Saturday, April 9, 2011

OPINION 'Who Represents Civil Society?' So asked the Congress party spokesperson. But why is it that despite being a member of the Rajya Sabha he chooses to represent a crony-capitalist and not the people of the country? A.K. AGRAWAL

OPINION
'Who Represents Civil Society?'
So asked the Congress party spokesperson. But why is it that despite being a member of the Rajya Sabha he chooses to represent a crony-capitalist and not the people of the country?
http://outlookindia.com/article.aspx?271272

Mr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, your press conference on this historic day, 8th of April, was a relentless attack on the entire civil society. You asked the oft repeated question that the corrupt are wont to ask, viz: " Who represents the civil society?"

You went on to ask whether it is two or 200 people who, when they assemble, represent civil society.

You questioned the common sense of the civil society.

You said that sloganeering does not lead to governance.

You taunted civil society with not understanding the difference between substance and procedure.

You called them obdurate and inflexible

And you went on and on. And on.

But let me ask you something first: Whom do you represent?

I think the civil society, howsoever defined, has a right to know.

Do you represent the people of the country?

I am aware that you are a member of the Rajya Sabha but it is a paradox that while being a member of Rajya Sabha, you do not represent the people of the country.

Let me explain.

Is it not true that you voluntarily chose to bunk Parliament on 27th of August 2010, when the Rajya Sabha was in session, in order to argue a case before the Chief Justice of Karnataka?

I am an eyewitness because I was in Court that day. The Chief Justice of Karnataka is also a witness. He also agreed to hear your case on Saturday, a holiday.

And what was the fee? Reportedly rupees one crore. One does not know what component of that one crore was in cheque and how much was in cash, but let me not dwell on rumours.

Let me stick to facts.

How much would you have got by attending Parliament? An additional allowance of Rs1000?

Do you consider it an act of honesty?

To refuse to represent the people because you would only get Rs1000/- and not the reported figure of one crore (or whatever amount, do correct me) that you earned?

More important whom were you representing and who was paying you the reported obscene fees?

None other than Vedanta group which owns Sesa Goa. The dominant shareholder of the company is one Mr Anil Agarwal who is the very symbol of crony capitalism, having cornered the mineral wealth of the country worth lakhs of crores belonging to the people of the country.

That Mr Chidambaram was on his Board may be some consolation to you..

The iron ore mines of Sesa Goa are worth Rs 1.75 lakh crores. Hindustan Zinc, acquired for Rs 400 crores, has a profit of 5000 crores per annum and the bauxite mines of BALCO are worth lakhs of crores.

I accuse people like you for being responsible for this crony capitalism as being ever eager to betray the people and change sides for a crore or two — or whatever obscene amount you charge.

Is that your price as a so called representative of the people?

Yes Mr Singhvi, you chose —and choose —to represent the foremost crony capitalist of the country and not the people of the country.

You cannot win a single election — which is why you are in Rajya Sabha and not the Lok Sabha — where people of India vote directly, but have lost lakhs of votes with your diatribe against civil society.

People of the country pay you good money as monthly salary, allowances and life long pension. But your greed for money seems to be insatiable 

Even a non- literate person having common sense will understand that a person drawing salary cannot undertake alternate employment while being on official duty.

As for your question as to who and how many people or factions represent civil society, let me remind you that it is the same question that the British asked of one Mahatma Gandhi. It was answered then and it is being answered now.

In spite of your bifocals why are you so wilfully blind —or stupid? — so as to not see the overwhelming support enjoyed by this national anti- corruption movement for which you and your party are responsible?

Please do not try and divide the civil society. You may be able to speak English but please do not behave like the British!

There are many who, even though they do not speak English, know what Divide and Rule is.

Your leader Sonia Gandhi understands the power of civil society because she has to fight an election. It is for this reason that she has directed you all to put up and shut up.

As for democracy , Parliament and procedure : Do you want to have a referendum on corruption and the Jan Lokpal bill?

For the record, a complaint has been filed against you with the Chairman of the Ethics Committee for violation of various clauses of code of conduct, in particular clause 4 which states:

(iv)Members should always see that their private financial interests and those of the members of their immediate family do not come in conflict with the public interest and if any such conflict ever arises, they should try to resolve such a conflict in a manner that the public interest is not jeopardised.

