Hazare magic works, and is for all time!

The picture on the lead story in the morning papers with Anna Hazare flanked by CPI leader A.B.Bardhan, CPM leader Brinda Karat and BJP leader Arun Jaitley has made my day. It speaks volumes of the dramatic swing in the mood of the nation during the past several months.

The Hazare magic worked again yesterday in Delhi, and it is appropriate that he is getting the political support. Credit also goes to Hazare that he crossed the Rubicon instead of branding all politicians with the same brush. It’s been a leap of faith for both sides, and the nation is the gainer for it.

A near-total proximity of views has emerged between Hazare and the opposition parties. What I liked best were the two thoughts in particular, which were almost unanimously expressed at the Jantar Mantar debate.
One, Prime MInister’s Office [PMO] should be brought within the purview of the Lokpal, because, as Comrade Bardhan put it - and only he could have said it with the full moral authority and insight and far-sightedness as one of the country’s most experienced political leaders today - PMO has become the “clearing house” of several decisions that subsequently turned out to be scams.

The second issue is about keeping the Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s main investigative agency, outside the control of the government. The erosion that this institution has suffered because of political interference from incumbent governments is a key factor in the cascading corruption that we see today.
What a legacy for prime minister Manmohan Singh! With the economy in doldrums and the country in drift, his historical legacy is going to be that he presided over the most corrupt government in independent India’s history. What comes to mind is Enoch Powell’s quote (although I detest his politics): “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human lives.”

MS should have quit instead of organising the cattle show in July 2008 simply for ramming down the throat of the opposition his pet project, the US-India nuclear deal. To my mind, that was when he first fumbled - and exposed himself, except that he probably didn’t realise it himself.

Kejriwal, Akhil to visit Manipur on October 24

RALEGAN SIDHI: Anti-graft campaigner Anna Hazare have asked team members Arvind Kejariwal and Akhil Gogoi to study the humanitarian crisis besetting Manipur in the face of the intensified-economic blockade on the national highways for redressal.

Taking serious note of the crisis, the Gandhian even assured to visit to the state personally if required. "If the situation worsens, I'll visit Manipur and do the needful to end the chocking of key supply routes by pressurizing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh," Anna told a team from Manipur at his Ralegan Sidhi ashram-cum-residence here, about 60 kilometers from Pune, on Saturday.

Kejariwal , who paid a visit to Pune to discuss various issues with Anna on Saturday, said he, along with Akhil, will arrive in Manipur on October 24. "After assessing the whole situation prevailing in the state, we will furnish our report to Annaji," said Kejariwal, minutes before he left for the national capital.

In pursuit of its decades old demand to create Sadar Hills district, the self-explanatory Sadar Hills Districthood Demand Committee (SHDDC) has been imposing economic blockades on the Imphal-Silchar and Imphal-Dimpur routes since August 1. The United Naga Council (UNC) has also been calling a similar stir on the same routes to denounce the state government's alleged bid to bifurcate Naga-dominated areas for creating new districts.

"The crisis should be resolved at the earliest so that the people of Manipur get rid of their sufferings ahead of the coming festivals such as Ningol Chakouba, Diwali, Kut and Christmas," the anti-corruption campaigner said.

Anna's commitment came after senior journalist B B Sharma , social worker Jeevan A Ningthou, advocate Salam Rupachandra and another scribe gave a first-hand report on Manipur to him. While Sharma is the team leader, Jeevan is its coordinator. The state team's visit was sponsored by Sarhad, a Pune-based NGO, working for the betterment of the people of border states.

Sarhad's founder-president Sanjay Nahar and founder-member Yuvaraj Shah said they first raised the Manipur issue with Anna a few days ago after which the Gandhian immediately took up the matter.

"After Annaji assured to take up the matter, we requested the team from Manipur to give an initial report on the current situation to both Team Anna and Sarhad," said Sanjay. He added that besides Kejariwal and Akhil, other members may also accompany the duo in their Manipur visit.

Need to check RTI misuse, says Anna

Social activist Anna Hazare, a key advocate of the Right to Information Act, said on Saturday that some changes are needed in the Act as some people were making a “business” out of it. He also said that he has conveyed this to the government.

