
Then, when you’ve done that, come back to your comment and see what’s missing, or also for that matter look at why India, with all its internal issues cannot yet afford to raise tax ceiling that high, and hence eventually is infected with problems of such magnitude.
If all this reading and thinking clears your doubts, cool. If not, still cool.
Shreyas Ghuge
Alok, please read your article again. You will then realize that you don’t really take a stand. You contradict yourself through examples that you try to elucidate your point with.
Saket has addressed your article very well.
Being a businessman you ought to understand that eradication of poverty and illiteracy requires resources. When the fundamental requirement itself is a demand, then friction in getting things moving is higher. You might look back at your start-up days when getting your idea realized was dependent on how less demanding you can make the resources required to get it moving.
Lokpal may not entirely eradicate corruption and it is true. But it will hold back on some fronts. If we go ahead with a cynical attitude such as yours, towards everything, there really would not be much scope for India to go in any direction, but to either remain stagnant or to move downward. Imagine if you had that cynicism when you were starting out.
Reducing corruption will mean withholding the exact resources of which we are in dire need of, to eradicate poverty and illiteracy.
Aren’t great disruptions about segments the roots and creating new ways through..??
Abhimanyu
I will keep it short here…
This protest you’re seeing is clearly not for the Lokpal bill, its a collective outpour of public anger against the oppression shown by the high-headed Govt. Lokpal bill has become the face of this adamant public stand. Its repercussion is clear – the incorporation of at least some-kind-of-lokpal bill – something that has been left in the lurch for 50 odd years.
The probability of this repeating is highly implausible. You need the perfect mix of the right role model and the right cause in order to arouse the public sentiments in the manner this protestation has been able to. Expecting every hunger strike to bring the country to standstill will be naive.
Finally, I dont know how much have you been following the proceedings but the ‘end goal’ is definitely bring over all reforms to revamp the whole system of rampant corruption. This, of course, is the first step. Beginning has to be made somewhere and often the first step is the most difficult one. I hope, being a serial entrepreneur, you will concede me that much.
One thing is pretty sure – ugly as it may look to the sticklers of constitutional assembly – but with the kind of Govt. (opposition included) and administration we have, this was the only way something like the Lokpal bill, or any other reformist bill that empowers the citizen, would have made its way to the Parliament. Everything else is debatable.
Jayesh Gopalan
i doubt how many of the supporter s even understand the difference between lokpal and janlokpal bill.
I agree with Suresh Ramani “Its suddenly sexy to be supporting Anna.”
It’s very easy to shout in social media and stand in ground or rally.
Everybody has faced corruption but its thing which we can live with. If you want to fight corruption fight from where you are standing or where you live or practice not in some ground.
And before going to this rally and all just ask yourself this question “What have I done to remove corruption?”
Passing of a bill is not going to help what about RTI and why media is not covering the Shehla Masood case I doubt if anybody will file RTI.
Will anna hazare movement help in removing corruption I too doubt it .
Arijit Goon
Crorepatis are the most corrupt people in India….look at Sharad Pawar…is he poor or stays below living standards?….Sweden, Finland have strong anti-corruption laws…thats why less corruption….else India has more wealth than those countries!! In India….corruption is the root of most of the problems!!
Abhimanyu
Doesn’t matter if they dont know the difference between the two bills. Our honorable MPs also didn’t know the ABC of Indo-US nuclear deal, when they had opted to vote for/against it. These people are mere citizens.
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Saket Khanna
I certainly do not agree with the remarks made by the gentleman but you putting every one under the same banner is not the correct way either…. and to remind you all over again …in this protest no single incident of violence n there was none even in April so stop being hypothetical n stop using words such as criminal if u really consider this comment was crime go ahead n sue this guy with law under what so ever sentiments of ur got hurt…..
ur bound to get such responses when u stand on the other side of popular wave I am not saying its right though however u should maintain ur own intelligence which u tried to show by posting that article
Jayesh Gopalan
I believe that if you are supporting something then it has to be something that you deeply believe in and you ready to sacrifice everything for it and ready to stand to stand for it.