Did you violate this provision on 27/8/2010?

You need not be a member of the House to answer the question. Ask any member of the civil society and he will tell you.

Mr Singhvi you would do well to stop abusing the civil society. If you do not, it will teach you the lesson of your life.

Like Mr Sibal learnt the other night.


A.K. Agrawal is the author of Reliance, the Real Natwar

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So 83 hours later, the government finally gave in.

It was not the usually smug and self-satisfied —but a visibly crestfallen —Kapil Sibal that announced the government's decision that the UPA had ostensibly agreed to all of Mr Anna Hazare's demands and that a "government order" constituting the 10-member joint committee would be issued tomorrow.

It need not have been so graceless to start with, persisting right through Day 4 with, among others, Mr Abhisekh Manu Singhvi's histrionics.

Given the mass-scale revulsion against recent, seemingly non-stop series of scams, there was an air of inevitability about it and the UPA had not done its cause any good by announcing its absurd Lokpal Bill.

The attempt to spin today's decision, on the fourth day, as some sort of magnanimity on the part of the UPA chairperson or the PM is nothing but typical craven behaviour ingrained in Congress culture.

Mr Kapil 'Zero Loss on 2G Spectrum Allocation'  Sibal's with no sense of irony also added for good measure: "We are on the same page with civil society in fighting the scourge of corruption. Both sides have confidence in each other."

On the part of the protesters, Mr Shanti Bhushan, who has been announced as a co-chairperson of the committee to draft the new—revised, and hopefully improved —Bill, has already announced this as the biggest victory for people power after 1977, and declared that the celebrations should begin across the country.

Yes, this is cause for cheer. But just one cheer—not even for two, leave alone three.

The proof of the pudding, as they say, would be in the eating.

The activists on the panel — Anna Hazare, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal and Santosh Hegde —would of course know that they are dealing with past masters of obfuscation —Pranab Mukherjee (chairman), P. Chidambaram, Veerappa Moily, Salman Khurshid and Kapil Sibal — and that the government's decision of an order, which can be withdrawn, as against a gazetted notification, may well only be a tactical ploy to buy time.

The UPA as usual would soon be back to its blatant, brazen ways, claiming that they have done exactly what the people wanted on corruption and that they need to be complimented, hoping that all their scams would be forgotten.

Just the way various party and government spokespeople seek to spin the arrest of Mr Raja by the CBI acting under the SC as UPA's great favour to India.

Even the most perfect bill — which of course yet remains a very distant dream — by itself will not be able to solve the pervasive and corrosive corruption that we are surrounded by.

Let's remember that strengthening of autonomous and independent institutions remains a long way off.

Yes, perhaps it is time to acknowledge that a first, small, significant step has been taken in the war against corruption.

But let's retain perspective: this was just one small, symbolic battle.

A full-scale, hostile  war looms ahead.

So all one can hope for is that the newly set-up committee is able to get down to drafting a serious bill with teeth that would not suffer from the various infirmities and absurdities clearly visible in various Jan Lokpal drafts.

So much for the dark clouds. Now on to the big silver lining.

There are many reasons to smile as well. Despite the known, credible face of Mr Hazare, which was the rallying point, the movement was youth-driven. For all those perpetually moaning and groaning about the apolitical and apathetic youth, the outpouring on the streets should have been a big silver lining.

And that it was totally non-violent.

Various opportunists and usual suspects and busybodies tried, but were largely kept away — the movement remained largely non-political.

And it seemed to have been perfectly timed too. After the world cup and just before the IPL madness.

It would be a shame to let all this positive energy that defeated the cynicism of the naysayers is not dissipated, and the danger of that initiative being taken away from civil society is very real as an old master at the art of fobbing off have been appointed to head the committee

Let's remember that this one succeeded only because the revulsion against corruption was so pervasive —almost as pervasive as corruption itself.

Who represents the people and who speaks for the so-called "civil society" are all good questions to engage with. But let's remember that (a) no body has stopped others from stepping forward to participate and (b) in the end, it would still be Parliament where the bills would be passed.

Yet, it might give ideas to many disruptive and dissenting groups to adopt similar measures for various demands.

With the snows melting, it could well prove to be a deluge. It promises to be one long, hot summer...

The government will have its job cut out.