Hazare was responding to PM Manmohan Singh’s remarks on Friday that the RTI Act needed a critical relook “as it was adversely affecting deliberative processes in the government”.

Hazare said he believed that the government should be transparent, for which it is necessary that andar ki baatein should come out into public domain. “But some people have made it their business. They are demanding information that they don’t need and are using it to blackmail people,” he said.

Hazare said that he has conveyed to the government some measures that should be adopted to keep miscreants at bay.

“Repeated demand for information also hampers the government’s working,” he said. “Some people demand 4,000-5,000 copies and file repeated RTIs. Kuch brake lagana chahiye,” Hazare said.

Rats all: Why leaders prefer to hide from their people

There is a common thread running through all movements:They are demanding
authentic leadership – not its demise

Law Minister Salman Khurshid says misuse of the RTI is affecting “institutional efficacy and efficiency.” His colleague in the Company Affairs Ministry, Veerappa Moily, said much the same thing the other day.

A former chief justice of India asks for an exemption for the judiciary from the RTI – and the Supreme Court is hearing its own plea against the RTI. And Parliament wants to hide behind its privileges – it wants to question and muzzle people who criticise its functioning, whether it is a Prashant Bhushan or someone else.

Why leaders shy away from scrutiny — whether through the RTI or other means — it reminds one of cockroaches disappearing in the dark corners when a light is shone on them. Are our leaders nothing more than people who want to do their work under cover of darkness?

Let’s see more such examples.

Sonia Gandhi will keep her illness a top secret, and rule the country from behind a barbed wire fortress at 10, Janpath. Her son and future prime ministerial hopeful Rahul will descend and mix with the hoi polloi at his own convenience and then disappear behind a security wall. Narendra Modi, Mayawati and J Jayalalithaa will speak to the masses only behind a phalanx of Black Cats.

Why do our leaders need so much shielding from the people?

In the US, people on the right and left – the Tea Partyists and the Occupy Wall Streeters – are showing a marked disdain for traditional leaders – just as the entire Arab world is showing, though less menacingly.

In the UK, ordinary folk used Blackberry messengers to rob and loot: it all started from Tottenham, and copycat riots spread to other cities, including London. In China, the leaders are comfortable with the people only by exercising tight control of the media, and especially the internet. Even simple facts on the economy are taboo subjects. The media outside reports hundreds of local eruptions, nevertheless.

Everywhere, it seems, the governors and the governed are at odds with one another, with ordinary people who defy class and classification coming out on the streets in record numbers.

What is the common message underlying all this? Or, is there a common message at all?

To answer the second question first, there is indeed a common thread running through it all. Even though the reasons for the Arab Spring are different from the Anna Hazare uprising or the Tea Party movement – if you had brought them together they wouldn’t know what to tell one another – one thing is clear: they are demanding openness and democratic governance. They are demanding authentic leadership – not its demise.

Most leaders are afraid of the people – whether it is America or UK or China or India – and unable to speak the whole truth to their people.

One may object: Arabs and Chinese demanding democracy and fighting tyrannies is one thing, but what about functioning democracies like the US, India  and UK, where the people are periodically consulted through a free media and through elections? This, after all, was the argument used to delegitimise the Anna movement: either get voted in or shut up.

The real answer is counter-intuitive: most people have probably quietly concluded that elections are not enough, and democracy needs to mean something more. They want open government, more visible communication between leaders and the led – though they might not put it this way.

The consensus, of course, ends here, for no one knows what the replacement can be to the current system, or how democracy can be deepened and widened. But the angst with the current system or sterile leadership and surface democracy is palpable.

In fact, the protesters may often have completely contradictory positions on issues. The Tea Party may want less government, the Occupy Wall Streeters more government. In Europe, arguments are just beginning on whether the nanny state is failing – as the continent finds welfarism overburdening the exchequer and bringing down jobs and growth.

