The circus must end Barkha Dutt, Hindustan Times June 10, 2011
Must confess did force myself to read this article even when it suffers from obvious deficiencies. Author is not credible due to transgression of professional ethics as brought out by Radii tapes. Definite taste of staleness, and fatigue on account of predictability of thought process; However must concede an effort has been made to rely on literature by quoting from various books, does not add any value to the subject. Those who wish to peruse the article or the comments posted in response may follow this link. The circus must end - link.
Commencing a blog is always an exercise which consume a large part of time, this time round luck was on my side when Mr. Neeraj Bhushan a friend posted this tweet
“In India, civil societies are working as opposition. Will Non Govt Organizations then run my government tomorrow?”
There was further bonanza in store for me where this blog is concerned; congress party decides to launch an Anti Anti-corruption campaign of its own. Understandable congress and the UPA-2 government have only corruption as evidence that it is in existence.
“Senior Congress leader and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee hit out at Anna Hazare and Ramdev over the civil society's anti-corruption movement, accusing them of undermining democratic institutions and did not spare the BJP either.” Link.
June 25th 1975 is still fresh in our memory which was a shinning example from congress of strengthening Democracy in India by declaring Emergency and arresting all politicians from opposition parties.
The other relevant articles that have appeared on this issue have been placed for the convenience of the readers so that they may form their independent opinion on this issue.
MK Dhar writing on Scams in India and also how there were riots all along the history- Sir, are you from the Mars? This is India. The Mother of corruption rules the country. The riddle was complicated. To my pleasant surprise he rattled out that Janpath to Rajpath, Ballimaran to Bhindi bazaar everyone is required to be pleased with graft money. How can you get the black money back from abroad? The Mother of corruption has stashed away billions herself. Link
POWER AND POLITICS. UPA needs to drop arrogance and get real. Offence is not always the best defence. Delhi’s ruling establishment is learning it the hard way. For the past few weeks, the UPA, the Congress and its megaphones have gone cacophonic with questions over the colour of the movements led by Anna Hazare and Ramdev against black money and corruption. - Link
RACE COURSE ROAD. UPA II in a tizzy over transparency. For the UPA government, transparency is the new survival mantra. Defence Minister A K Antony’s credibility eclipsed that of his colleagues when he said the nation was going through a transparency revolution. Link
Insolent Congress- A democratic government’s constituency covers the entire nation. Our democracy will lose its vitality if our main political parties and their governments show no respect for diversity, dissent and dialogue—also for the rule of law. : Link
Stop turning India into a circus - Every second child in India is malnourished despite thousands of crore rupees having been poured into the world’s largest child welfare programme, the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). If the government can be blackmailed into rescinding Parliament’s sole right to make laws, how about blackmailing it into ensuring that no Indian child goes to bed hungry at night? : Link
Congress' Midsummer Folly: Rajat Sharma-History is witness to the fact that a democracy cannot be run on the strength of sheer brute force. Only those governments last, which listen to the voice of the opposition and of those who criticize peacefully. It is now up to the Congress to choose between oxygen and an acid. : Link
Baba attack highlights Congress’ schizophrenia. What is our experience? Any feeling that security measures did not adversely affect human rights has been disproved with the brutal 5 June midnight crackdown on 20,000 sleeping protestors at New Delhi's Ramlila Ground. They were participating in yoga guru "Baba" Ramdev's hunger strike against corruption. In what is described as India's "Tahrir Square", nearly 5,000 policemen including Rapid Action Commandos, who should have been battling armed Maoists, forcibly chased away unarmed men, women and children. Link
In conclusion we Indians should be asking at the very minimum these three questions of ourselves, as also from Congress and UPA government.
1. Should congress and the UPA government be agitating against the anti corruption demand or should eradicating corruption be its target?
2. Why the disquiet about the participation of the civil society in the movement and demand for being involved in the process of Jan Lokpal bill?
3. Explain what makes National Advisory Council and its members acceptable?
I welcome a debate and discussion on this…As always, please keep your tone civil, your language polite…no sweeping generalisations please and no personal abuse. Thank you.
