Sunday Editorial
Is Anna Hazare being too rigid on Lokpal issue?
By Ratnakar Tripathy
Yes, it would indeed seem so! With all the political parties right from the left, right and centre having shown tremendous flexibility on the issue! So much so their shifting positions make them appear consistently inconsistent. They say one thing in the parliament, another when sharing the stage with Anna Hazare, and again something else when face to face with the TV camera.
Indeed Anna has been quite rigid, consistently. Too rigid? Well, the moment you make that judgment, you need to specify your suggestion for a compromise.
First, should Anna agree to the prime minister of the country not being within the ambit of the Lokpal? Remember, Manmohan Singh, the present PM of the country had no problem with it, though the rest of the Congress did.
Second, should Anna agree to a selection system for Lokpal where the government is able to place its own candidate in the position of the watchdog and the Lokpal panel? Are you so naïve that you do not mind a process of inquiry instituted by the person accused?
Third, should Anna bend and agree to an arrangement whereby the Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] or a similar body remains fully under the control of the government even as it investigates charges against a member of the government?
No wonder, all those people who accuse Anna of rigidity have not offered a single point of compromise as a suggestion. When you ask someone to compromise, own up the responsibility of defining those points over which compromise is desirable. Otherwise, your suggestion has the status of a vague sentiment with no place in a public debate.
Anna fraternized or still fraternizes with the RSS and the BJP! Anna beat up drunken villagers in Ralegaon Sidhi to free them of the habit of alcohol and wife-beating, a well-known fact in Maharashtra but you may pretend to expose it! Anna is not even a Gandhian, far from being a second Gandhi. These allegations have a solid and substantive element of truth in them. So why not boldly bring them up instead of expressing them in undertone as bedroom gossip? I haven’t seen a single instance of anyone asking Anna these questions straight. Like Gandhi or you and me, the man did and does have his character flaws.
But I think rigidity is not one of them. Other members of Team Anna have their flaws too. My personal peeves are Kiran Bedi gets excited too easily. Kejriwal thinks a smile on the face is too much of a concession to the corrupt world of Indian politics and media. Prashant Bhushan smiles too often, trying hard to caress the camera lenses. But go look in the mirror seriously with total focus before coming back to point out the flaws of others.
Most of all, think of a point where Team Anna should indeed make a compromise and write to us.
PS: pious editorial stances apart, I personally won’t care if the Lokpal Bill remains unattended for another forty years or more, as long as the CBI is made autonomous and the Indian Police is freed of the stranglehold of our politicians. The day these two stop functioning as the hired hoods of the government of the day and are left on their own, Indian democracy will become real overnight.