The Arab Springers may want different things in different places, ranging from better distribution of wealth in some countries and/or more democracy (Saudi, Egypt, Tunisia), removal of tyrants (Syria), or more (or less) Islamisation (Turkey, Iran) .

The Anna Hazare group may want an all-powerful Lokpal to threaten the corrupt, and the Aruna Roys may merely want a better Lokpal.

So, if one were to ask how all these conflicting positions are ever going to be reconciled, there can only be one answer: authentic leadership.

Unfortunately, in most places the leaders are either in hiding or unable to speak the truth to their constituencies. Most leaders are afraid of the people – whether it is America or UK or China or India – and unable to speak the whole truth to their people.

Consider how clearly a Gandhi or a Nehru or an Ambedkar were able to communicate with the people. Gandhi could tell his followers unpleasant things and even suspend a popular agitation when he thought it was going off the rails; Nehru could challenge a communal mob to kill him before they abused Gandhi; Ambedkar could write openly about what he thought of the idea of Pakistan (no one banned his book then, but today we would ban it) and take on Gandhi on his pet foibles. Every one of them was an authentic leader – people who spoke their minds and the truth as they saw it even if they had to lose popular support or lose an argument.

In contrast, today’s leaders globally are afraid of the people. An Obama is unable to tell his people that open trade benefits all (he is telling his people what they want to hear, that protectionist legislation will create more jobs in the US). He is even unable to tell Israel that he will back a Palestinian state since that is the right thing to do – all for fear of the Jewish lobby in the US.

Our own alleged reformer Manmohan Singh is unable to us that the economy cannot go anywhere without reforms, or that he can’t keep subsidising oil products forever. A Rahul Gandhi will not speak a word about the real economy because he is afraid that the poor don’t want to hear the truth about the economy’s ability to pay for his largesse. Sonia Gandhi won’t tell us what ails here because she is afraid whether that will lead to infighting and loss of authority inside her own party.

In the states, no leaders thinks he or she can get elected without bribing the voter – whether it is a Karunanidhi with his TVs or a Jayalalithaa with her laptops or a Raman Singh with Re 1 rice.  The BJP, which wanted the Indo-US nuclear deal when the NDA was in power, went hammer and tongs against it when Manmohan Singh asked the same thing. The BJP wants a Lokpal to cover the PM, but in Gujarat the CM is wary of the Lokayukta.

The Congress wants quotas for Muslims, but doesn’t want to espouse the cause beyond a point, for fear of losing the Hindu vote. It wants a Sachar report to pretend that it will do something for Muslims, but in reality it will not do practical things to help them with education and jobs.

Whether they like it or not, leaders cannot hope to be all things to all people. They cannot pretend to be something to one community and the opposite to another community.

We can go on and on, but the short point is this: leaders everywhere are shying away from leadership. They are suppressing their real views from the public – choosing to be led by populism and opinion polls. In fact, what they are offering is the very opposite of leadership: they are following the mob. Leadership is not about finding a crowd heading somewhere and running ahead of it.

If the disconnect between leaders and the led is to end, and if people have to be sent back to their homes to do things other than protesting, the first step is for leaders to behave like leaders and come out in the open. They have to develop integrity and authenticity – and speak the truth.

India and the world need leaders who are wysiwyg (what you see is what you get), not those who are afraid of the people. The people are out in the streets because our leaders are lurking in the shadows, mouthing falsehoods. Anna Hazare has struck a chord because he is outing this underlying feeling. It is not really about the Jan Lokpal.

Salman Khurshid should stop fretting about the RTI. The RTI is worrisome only for those who have something to hide. If ministers and bureaucrats are afraid of the RTI, it can mean only one thing: all of them have something to hide.

The people are out on the streets because real leaders are in hiding.

Through the third eye: Anna's campaign in the Hisar has come as a blessing in disguise for anti-Bhupinder Hooda groups

Team Anna Hazare's anti-Congress campaign in the Hisar LS bypoll has come as a blessing in disguise for the anti-Bhupinder Singh Hooda groups in the Haryana Congress. Hooda had angered a powerful Congress section when senior leader and the then-chief ministerial aspirant Birender Singh 'mysteriously' lost the last assembly poll. Though Hooda denied having a hand in the 'ambush', his inner-party rivals never trusted his word.

