I'm confused. Totally confused. On IAC and Arvind Kejriwal in particular. I'm not able to decide whether I support him or not.
(Disclosure: I'm a supporter of BJP. But, I don't support corruption like every other citizen of this great country.)
Let me explain the reasons for my dilemma.
Today, I heard the news that IAC has decided to form an independent ombudsman to probe its prominent accused members. So, few questions here:
We know that IAC has formed an independent ombudsmen consisting of three retired judges enjoying a reputation of high integrity and independence to inquire into any charges made against key members of IAC.
- How is this "reputation of high integrity" of these judges going to be evaluated? If at some later point, some one finds out the "reputation of high integrity" of these judges are flawed or not true, will there be another ombudsman to inquire into the charges made about the "reputation of high integrity" of judges?
- Also, it's mentioned that "if any member is found guilty of any illegal or immoral activity he would be expected to resign from the proposed party". They can make the technical-wordings better. So, do they "expect" such people to resign or will they "mandate" the people to resign?
I have more such questions that are along similar lines, but I stop here to not to sound nit-picky or a pessimist.
Let's assume that no one questions the reputation of high integrity of the 3 retired judges appointed by IAC. With such an ombudsman that will inquire to find if any member is guilty of any illegal or immoral activity, I'm sure there'll be at-least few from IAC that will be penalized. You ask me how I jump to conclusion that there'll be few from IAC that'll be penalized because of illegal or immoral activity? Read on.
When asked about her land dealings, Anjali Damaniya's answer to Indian Express:
“The plots were bought in 2007 as agricultural plots and soon after, I applied with the collector’s office in Raigad to change the user type of these lands from agricultural to non-agricultural. In 2011, these applications were approved following which 37 plots were sold to different buyers. I can produce all the required papers to prove that everything was done legally. If someone thinks this is wrong, the problem then actually lies with the government’s policy in changing the land-use from agricultural to non-agricultural. I am being targeted now because I raised my voice against a corrupt system.”
Great. She has certainly done everything legally. But as she says, "the problem then actually lies with the government’s policy in changing the land-use from agricultural to non-agricultural.".
At the time of the purchase of land, if Anjali Damaniya expressed to the farmers that she was buying it for non-agricultural purposes (like building villas), do you think farmers would have given it at the price they mentioned? Is it not ethical to give the farmers a chance to know what they are selling it for? So, is she not misusing the government's policy in changing the land-use from agricultural to non-agricultural?
It's also found that there was no agricultural activity for the period between 2007
Now, Mr. Vadra too can get technical like this, and say that the law doesn't prevent the license being transferred to some one else, and hence the problem "actually" lies with the government's policy of not explicitly controlling the license transfers.
Note that I don't support Vadra, since what he has done is just plain wrong. Neither do I support Yeddyurappa who has given free reins to his sons and played an important role in corruption in Karnataka.
When it comes to dealing with something through legal means, we all know how capable our politicians are.
Coming back to the topic - what do you do then once you find a person guilty of doing something immoral as in the case above? Common sense can tell you that there will not be just once Anjali Damania that's an exception. (I haven't read about Prashant Bhushan in detail, so I can't comment on him.) So, how do you run a party with such people?
In my opinion, if Arvind Kejriwal starts to keep such people out, going by his current trends, he may have to "expect" atleast a few such people to go in future.
So, the next logical step would be to keep these people out but continue to run the party. Right? But there are already parties running in such a way. BJP, CPI and CPI(M) to name a few. (If you start on BJP's corruption, I can still point out that it's easily the least corrupt and most capable party in current situation; may not be the best, but best among the lot. But that's another big topic and hence another post.) If Arvind Kejriwal wants to do the same, most welcome!
In the words of popular Tamil poet and lyricist Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram:
திருடனாய்ப் பார்த்துத் திருந்தா விட்டால்
திருட்டை ஒழிக்க முடியாது!
(Translated loosely as "Unless a thief corrects himself, the evil of theft can not be eradicated.")
So, is there no way to prevent the corruption rampant in India? I believe it's possible to a practical extent, but it's a bitter pill. I'll discuss that in another post.
