Anna Hazare and the Lokpal Bill: A Debate

August 14, 2011


No single solution for corruption: President

ITGD Bureau | New Delhi, August 14, 2011 | 20:10


Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/india/36726-anna-hazare-and-lokpal-bill-debate.html
President Pratibha Patil addresses the nation on the eve
of 65th Independence Day.


Terming corruption a cancer affecting the nation, President Pratibha Patil on Sunday said there cannot be just one panacea to deal with the menace and a system of transparency and accountability needs to be put in place at various levels.

"Corruption is a cancer affecting the nation's political, economic, cultural and social life. It is necessary to eliminate it," said Patil in her address to the nation on the eve of the 65th Independence Day.

Though she did not refer to the ongoing debate on the need for a strong Lokpal, suggested by social activist Anna Hazare as an all-powerful institution to deal with corruption in the country, the president said: "There cannot be just one panacea or remedy to deal with corruption, but a system of transparency and accountability should be put in place at various levels and effectively enforced."

The president further said that pursuing the anti-corruption agenda would require preventive and punitive measures and a rational approach, besides strong institutions and good governance.

"India is known for its sobriety and wisdom, balanced and sensible thinking. We need strong institutions and we need good governance in the country. Our institutions need to be fortified and our governance constantly improved. We should analyse the situation and find considered solutions to address the challenges we are facing in a thoughtful manner," she said.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

Stating the credibiltiy of institutions depends upon their conduct, which must be in accordance with the constitutional framework, the president said: "We should strengthen them and their ability to take corrective actions, whenever required. There should be no effort, consciously or otherwise, that will lead to the erosion of institutional credibility and authority."

The president asked the government, parliament, the judiciary and society at large to ponder over corruption and find ways to handle it. Stating that the institutions created by the constitution have been stable, Patil further said the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances have given the country a governance structure in which equilibrium is maintained.

Highlighting the need to preserve democracy and parliamentary procedures, the president suggested electoral reforms, including state funding of elections and debarring criminals from participating in elections to cleanse the system.

Observing that the July 13, 2011 blasts in Mumbai were a grim reminder that terrorism is posing a threat to global peace, the president asked the country to be ever-vigilant to fight the menace.

-- With inputs from IANS

source:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/st.../1/148067.html

 
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Let us look at one paragraph in the post and see,

It is indirectly a way for the Congress party to get back at Ramdev stuff as now they can quote what the President said.

It is a transition of Hiduism in India. Where Congress achieved lot of the objectives covertly. BJP and Ramdev want to take the thin shield off and get Hinduism to start declaring and take actions overtly. Now that lot of the minorities have been sullied or weakened by Congress over the last 60 years.

What a bunch of turd from the mouthpieces at the highest levels.

Sat Sri Akal

What a bunch of turd from the mouthpieces at the highest levels.............
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

I SECOND That Jios.

Hours before he was to launch his fast against corruption, Anna Hazare was today detained by Delhi Police here preventing him from going ahead with his protest. Two other prominent activists Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Manish

Sisodia were also taken into preventive custody, Delhi

Police said. Bedi was held at Rajghat. Reports say Shanti Bhushan too has been taken into preventive custody.


Anna called his detention as the beginning of the "second freedom struggle" and asked people to participate in a "jail bharo" agitation. Read full story | Watch video

The 73-year-old Gandhian was taken into custody from Supreme Enclave in Mayur Vihar, Phase-I before he was to proceed to the venue of his fast in J P Park where prohibitory orders are in place.

According to sources, senior police officials, including DCP (Crime) Ashok Chand, met with Hazare this morning at his apartment where he was staying in a bid to convince him to not go ahead with his planned protest defying prohibitory orders at JP Park.

However, Hazare turned down the request and told police that he will "defy orders" following which he was detained.

"We have detained him as he did not budge from his position of defying prohibitory orders," police official said.

Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi were also detained. Bedi was detained from Raj Ghat.

Flaying the police move, Bedi said, "Emergency has revisited the country."

"This detention is undemocratic and unconstitutional," she said.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped from MG Marg, Raj Ghat to Guru Nanak Chowk.

Around 500 supporters were with Anna at the time of his detention.

Civil Society core team member Prashant Bhushan denounced government's move calling it undemocratic and said that he would approach court today.

Chanting 'Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'Vande Matram,' supporters created hurdles in the way of the police which were trying to take him to a nearby police station.

Ahead of the proposed fast by the Gandhian, a group of people had thronged the east Delhi apartment where Hazare was staying to pledge their support to his protest.