This time, Hooda pushed through the candidature of Jai Prakash even though Singh had met Rahul Gandhi with an offer that his IAS son was ready to quit and contest on the Congress ticket. Many local Congress leaders are also opposed to Prakash, known to change parties every poll season. The joke in Congress circles is that since Anna seeks to take credit for defeating the Congress, anti-Hooda Congress leaders can now do their own act without risking the 'internal sabotage'.

Anna’s verdict on UPA: Four PMs and a clueless Sonia

If the top leadership of the UPA needed any further denting of its credibility, Anna Hazare delivered several knock-out statements in his interview to various TV channels on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, always suspected of lacking authority over his cabinet, gets the ultimate put-down from Anna. Speaking to Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN, he said the PM was a nice person, but “ineffective” because he was “remote-controlled” by senior ministers.

And who were these senior ministers? Anna’s answer: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

Having taken a close look at how the government functioned when they dealt with him and his movement, the Gandhian crusader criticised all three ministers, who were part of the Joint Drafting Committee set up to draft the Lokpal Bill, of “behaving like prime ministers.” Asked to spell out what he meant, he merely said: “Everyone knows that they behave like Prime Ministers. Why do you want me to spell it out?”

Anna believes that Sonia and Manmohan listen too much to their courtiers and too little to the people. Shahbaz Khan/PTI
That makes for four PMs in all, including the one who the other three don’t listen to.

And what about Sonia Gandhi? Hazare was not willing to comment openly about her, except to say that she needed to learn from her late mother-in-law Indira Gandhi.

According to him, Sonia seemed to believe that if she had to run the government she needed her advisors (and possibly the ministers). “But there was Indira Gandhi. She became the Prime Minister again not on the basis of her party workers, but by working for the poor. They don’t seem to understand this.”

In short, Anna believes that Sonia and Manmohan listen too much to their courtiers and too little to the people.

The Home Minister, however, was a special target of Anna’s verbal attack. He accused Chidambaram of “masterminding” his arrest on 16 August, and said: “The government wanted to do a Ramdev on me. It had kept a plane ready to take me from Tihar jail to Mula Dam in Maharashtra. But Chidambaram’s strategy boomeranged on the government,” he said.

This is not the first time Anna has attacked Chidambaram for what he believes was his role in the run-up to his arrest and release in August. His release from Tihar jail culminated in the successful fast at Ramlila Maidan last month.

Calling the UPA government a bunch of “fools” soon after his return to his home base of Ralegan Siddhi, Anna had this to say on Chidambaram.

“This Chidambaram is a mischievous man. Chidambaram has lied many a time.”

But despite his tough words for Manmohan Singh and his ministers, Hazare was not any less contemptuous of the BJP, and LK Advani’s rath yatra against corruption. If they were so keen to work against corruption, why don’t they support the Jan Lokpal Bill and legislate Lokayuktas in their states?

Asked if he would support a front comprising non-corrupt people from non-BJP, non-Congress parties, he said: “I will support them but not lead them. Because that is the only solution to make a strong nation. The good people of all parties can come together and I will tell the people of the country to support them,” the Gandhian said.

However, Anna was evasive to a pointed question on why he had not raised his voice against the absence of a Lokayukta in Gujarat for the last seven years. “Why just Narendra Modi? We should think about the entire country. There should be a Lokayukta in every state,” he said.

And would he begin his protest again if Parliament’s standing committee does not agree to his demands on the Lokpal Bill, Hazare said: “Yes. We will protest but not against Parliament…We will see those who oppose it in the standing committee and we will start singing bhajans in front of the houses of those parliament members.”

Asked whether his movement was becoming too political he denied it. “No, not at all…there is no question of politics in this,” he said.

However, he did see political parties taking advantage of his movement. “That will happen…this happened many times in my life…When I protested during Congress government, BJP and Shiv Sena leaders were roaming around me…that government went and BJP-Shiv Sena came to power. Congress did a graduation and the latter got a doctorate (in corruption).”

