Saturday, August 20, 2011

We, the people ...

It is Anna everywhere! One man, yeah ... one capable, patriotic, selfless man having the will to do something for the nation can make the difference! There is so much that this Gandhian has taught us in so little time. It is Anna-movement all the way and we, the people, decide.
It is said that Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation, gifted us freedom from the British rule. I iterate the words "it is said", because our generation had not witnessed all that Mahatma did pre-independence; cannot imagine how non-violence could have really got us freedom. Though contribution from Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose cannot be discounted, it was Gandhi who really troubled the British. It is now we actually witness and have the privelege of being part of the people's movement - India's struggle to become corruption free! Thanks to Anna!
So it is India, minus the politicians, against corruption and for India growth story! This, I believe, will be the turning point in India's path of becoming number one nation - if we really become one! We, the people have the power to bring in the much needed revolution! It was high time and Anna recognized it, showed the way to India! Anna, in true sense acted as a bridge, a carrier, a great student first and then a teacher, who beieved and transpired Gandhi's ideas to today's India. His selflessness, patriotism and will did what nobody in post-independent India did for India.
Politicians talk about great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Veer Savarkar, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and many more - whose contributions to motherland is immense. But none of the recent decade politicains are even a distant shadow of the great leaders they deem to follow. In fact, they divide the country, create vote banks and that is the politics the younger generation politicians are also fast learning from their predecessors.
Looking at recent events - Anna's fast and debate over Jan Lokbal bill, it is more than clear that none of the parties are interested in passing the bill. It has already been 42 years old bill and given the freedom that the politicians enjoy in this country, Lokpal will not see the light of the day ever. What options do we, the people, have? Take a tough stand and force the bill through the parliament, as a sugarcane is crushed to get the juice out of it! But as Congress says, it is undemocratic to force a bill through parliament in this fashion! They forget democracy starts with "We, the people, ...". And, given the constraints that we, the people, have now ... can we really afford the corruption that is eating the nation to continue unabated? And how democratic has the ruling party been now and in the past? One should not forget the way the nation paid during the time of emergency! Congress, in fact, has not left a stone unturned. It has Congress person as the President of India, it has many congress governors and tries to have all important institutions/commissions like CVC, CEC, CJI, CAG, etc under its control! With all this in background what is the guarantee that Lokpal will not do favours for the ruling party in the future? All this should be considered while passing the bill, and therefore Jan Lokpal!
With all this said, let us be optimistic and assume that we, the people, get Jan Lokpal bill through. But we should continue to have Anna's services. This civil body should never be dissolved! This revolution should continue. Every nation needs a revolution to clean the dirt that gets accumulated over the years. Greedy and unpatriotic people find ways to get around laws, which needs to be plugged from time to time. And if we, the people, are united as we now are during elections - that day will just be round the corner when India will be the most powerful nation!
Jai Haind! Inquilab Zindabad!