Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Ethics gone wrong is Customary; Politics gone wrong is Revolutionary

What is happening in India is sort of a revolution. Supporting Jan Lokpal bill isn't one of my passion neither do I believe that it will change thinks dramatically. I don't understand the Jan Lokpal bill completely but, I do understand one thing that there is no such thing as a magic wand that can correct everything in one go. The most important source a law has is public support and backing and if law that doesn't enjoy popular support has to be implemented it is by iron hands of govt. In case of Jan Lokpal bill it seems it has gained popular support but, this is only on the assumption of corruption being a political phenomenon in India. The reality is Corruption is rampant in every walk of life in India we have all used corrupt practices sometime or other. The earlier anti corruption laws didn't work out because public didn't follow it and govt. didn't have will to enforce it with iron hands. So, what if the Jan Lokpal bill is passed and the executive doesn't show the will to enforce it the act will be yet another machinery eating away taxpayers machinery. 
The Jan Lokpal bill talks of wrapping up corruption cases in a year. This will require creation of a huge machinery with huge infrastructure. Governance in India is already a costly affair do we want a parallel govt. Any way even I don't have any reservations against the bill to be passed as it is the execution that matters and if Indians have shown support to the bill I hope they will leave all corrupt practices to make it a success as Govt. bill is not something I'm counting upon for its enforcement.
However, the present situation has more flavor to it than a fast against corruption. Corruption has always been there in India since independence and even before that. So the parallel economy always existed. The thing is Indian economy has grown in size and that's why the parallel economy looks monstrous in absolute terms. We definitely have to find out a way to reduce it size and finally eliminate it as it does create economic instability, social inequality and is adding much of the spice in the present problem of inflation. But, Ethics and politics never have a harmonized relation. It is customary in India and everywhere in the world to see ethical degradation- small or big. India is passing through a transition in economic growth as well as social situation and imbalances are inevitable. It is not corruption that made the present situation so disastrous and is dragging India towards a civil war- Ethics was never very intact in Indian Politics. It is the mismanagement of  political affair that has made the situation revolutionary. Statecraft is a delicate art and Manmohan Singh is definitely not a champion at it. But, at least he should have acted with some political vision. When the whole nation is bleeding with corruption you are sitting in inaction which is completely visible. Govt.'s do as much they want to do but, they at least appear to be doing. This is democracy and that acting of men in action is missing from the presence governance scene. Then came Anna's declaration of fast and govt. has no good responses. Instead of acting against corruption- 'the much hated issue' it started acting against Anna- 'now almost a revered individual'. Revolutions need an immediate cause and this was the one. Anna's arrest arose the nation as it was the arrest of a person who was standing for them, saying what they always wanted to say. This was more importantly the breach of right to protest and opposition which in democracy is revered. You never take away  which is valued most by particular sentiment and the govt did that. Doing right things at right time is management and the present govt. is setting new standards of mismanagement by doing wrong things at wrong time. Instead of finding flaws in Anna and his team or carrying on the word war through spokesperson the government should handle the political crisis politically. The parliament needs to come in action, bills that have been pending for years should get the chance to be an act and the nation should feel that their representatives out in that temple of democracy want to save the religion called democracy. 
Revolutions bring instability and you never like instability in a takeoff mode- the mode which the Indian economy is presently going through. Evolution is always stable and Indians have a habit of responding better to it we even didn't have a revolution for independence. It was a ninety year long process. I seriously hope this political mismanagement on part of govt. ends and they show statecraft to save India from going into serious instability. Evolution will definitely take care of Corruption. Even if the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed it will have to gradually mend the ways of functioning of Indian System. So Bill or not I don't want an unstable India but, the decision is of govt. if it acts to overthrow corruption or maintains inaction to overthrow itself.

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