Security personnel, including some in plain clothes and some from the special branch, were deployed around the apartment premise.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

Around 500 police personnel have been deployed from early morning itself after the city police imposed Section 144 around the park, police sources said.

Hazare had on Monday asked his supporters to fill up jails across the country if he was arrested after being denied permission to hold fast here.

After Prime Minister Manmohan Singh slammed him for resorting to fast as a protest when Parliament was seized of the lokpal bill, the Gandhian had said he will go to JP park despite Delhi police imposing prohibitory orders.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

"I come to understand that I will be refused permission. We will go there. If I am arrested, I will continue my hunger strike in jail. If I am released, I will go back to the venue and this circle will continue," he had said.

He said once he is arrested, people should fill up the jails in every village across the country. "Going to jail for the country is no crime...It is a decoration," he said.

Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat had said that prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC has been imposed in some areas of Daryaganj and IP police stations, which include Jai Prakash Narain Park and Shaheed Park.

Hazare had also accused the Prime Minister of "speaking" the language of his ministerial colleague Kapil Sibal, saying the lokpal bill was before Parliament which will take the call.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-F...e1-733774.aspx

salute to the anna hazare for the courage and patriotism he had shown.....country is behind him,,,,,,but a real shame on our government that we r still fighting in our own country....this is the condition after 56 years of independence...what a country can do and achieve in which people fight against their own people....

PM defends Anna's arrest, says his path is 'totally misconceived'

Asserting that Parliament was the sole body to frame laws, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said Anna Hazare had sought to impose his version of lokpal bill which was "totally misconceived" and fraught with "grave consequences" for Parliamentary democracy. Making a

statement in
both Houses
of Parliament in the wake of action against Hazare and his supporters, Singh said the government acknowledges the right of citizens to hold peaceful protests but permission for these is given subject to "appropriate conditions".


Amid continued chants of "shame shame" by Opposition benches, he appealed to all political parties to ensure that the government and its processes and Parliament and its processes function smoothly and effectively.

While giving details of the sequence of events that led to civil activist's arrest and subsequent release, Singh said Hazare had been held as a preventive measure because of apprehension of breach of peace.

"Government does not seek any confrontation with any section of the society. But when some sections of society deliberately challenge the authority of government and prerogative of Parliament, it is the bounden duty of the government to maintain peace and tranquility," he asserted after demand by all Opposition parties that nothing short of Prime Minister's statement would satisfy them.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

"Hazare may be inspired by high ideals in his campaign to set up a strong and effective lokpal. However, the path that he has chosen to impose his draft of a bill upon Parliament is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy," he said.

Singh, who spoke in Parliament soon after a Congress Core Group meeting, asserted that it is the sole prerogative of Parliament to make laws and government has gone by well-settled principles.

Insisting that "the issue" between the government and Anna Hazare is "not one of different attitudes to fighting corruption", the Prime Minister said the civil society activists "must allow the elected representatives of the people in Parliament to do the job that they were elected for.

"With respect to the events of yesterday, I will only say that a functional democracy must allow multiple voices to be heard. But differences of opinion must be resolved through dialogue and consensus. Those who believe that their voice and their voice alone represents the will of 1.2 billion people should reflect deeply on that position," he said.

Singh said everyone in Parliament agrees that lokpal bill must be passed as early as possible. "The question is, who drafts the law and who makes the law. I submit that the time-honoured practice is that the Executive drafts a bill and places it before Parliament and that Parliament debates and adopts the bill with amendments if necessary," he said.

"However, I am not aware of any constitutional philosophy or principle that allows any one to question the sole prerogative of Parliament to make a law," he observed.

He said that in making a law on lokpal, the government has "faithfully adhered to well-settled principles" and Hazare "questions these principles and claims a right to impose his jan lokpal upon Parliament."
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

While performing the "painful duty" of reporting to Parliament the developments surrounding Hazare, the Prime Minister referred to his Independence Day address where he had spoken at length about the need to deal effectively with corruption.

"I would like to assure the House that we are determined to provide a government that is transparent, accountable and responsive at all times and determined to fight corruption," he said.

But, he maintained, "there is no magic wand by which, in one stroke, we will get rid of menace of corruption. We have to work simultaneously on several fronts."

Singh pointed out that he had outlined some of the measures that government intends to put in place to strengthen fight against corruption and invited all sections of the House to join hands to deal with the "cancer of corruption".