But by just following something because others are supporting or following it is such a fake.
If you want to remove corruption lead by examples.
As Alok said “. If there is a brothel in my building – i will REMOVE it and THEN show how i did it for you to remove it from your BUILDING. I will NOT MEET in Aaazad Maidan and sing songs saying ‘lets remove brothels’….”
@Abhimanyu It’s very easy to post comments in social media but in real life show me your stories of how you have helped in removing corruption.
Martin
Hello author, I am confused by your article…specially in these points
:“The Intent of Anna Hazare’s mission confuses me.”
Q: control corruption is his mission now. I am not able to understand what author’s confusion is
“mean ending corruption is like ending prostitution. Noble in ‘intent’ but impossible in execution”
Q:Do u really think it is impossible to control it ,at least by 10%?
“I’m questioning if a struggling, underdeveloped country like ours needs to more focus on eradicating poverty and illiteracy, rather than struggling to cure a disease called corruption; which sometimes hurts but does not kill?”
Q:crores of subsidies and relief funds are disposing among the poor and the effected ,but do u really thinks all of it really reaching to the deserved?, I don’t think so, first we need to seal the leakage..
“Method”
Q:what are the other methods in your mind, than a peaceful protest by not destroying any public or private property…
Do You really believe these kind of support can attain any one with any causes?
“What will Indian citizens like me really get at the end of this Anna Hazare charade?”
Q:At least people will start thinking twice before giving and accepting bribe..
It is not a 100% remedy but if it cure at least 10%, then why opposing it?
“will any sensible government allow this kind of meet, fast, go to jail, come back and parade all over the country mayhem to repeat itself?!”
Q: what are the other methods in your mind, than a peaceful protest by not destroying any public or private property ,”a sensible govt” can allow”
“which is the real problem? I mean there are enough laws in India that castigate and punish murder. But murders happen everyday!”
Q:What if there is a law encouraging murder by making it easy for a murderer to escape…
“I bet that less than 10% of the youngsters rallying don’t even know what the Lokpal bill is – leave alone what’s inside it”
Q:do each and every voters know all the agenda/promises of each candidate,I doubts.they are supporting a person whom they feel don’t have any conflict of interest to make a law passed in Parliament after its debate,I am not seeing any error in it.
“He should be motivating Indians to attack real social matters with their brains and not with their slogans and stomachs”
Q:He is doing it ,he just started with one issue, I am sure he will come with more issues one by one as he did in his village.
“is this the place where our young sons and daughters should gain their first ‘social’ experience?”
Q: I think a peaceful protest than a violent one is the place where our young sons and daughters should gain their first ‘social’ experience.I am not able to find any other methods of protest they can learn Gandhian principles.
Arijit Goon
its about a firm LAW….not about facing the mirror or digging someones history to find if he had bribed someone in life or not….its a good diversion though…”face the mirror” is the fancy name to it…some people are buying it….but the fact is all these protests are for a LAW…it is the most practical START towards the solution…everything will follow!! Most of the common people indulges in corruption because there is no option left for an honest man in this system….so need to clean the system first…then will talk on these “atmasudhhi” and “face the mirror” kind of moral stories!! Breaking Traffic rules, Stealing, raping, murder….etc etc…all are controlled through LAWs first…after that moral discussions can be done in AASTHA channel!!
