The mission “fight
against corruption” led by Team Anna has a noble aim: to minimize and, if
possible, eradicate corruption from the fabric of the society. But are the
methods employed by Team Anna equally noble as the aim is? Or sometimes the goal is just so important
that it overshadows “The method” itself and renders it unimportant?
It is
undeniably true that the malady of corruption, embedded quintessentially in our
society, has reached its threshold level. The people of India share a common
sentiment of revulsion against the pervasive nature of corruption in all walks
of life. So, it was natural for one person or one group of people to stand up
for the matter, fight against the status quo and gain overwhelming support from
the whole nation. In the present context, it was Team Anna which embarked upon
this pursuit and began the anti-corruption movement with the method of “protest
and placing the views in public”. This is a completely unexceptionable method. But
suddenly, for reasons beyond my comprehension, the color of the movement
changed and the Team Anna directed the movement towards ““Anna-will-keep-fasting-until-his-bill-is-adopted-or-amended-with-his-permission”.
Now, there is something to ponder about it.
Clearly,
Team Anna wanted government to adopt the bill but this way of “fast unto death”
was bloody as well as coercive method to bring about change. Referring to use
of such method during British Raj, Dr. Ambedkar observed: “When there was no
way left for the constitutional methods for achieving economic and social
objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional
methods.” But the present situation is remarkably different. One should always
keep in mind that the Indian Constitution provides ample opportunities for
advocacy, through discussion and lobbying with parliamentary Standing
Committees, Groups of Ministers, the Ministers concerned, the Prime Minister,
courts, and above all through a peaceful agitation. Team Anna should realize that
with several political parties on their side, the possibility of reaching a
middle ground is high. On this note, however, many people might claim that in
reality, such things don’t happen in India and un-coercive methods don’t
transform into success. But to those people who have lost their faith in
democracy, I would ask to look upon the past and see how major bills and acts
have been passed in the past. For a quick reference, the right to employment
through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA),
the right to information, rights under the Forest Act, the right to education,
and now the right to food, are some of the revolutionary measures that civil
society has been able to accomplish through constitutional methods. So, the conclusion which is both logical and practical
is that Team Anna should abandon the grammar of coercion and use constitutional
methods instead. There is ample scope in it. Otherwise, in coming days, we
might see more people, with evil intention, looking to overturn the system by
adhering to unconstitutional and coercive methods in order to fulfill their personal
and selfish goals.
Besides, the
Lokpal Bill is too important a piece of legislation to be passed under threat
and unreasonable deadlines. All its aspects need to be discussed with extreme
care and with consensus among all sections.
To sum it
up, democratic methods may be slow but they have the strength to win the race.