Appealing for allowing smooth functioning of Parliament, he said, "There is no substitute for that. If some people do not agree with our policy, there will be a time when they will have an opportunity to present their points of view to the people of India."

Noting that India is an emerging economy and important player on the world stage, Singh said, "there are many forces that would not like to see India realise its true place in the comity of nations. We must not play into their hands."

He said such an environment should not be created in which "economic progress is hijacked by internal dissension. We must keep our mind focused on the need to push ahead with economic progress for the uplift of the 'aam aadmi' (common man)".

Requesting all political parties to ensure that Parliament functions smoothly, Singh said important legislative measures were required to be passed. "If we do not pass them, we will do great injustice to the people of India and, in turn, hurt the aam aadmi, he said.

He said the government was willing to debate every issue in Parliament. "We are cooperating with the Opposition in every possible way to ensure that Parliament functions smoothly," he said.

The Prime Minister said, "We, as elected representatives of our people, should do nothing to weaken our people's faith in the capacity of our democracy, our institutions and our social ideals and values to overcome all difficulties. We should have faith that we can build a promising future our ourselves. Let us unite in that faith."

Singh said government had held "extensive consultations and discussions" with Hazare and his team on the lokpal bill, held a meeting of all political parties represented in Parliament and introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha.

The bill has been referred to the Standing Committee concerned, he noted.

Singh said notwithstanding the introduction of the bill, Hazare and his supporters have persisted with their demand that the Jan lokpal bill drafted by them be introduced in Parliament and that should be the bill that must be passed.

In support of this demand, Hazare had announced some time ago that he would undertake an indefinite fast beginning August 16, he said.

The Prime Minister said an organisation India Against Corruption (IAC) had given an application to Delhi Police for permission to hold a month-long fast beginning August 16.

The Delhi Police held discussions with the applicants in order to identify a suitable place and to formulate the conditions under which the permission could be granted for holding a fast at that place, he said.

"Eventually, on August 13, 2011, Delhi Police informed the applicants that permission would be granted for the protest at Jai Prakash Narayan Park, near Ferozshah Kotla, subject to permission being granted by the land owning agency and subject to certain conditions," Singh said.

He said the Delhi Police had sought an undertaking from IAC that they would abide by the conditions and when they failed to do so, prohibitory orders were imposed in the area.

Singh said Hazare was arrested after the police were convinced that he and his supporters would commit a cognisable offence by defying prohibitory orders and produced before a magistrate, who sent him to seven days' judicial custody as the activist failed to sign a personal bond.

He said when the Delhi Police came to know that Hazare was seeking legal remedy by approaching the Supreme Court, they sought a review of the order of the magistrate, who decided to release him from custody.

"However, Hazare and others, except one, declined to leave the jail premises unless the Government gave an undertaking that they would be permitted to hold their protest fast at Jai Prakash Narayan Park without any condition," Singh said.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-F...e1-734168.aspx

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/i...ow/9637649.cms
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726
Rajneesh Madhok

August 17, 2011

Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption Hunger Strike Spikes Controversy In India



MUNEEZA NAQVI - 08/17/11 - 09:22 AM ET

NEW DELHI -- An activist's threat to fast to death unless the government amends an anti-corruption bill has sparked debate about whether the traditional Indian form of protest has any place in a modern democracy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called Anna Hazare's hunger strike "misconceived," but frustrated demonstrators insisted the fast that began Tuesday was the only way to get the attention of an unresponsive government neck-deep in corruption scandals.

Hazare's repeated hunger strikes are part of a hallowed protest tradition made famous by independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi, who coined the term "Satyagraha" or nonviolent resistance and fasted repeatedly against British rule.

Since then the "fast unto death" – which almost never ends in the protester's death – has become an established route to getting any point of view heard in the rough and tumble of Indian politics.

In India's remote northeast, human rights activist Irom Sharmila has been force fed for over a decade during a hunger strike protesting an anti-terror law that grants Indian soldiers sweeping powers there. Protesters in southern India have fasted to demand the creation of a new state.

But in the past few decades no one has captured the popular imagination and the round-the-clock attention of India's breathless, 24-hour news channels in quite the same way as the 73-year-old Hazare. He has dubbed his protest "the second freedom struggle" and fashioned himself the heir to Gandhi and independence leaders, with his trademark white cotton attire and cap.

Yet Gandhi's protests challenged repressive colonial rule, while Hazare's pits him against a democratically elected Parliament.
Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of the independence leader also called "Bapu" or father, described the latest hunger strike as having "the stance of blackmail."