Saket Khanna
Ur totally right Jayesh that one has to do something on ground to reflect his support ….there r lots of stories that every one will have to share it with you the simplest way is to stop bribing but you surely can not judge commenting on social media means nothing by this debate too ur making lots people get up and think about it ….me myself have been using it to make people understand both the versions of Lokpal bill n many of them actually have read it once i posted the link….I would suggest debate with an open mind So @abhimanyu has surely done his bit ..don’t forget social media is the new tool ….if it can be used to promote ones business it can be used to provoke thoughts about such an important issue like corruption :-)…. n just to give u n example of my own …I used to drive n LPG operated car I used to buy Cooking gas Cylinder in black not by choice but in my city hardly get LPG at govt approved filling station but now have decided will get it only from filling station when they have it even if I have to use expansive option of petrol
Jayesh Gopalan
@Arijit Goon there are LAW but tell me have you used any law to stop corruption?
As I said earlier to it’s easy to protest in Ground and Social Media.
“Breaking Traffic rules, Stealing, raping, murder….etc etc…all are controlled through LAWs first…after that moral discussions can be done in AASTHA channel!! ” now thats a big joke hahaha
Have you filed any RTI to get information about corrupt officers or politicians way of working?
We would love to hear your stories of using LAW !
Arijit Goon
Again trying “face the mirror” trick…I never said I am a HERO of the nation willing to eat a bullet by filling an RTI against some powerful minister or a real estate tycoon….I am not Gandhi or Anna…but I don’t hide this weakness by degrading an ongoing movement against corruption…RTI dosen’t give protection to me….will you protect me so that I can tell you “stories”?? Jan Lokpal Bill has that provision of protection for the whistleblower…in an environment where people can stay honest and stay alive…corruption can easily be defeated!!
Arijit Goon
Regarding what I have done against corruption…..both in buying and selling property….avoided black money!! Asked others from my family to do the same!! Never travelled without ticket in trains…Given fines wherever found guilty….I also got my first driving liscence without going through the broker..it took me through hell…but thats the time when I realised how hard it is to fight it personaly and how impractical it would be to fight it in every step of my day to day life!! Its need to be cleaned from the top first…then only we can implement it in our daily life…even a kid knows this in India!!
Jayesh Gopalan
I completely agree with Jyoti.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Anil B Vedmehta
Ninad the networking plays its role corruption has become the way of life for the class of people who are used by the politicians for their crony capitalism. Most of the professionals have compulsion to deal with them.They need someone to front them in their design Rather then taking on the Anna on any mass media he has choosen the Economic Times it shows the club from where they are coming from Its really important for the new generation entrepreneur like Mr. Kejariwal to restrain from being stooge to the ideology which has failed. In the name of being practicalwe all overlooked the issue and now it has assumed the proportions which is equal to the country’s budget.
Akhilesh Kumar
Your 1st Post, which did not impress…:(
Rajs
Absolutely agree! Somehow most of the folks who support this movement conviniently “externalized” the corruption problem.
Murali Krishna Uriti
Alok , I dis-agree with your point of view related Anna’s method. Here the goal is very clear and is to eradicate corruption. Lok pal bill is the means to reach the goal and which is being postponing since 42 years from its introducing. This is just because of our politicians who are acting as monarchs in their portfolios. Lok pal bill is the attempt to keep a independent boss to all these politicians like our “External Auditors” in our business. Once the lokpal bill is passed and implemented, there won’t be any scope for politicians to corrupt.
Ceejo Thomas
I agree in general. When Arab spring tries over throw dictatorships all over middle east, here we are trying our best to make our democracy defective by trying to concentrate power in very few hands.
Some specific clauses from JLB which are of major concern
https://concernswithjanlokpalbill.blogspot.com/
S Ahmed
I was thinking of who these people are out there making human chains, gathering at ramlila, wearing a gandhi skull-cap and shouting slogans. I wanted to categorize them in 1 category but i saw they were the middle class BPO/MNC/IT employees, then there were the ones that we regularly see chanting slogans for some political party, then there were others. Today i met an eminent doctor from Mumbai for iftar & this was just a topic. Then i got the word from him – “Anti-Reservation” & i was still skeptical but with “Due to the corruption lot of bright students can not make it to the right colleges.” you just solved the dilemma. Again, i am in for eradicating corruption as well but the Anna way is incorrect. You cant hold the country & its security on ransom by abusing the emotion of an entire nation. Everyone of the 1Bn+ population has had a stint with corruption Traffic Violations to Tactical Violations, creation of a parallel govt (LokPal) doesn’t solve this problem but only potentially doubles it which is far more serious. Integrity comes from within. Please don’t shy away from paying the penalty the next time you jump traffic signals. Don’t support Anna Hazare, Support India.