***

BTW, have a lot to say on much of the —some of it very valid, but mostly simply missing the point — criticism of the Jan Lokpal Bill and the hurried "work in progressFAQ" that has remained neglected after the first day.

For now, let me just add a few tweets from yesterday in response to the campaign against the protests at Jantar Mantar:

POSTED BY SUNDEEP ON APR 08, 2011 AT 22:18 IST ,  EDITED AT: APR 08, 2011 22:41 IST
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APR 09, 2011 12:45 AM
1

Even if it may be too early to declare victory,  it is good to know that the government has seen the light and that both parties are ready for a compromise. Something good can come out of this even if the problem of corruption is much larger than any number of Lokpals or Jan Lokpals can tackle.
 

ANWAAR
DALLAS, UNITED STATES
APR 09, 2011 01:17 AM
2

 One has to hand Integrity Singh this victory. For all the talk about having the most honest PM  whose integrity is beyond reproach, Integrity Singh has run such a corrupt govt that people are roused up against corruption like never before. 

I guess having a "honest" PM like Singh has its advantages.

The present UPA govt has no moral right to continue after so many gigantic scams. But the sad fact is the numbers are not there to bring the govt down. India will most likely have to put up with another three years of corrupt and inefficient govt at the center. Things do not look good.

GANESAN
NJ, USA
APR 09, 2011 01:47 AM
3

 "t was not a usually smug and self-satisfied but a visibly crestfallen Kapil Sibal that announced the government's decision."

Actually one has to thank Sibal. I was dreading the prospect of hearing a replay of zero loss theory. Sibal claimed there was zero loss in 2G. And I was expecting him to say there is no corruption in India. Somebody drilled some sense into him and he did not say that.

GANESAN
NJ, USA
APR 09, 2011 07:14 AM
4

India lost both Sehwag and Tendulkar early in the innings.But,still the team could pull off a glorious victory ,thanks to the performance by other equally good performers.Now,we have this Congress party which depends on just one Kapil Sibal who is minister for education for all reasons.He was brought in as telecom minister for coverup operation in the mind boggling 2G scam.Yet again ,he is made the front man to take on Anna Hazare.Congress party has never believed in building a team but only on a coterie.

S.S.NAGARAJ
BANGALORE, INDIA
APR 09, 2011 09:08 AM
5

the jan lokpal movement will die an unnatural death now.congress would screwed it.it has no members from all parties.it should eb broadbased with members from all oppn.the committee has 10 members 5 each from movement and congress.what wud happen now.all that would be done now is that congress would squeeze all these five members from other group and they would eb made irrelevent.if all other political parties would be consulted and their members be included in teh committee it woud be successful but now it would fail and anna would be made a sikhandi.

MUSLIM BHAGAWAT
PATNA, INDIA
APR 09, 2011 12:20 PM
6

 Here is hoping the govt does not do the same thing they did to break KSR's fast on Telangana state -

Chidambaram promised to initiate the process of forming the state of Telangana. The Congresswallahs called it Sonia's birthday gift to the people. And then they went back on their promise.

This govt is not to be trusted especially when theiur illgotten wealth is at risk with this law.

BHARAT
DELHI, INDIA
APR 09, 2011 02:13 PM
7

Nonsense! It is cause for a thousand cheers, a million cheers, a billion cheers! Long Live Indian Democracy!

VIVIAN NORONHA
PANAJI, GOA, INDIA
APR 09, 2011 06:00 PM
8

Government's concern was to take the cameras away from Jantar Mantar, not corruption. In a way they succeded , but the damage has been done in the first day itself  when the Congress party spokeperson called the fast unto death a blackmail tactics. Throughtout the scam season the UPA -II  government gave one the impression they were not unduly  concerned , even went on to justfy at the highest level one of the most blatant & high value corrupt act in independent India .To the disbelief of the nation they put out a slick lawyear  who held forth that there was no loss to exchequer in 2G scam. The Prime Minister reiterated it in a press conference.

The Anna Hazare fast  & the manner of the government's response has tarred this government indeliably & is a public relation desaster. Manmohan Singh  government thinks it has bought time. For all practical purposes it is a lame duck. They may stubbornly hang on but not with heads high.

MANISH BANERJEE
KOLKATA, INDIA
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