Naveen Patnaik appeals Hazare to break fast

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday appealed the Gandhian to end the 12-day long fast.

“I appeal Sri Anna Hazare ji to break the fast now. His health is a great concern for all of us,” Mr. Patnaik told reporters adding that his party (BJD) would like a strong Lokpal to be in place to fight corruption.

Stating that his government had been fighting against corruption in the State level, Mr. Patnaik said Anna Hazare’s agitation would help to eradicate the menace.

Meanwhile, protests in different parts of the State continued their fast, sit-in supporting Hazare’s campaign.

People from different walks of life comprising students, lawyers, women and even children came to the streets and expressed their support to Hazare’s agitation.

Anna effect: Oppn targets Govt in LS on corruption issue

Anna Hazare's campaign loomed large over the Lok Sabha today with the Opposition targeting the government over the issue of corruption, warning that the country was sitting on a volcano which could explode if the political class failed to get its act together.

Singling out the Congress-led coalition for attack, the opposition wanted the government to realise that whatever was happening at Ramlila Maidan showed that people have become alert and angry over corruption.

Leading the Opposition charge, senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi dubbed the coalition as the "government of the corrupt, by the corrupt and for the corrupt", alleging that the government has "born out of sin" of the cash-for-vote scam of 2008.

Referring to the series of scandals, Joshi told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was present during the special discussion on corruption, "I am not ready to agree that you did it (allowed corruption) deliberately. But it shows how much have you been misguided...Why do you hesitate in identifying the corrupt? When you try, your ministers try to cover up".

"So, you should first accept that mistakes have been committed and then take corrective measures ... so that the faith of the people on the parliamentary system is restored", Joshi said.

Agreeing that there was corruption in the country in various walks of life, Congress member K S Rao said it was because of "guts" and "courage" of the Prime Minister and his government that a Minister and an MP, both belonging to a coalition partner, have been sent to Tihar Jail even though there was a risk of losing power.

Questioning whether BJP had done anything like that during its rule, Rao attacked them for indulging in propaganda saying it was affecting the image of the country.

He had a dig at Joshi saying his remark that the government was "born out of corruption" meant that the graft during the NDA rule brought the Congress to power in 2004.

The debate saw a clash between Joshi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal who accused the BJP leader of talking about an issue which was under his consideration as the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

"This a clear breach of privilege. I too am ready to face privilege in the PAC and I will fight it out," an agitated Bansal said when Joshi raised issues relating to the 2G spectrum allocation scam which the PAC was probing.
The spat between the two leaders also saw heated exchanges between Congress and Opposition members.
Joshi referred to the alleged KG Basin scam, saying gas prices were increased domestically to benefit RIL, even when there was no increase in the global prices.

He quoted reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the scam and alleged a "nexus" between private firms and officials of the departments of petroleum and hydrocarbon.

The BJP leader said the government "did not act at all" on issues relating to corruption despite media reports and letters written by several MPs and others to the government on the matter.

He demanded that all those guilty, including corporates, should be punished. "The government is helping the corporates at the cost of the poor," he said in the presence of the Prime Minister.

Maintaining that rupees thousands of crore had been stashed away in foreign banks, the BJP leader said if this amount was recovered, then all socially-important schemes would be implemented in the next four-five years.
Referring to a report of the UNDP, Joshi said "corruption is a stimulus for FDI in circumventing (taxation) laws" and warned that it had been empirically proved that higher FDI led to heightened corruption.

Asking the Prime Minister "not to make any cosmetic changes" but take holistic steps to tackle corruption, he said, "If you take such initiatives, people's faith in this institution (Parliament) will be restored."
The BJP leader referred to Singh's statement that there was "no magic wand" to fight graft and said "we know there are no magic wands. But there are economic and political wands which can be used for this purpose."
As the Prime Minister smiled at his remarks, Joshi said "today the House is extremely fortunate to see you smile".

Referring to Hazare's agitation, Rao said the Prime Minister too is keen on tackling corruption and that was the reason for involving five members of the civil society in drafting of the Lokpal Bill although it is the prerogative of Parliament.