S Ahmed
Alok: I am with you on this one.
To every other Einstein: Think before you slap the keyboard and grace the planet with your ignorance. Lokpal is not a “Law” its an “Institution” – Think of it as a Corrupt Government & a potentially corrupt institution to oversee the government. The Bribes will double while your pay-chek doesn’t 😉
S Ahmed
Yup, Einstein !!
Zaira Maqubool
Amazing Article… I am with you…
The brand “Anna” is taking over the mob is insane…
The idea of Lokpal bill isn’t that bad but the implementation is not that easy!! I am with the concept “anti-corruption” but not with “Anna”!!!
The rallies and the slogans the people are carrying out are really ridiculous…
And I agree with your statement “Honestly, the more I look at the current Anna Hazare movement, the more it looks like a ‘social’ rock concert” Hahaha.. the boys are busy eyeing young girls at the rally, some are busy clicking pictures of self and friends so as to update their facebook profile picture etc etc etc….
rahpar
Well put!
Ashwin C Parulkar
looking at the contradictionS here-
1.No film Star has an ability to take up movement of masses to this scale for this kind of cause.
2.Anna Hazare has conviction which any star would lack , they are just good enough to work on someones instructions.
3.Agreed Education and Poverty are the Key issue however just to proove the fallacy of the statement is-
There is unprecedented amount of CORRUPTION in these fields, few years back we heard only 17(SEVENTEEN) PAISE,OUT OF A RUPEE SPENT BY GOVT. REACHES THE POOR, NOW IT MUST HAVE REDUCED TO 5 PAISE.
4.Systems are to be tested over a period of time and if it is not working then time is to search for new (the true enterprenuer way)
5.lets not underestimate the 120million Indians and what they feel, ‘Its certainly not a Rock Concert’ its Peoples movement and if some one feels it is then it should have enough power to pull people behind the NEW THOUGHT.
Ashwin C Parulkar
another great ignorance thanks Ahmed
S Ahmed
@ Sagar – That was way too Cheap. Haven’t seen anything as low as this :-(.
@ Alok – I can understand your worries.
Leadthenmanage
I have a mixed feeling about this.
I am happy, because at last there was a movement which successfully raised the awareness in people that its time we start doing something about corruption, starting with top most power house of the country.
I am sad, because now it will be those few in Lokpal who will decide if an elected leader is clean, which I believe takes away the power of people,a little.
Today, we may have very dedicated members in Lokpal, but then who has seen tomorrow?
Misuse of power can also harm our country and here we are providing a recipe for the same.
I believe we should focus of the root of the issue.
How these corrupted leaders get elected in first place?
Electoral reforms should pave way towards electing clean leaders.
Electoral reforms should give the power to the people to remove a elected member, when people want, not when the elected leader’s term ends.
When it comes to bureaucrats, again, there should be reforms in recruiting and also in accountability of them.
Spraying pesticides over a tree can just be a temporary fix while the soil is yet to be cleansed.
This is my personal belief.
Rajs
Good find!
vishakha
i felt for the second time the fury and power of the mob mentality with this ongoing forever anna fever. first was gujarat riots. and that says plenty!!
suddenly we lost that power of disagreeing agreeably. it was my way or high way for anna as well as his mobmafia on the road. if you r not with anna, u prefer corruption and on the face of it, it was no contest! But what about the fundamental option of having the rights to decide my stand, what about the basic humanity of understanding the plight of a person proud of Indian democracy and what about the basic common sense of seeing what’s at the end of this fight??