"Bapu's fasts never had an adversarial stance, so this is not Gandhi's fast but Anna's fast," he said.

Hazare, a retired army driver, has built his reputation on a host of previous hunger strikes. In 2003, he fasted for 12 days to get a right-to-information law enacted in his home state of Maharashtra. He fasted again the next year for governmental reforms and again in 2005 demanding action be taken against state officials accused of corruption.

In April, he fasted for four days to force the government to draft legislation to create an anti-corruption watchdog. Unhappy with the bill presented to Parliament, he announced plans weeks ago to fast again until the government adopts an alternative version drafted by a group of civil activists.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

After the government denied him permission to hold a public demonstration, it briefly arrested him Tuesday and he began his fast in custody. He remained at New Delhi's Tihar Jail on Wednesday – even after the government ordered him released – saying he would not leave until his protest was approved. Outside, hundreds of supporters chanted anti-corruption slogans and sang patriotic songs, while thousands of others protested in cities across India.

Critics of the hunger strike – not all of them supporters of the government – feared that Hazare had stepped over a line, and was sending the message that he, and not the nation's elected representatives, should have the final say on legislation.

"It has elided the distinction between protest and fast-unto-death. The former is legitimate. The latter is blackmail," Pratap Bhanu Mehta, head of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research, wrote in the Indian Express newspaper.

The Congress party-led government can ill afford the public shaming that Hazare's protest draws. But its crackdown has also drawn sharp criticism.

"Do the people in this country have no rights about how an anti-corruption watchdog will work? Is this the end of Indian democracy?" said Prashant Bhushan, a lawyer who was helping organize the protest movement.

On Wednesday, a subdued-looking Singh described Hazare's attempt to force his own bill through Parliament as "misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our parliamentary democracy."

"A functional democracy must allow multiple voices to be heard. But differences of opinion must be resolved thorough dialogue and consensus. Those who believe that their voice and their voice alone represents the will of 1.2 billion people should reflect deeply on that position," Singh told a jeering Parliament.

Support for strikes and demonstrations has grown in recent decades, with 39 percent of those questioned supporting them, up from 26 percent in 1971, according to a poll by an Indian think tank published last week in The Hindu newspaper.

The poll of 20,268 Indians was conducted from July 25 to July 31. No margin of error was given, but a random survey with that many participants – under ideal conditions – would have a margin of error of less than 1 percentage point.

The rise in support for protests coincided with a string of government corruption scandals over everything from the shady sale of cellphone licenses to the mismanaged hosting of last year's Commonwealth Games. The main opposition is mired in its own scandal involving mining contracts in southern India.

Tushar Gandhi said Hazare's protest painted government officials as the only culprits, instead of indicting the culture that fostered the corruption.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

"What we have with this protest is a populist stance and not one of introspection," he said. "If he asks the crowds to introspect, they will melt away."

source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_929178.html

PUNE: As an act of solidarity with activist Anna Hazare, the Pune Sikh Sangat, an association representing Sikhs across the city, has demanded his release and fair decision on the current scenario by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh. A memorandum on the same lines will be sent to the District Collectorate on Wednesday, said Rajwant Singh, member of the Sikh Sangat.

"Pune's Sikh Sangat is and has always stood against corruption in various walks of life especially since Sikhism teaches one to be fair to all and leading a pure life. We wish the prime minister of India takes a free and fair decision as per the tenets of Sikhism. Our community is supporting all the citizens protesting for the anti-graft cause and in our letter we have requested the prime minister to take the right decision to handle corruption," added Singh.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726

The letter demands transparency from the government in power. "The Sikh community just wants to prime minister to take the right stand keeping in mind the situation as far as corruption goes. We dont think he should step down because that is not necessary," said Inderpal Singh.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=36726



The government should provide reasons for its acts, said Gurmeet Singh. "On what basis is the government arresting people who are protesting? We can see clearly how much Hazare has struggled for our country. And it's shameful to put him behind bars," said Gurmeet Singh.

Some of the community members are also joining the relay fast on Wednesday and Thursday, said Narendra singh. "All those people joining in the cause are Anna Hazares. The activist is right, otherwise the entire nation wouldn't be supporting him today. It's because corruption was never controlled in the past, that we have reached this stage today. The richer are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The 'chalta hai' non-chalant attitude typical to our society, is also a result of corruption. this needs to stop. And our community is supporting anyone, who is fighting to ward off corruption through such protests," he said.
http://articles.timesofindia.indiati...n-anna-hazares