Criticising Hazare's anti-corruption movement, the Congress member said demonstrations could be held but if one person demands that all his demands should be accepted, then what is the need for elections.
BJP Deputy Leader Gopinath Munde raised objections over the attack on Hazare, saying it was not fair to doubt civil society's integrity, particularly when they had been involved by the government in drafting the Lokpal Bill.

Rao said the government had taken a number of initiatives to fight corruption which include the recommendations of a Group of Ministers (GoM) and proposed legislations like Judicial Accountability Bill and Whistle Blowers Bill.

"If a Lokpal is created, what will be its accountability," he posed.

Talking about the Prime Minister's "courage" in fighting corruption, Rao noted that Singh had volunteered to appear before the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee although there is no provision for calling even a minister.

"You find faults with the government's functioning when there are mistakes, that is your duty. But don't find fault for wrong reasons," he told BJP members.

"There have been mistakes on this side, there have been mistakes on that side. I don't blame you," he told the Opposition.

Taking a dig at BJP, Rao asked how long it had taken for it to remove "a particular person" from government in Karnataka. This led to an uproar from Opposition benches.

He also said that it was because of the UPA government's guts that CBI was allowed to carry out raids in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh, "knowing well that it could affect stability of the government there".

Anna Hazare Is A 'Madari' : Congress

As Anna Hazare has stepped up its campaign against the government, the Congress leaders are using some sort of insulting language against him.

While one of the UPA ministers compared Anna as conjuror (madari) while other described him as a puppet of RSS.

Union Minister Virbhadra Singh during his visit to Mathura described Anna’s fast as ‘madari ka khel” and said one can instantly attract 50,000 people by playing a “damru”.

“India is country of billions of people where any one can instantly attract 50,000 people by just playing a “damru,” Virbhadra said.

Accusing Anna of making mockery of Indian constitution, Singh advised Congress chief not to worry about the support to Anna.


Congress General Secretary BK Hariprasad accused that Anna’s movement was supported by BJP and the RSS.

Addressing an "Adivasi Swabhiman Chetna" rally, Hariprasad said that Team Anna has been defaming Mahatma Gandhi by wearing his caps.

In a related development, about 30 slogan shouting protestors were detained by Delhi police, when they were protesting at Kapil Sibal's official residence. Yesterday also Anna supporters had protested at Sibal's residence. Pranab Mukherjee, who had said that he has nothing to do with it as the matter is being is looked after by the Home Minister, were also in line of fire by the Anna protestors. Today morning around 200 Anna supporters protested at Pranab's official residence at Delhi. Hundrends of people assembled at Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit's official residence in Delhi, shouting slogans demanding enactment of Jan Lokpal Bill.
Meanwhile, Anna’s fast has entered seventh day. Anna's health is deteriorating fast. He has lost 5 kg and ketone particles have also appeared in his blood and urine.

Anna fiasco: Who is to be held responsible?

New Delhi: As the government does yet another flip flop over the Anna Hazare issue, the uncomfortable questions begin as to who was the incharge, who took the decision to order the arrest of Anna and who will finally have to take the responsibility. The government maintained that it was the Delhi Police's decision, but the Opposition wasn't convinced.

It is the blurring of a clear line of authority, which has led to the several flip flops and made the UPA look to be in a state of drift.

Congress sources said that a miffed Rahul after a late evening meeting with the Prime Minister insisted that Anna should be released.

The government maintained that it was the Delhi Police's decision, but the Opposition wasn't convinced.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said, "Nowhere else is a person released from jail after 6 pm."

Sources said that after Sharad Pawar and ministers like Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram insisted that a tough line would have to be taken, the Delhi Police was given the go ahead to follow the law, which it did, but it was a decision which turned out to be a bad political move.

The Congress core committee met on Tuesday and two points were discussed. One was that Parliament would have to be brought to order and so it was decided that the Prime Minister would make a statement on Anna and allow a discussion to appease the Opposition.

On the Anna front, it was decided that Team Anna would be placated and that he should be allowed to fast.