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
And people laughed when I published this 1 year ago ( hmmmm – they probably will again)
Manav Shankar
The Ultimate Line: I do not see ‘disruptive’, pressure- tactic movements and missions being scalable. On the contrary, they deflate quickly and self-destruct.
Manmeet Singh
I had to sign up on “RodinHood”, just to to express how stupid the Author is.
Now I could easily give a counter agreement, but in the words of the great Kautilya, “Do not argue with a fool, as you will end up wasting your time”.
That is it really.
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Hahahahah – that is the laziest and stupidest remark I have heard in like 43 years of my life.
The motto of Rodinhood is ‘think and do’
I dont think u deserve to be here…
Aseem
Hi,
I did not read the article one year back and I dont agree on many points though. However, I am disappointed if this is the end of the “change” that Anna and others were trying to bring. I have only one thing to say what methods do you suggest to fight corruption in politics, bureaucracy and in all govt department.
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Grow GDP. It all takes care of itself
Dhaval Doshi
Alok, I completely agree with your views. My views were shaped in a similar way during this “rock-concert” which is becoming a record company for mass appeal and sell itself out. Bottomline: Anna Hazare is just not Jesus Christ, he is just Anna for God’s sake. Here are some of my thoughts which I posted on my blog incidentally just about a year back:
Anna, Bribes, Lokpal Bill, Corruption and India’s progress
Dhaval Doshi
I just noticed that I had written my post just a day before yours 😀
Utkarsh Bedmutha
Awesome article. i’ve started following your articles recently, so came across this one now! But it is as good as an Astrological predication if you look at what has happened to the Anna’s movement today! Alok you definately have won a big fan in me now onwards!
Rupesh Patel
Dear Alok
Thanks for https://www.therodinhoods.com. This is one of the best sources for people like me.
Generally I found sound logic in most of your post. But I am and I hope many disappointed by this post (https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/why-anna-hazare-does-not-impr…). I think better to discuss topic by topic.
Intent: This is based on one major assumption: Corruption is not a big issue and there is no relation between Corruption and poverty / illiteracy.
You might know that there are many type of Corruption is there and the overall effect is too bad. We know about scams. Also everybody knows that if Government spent 1 Lacs, few thousand reach to beneficiary. We know that we are facing lots of problems which byproduct of Corruption. Also National security might be at stake due to corruption. Most of the politicians busy in corruption then who will manage the country ? You can read about relation between Corruption and poverty / illiteracy from many sources (Google search). I post few links for your Reference: https://www.cfr.org/india/corruption-threatens-indias-growth/p24259, https://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/rpande/papers/Corruption%20in%20Devel… ,https://www.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/shleifer/files/corruption.pdf ,https://www.iie.com/publications/chapters_preview/12/2iie2334.pdf , https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/2054/1/MPRA_paper_2054.pdf , https://www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/corruption-poverty-development-biz…
Do you think that we have effective systems to fight corruption by Politicians and others?
Method: Can I ask, Which is the best method to convince /pressure politicians to have law to fight corruptions by Politicians, Bureaucrats etc.. ?
Promise: This movement promise to reduce Corruption (if Successful).
Repeat worthiness: Same question Which is the best method to convince/pressure politicians to have law to fight corruptions by Politicians, Bureaucrats etc.. ?
End Goal: the end goal of this movement is to have better mechanism to fight corruption. Even the problem motioned by you (Law and Order situation) can reduce by such law. Do you think that if some laws fail (castigate and punish murder) there will no needs to have laws?
Scalable: Which are the best methods for the same?
Sociality: Please suggest best way to Involve more citizen in Non violence way.
Also I never seen you to blame rallies by political parties but repeatedly blame this movement. Why? I hope this is not another form of Corruption.
Sanchita Dutta
Monsoon Failing… prices going up, drought situation, food shortage, poor people getting increasingly away from basic necessities like food, malnutrition related child deaths, suicides…
STILL, Corporates want INTEREST RATE CUT…. Why, So that they CAN BOOST ECONOMY AND GDP!!! Whatta Joke, the real reason is they want to maximise their profits, in summers and winters, when the country is going up or down, whether governments are stable or shaky, whether the internal law and order situation is good or otherwise.. point is they are driven ONLY BY PROFITS…
But why make it OBVIOUS by asking for rate cut at such times. this reminds me of a story when a businessman was crying in anguish for having lost 1 Million rupees. when prodded, he said he could have easily made 2 Million but due to a silly mistake could make only One!!!
Relevance to this article? People like Anna are a different breed altogether and perhaps the only people who can take on the High and Mighty!!! why do i say so? well its because the fear of losing something keeps one away from fighting the system. this old frail man who has no wife, no family, no house, no property has no fear of losing…. as they say
A Man Can Never Lose if He has Nothing LEft to Lose!!!
Long Live Anna. I just hope he continues to draw like intentioned people into his team as he takes the political jump. a Welcome move. one needs to be IN THE SYSTEM TO FIGHT IT…
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Sanchita, where do u live? which city?
Sanchita Dutta
Port Blair… i did mention it to u once when complaining about internet speeds being too low here resulting in a blank page getting uploaded 🙂
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
which i why i asked again. And so, staying in port blair, you have so much to add about Anna in India and how he is contributing to the confusion and apathy here?
tomorrow, i should start writing about the weather in port blair…
Sanchita Dutta
sorry, i didnt get. Port Blair is v much in india n staying here in port blair where life is so easy n relaxed, there is all the time to follow on any issue one likes. my interests range from e-com to politics to Social crimes to Gossiping. Entire range to follow. 🙂
you wont believe there are no Malls, No Cinema Halls, No trains here. One can rarely drive at 4th gear for any longer than may be 100 mtrs. but still this place has its charm. White clean Sand beaches in any direction you go out of the city within 25 km, no slums, no beggars, everyone here has enough to eat and a place to live, the sound and noise about the Jarawans when in reality its much ado about nothing..fresh vegetable such as Capsicum being sold for 30 rupees per 100gm… (its sold in 100gms lot) ..actually at times i feel like writing an article bout this place only, but wonder if it will be out of place at this platform… but perhaps can be b nice change from the serious business talk that is the norm otherwise…
Rupesh Patel
Hi Sanchita
A small outbreak of primary pneumonic plague took place in the Himachal during February 2002. At that time; I was visiting Berlin (Germany). One old German lady (might be 70+) started discuss with me regarding this. She knew about this in detail. At the same time, some of my friends in Germany and Ahmedabad were not aware about this. Wherever you are Awareness is a key.
In your case Port Blair is part of India. No one should doubt this and should praise.
Sanchita Dutta
i dint get u as well. i mean i m sure no one who has studied Primary Geography and has seen some of the earlier movies on Kala Pani or heard about Veer Savarkar (he is the Mahatma Gandhi of Andamans, for no less reason, visit Cellular jail and see Light n Sound Show) has any doubt about Andamans being part of India… problem is its spoken so less about that people almost forget about it…
the only MP from the Islands is from BJP. so the general apathy is understood. thanks to generous LTC for Govt emplyees, people do visit this place and thats how people are increasingly aware of this place.
But that Germany example is nice. People can be knoeledgeable, no matter which part they belong to….
Anyways,,, while not promoting Andamans, i must say that if you one of those who love beaches, this is the place to be in. Radhanagar beaches at Havelock is considered one of the best 10 in the world… having been there and seen Goa and Karnataka beaches, i can vouch for it. its another matter though that it is cheaper to travel to Singapore and thailand from Chennai or Kolkata than to Port Blair !!!
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
which is why you are ‘insulated’ from the breakdown anna and