Since day one of Anna’s ‘protest fast’ against corruption and movement in support of strong Jan lokpal Bill capable of really eradicating corruption that has so badly and overwhelmingly percolated the government administration /system, the government has been caught on a wrong foot one after the other. First, putting unreasonable and inacceptable conditions on these protests through the agency of police and then ministers parading the relevance of the provisions of criminal Procedure Code was nothing short of an affront to the public mind already suffering under the scourge of corruption . No wonder the ‘protest fast ‘ immediately turned into a public outrage erupting simultaneously in different cities of the country.The delay in allotting suitable venue made theprotest march swell to the most disproportionate levels.
Thereafter studied silence on the part of the prime minister in additional to his defence of “official Lokpal Bill” that seeks to prosecute the whistle blower even with two years of imprisonment while giving opportunities for defence to culprits , has come as handy ammunition with the team Anna for blowing government’s reasoning/intentions to pieces.
While ministers are supposed to act as ‘ servants of society’ with respect to their duties towards the people, in terms of political philosophy, the congress ministers have been crowing about their authority as legislators , without recognizing the suffering of the people under the menace of corruption. The protests have thus acquired the character of a movement spreading rapidly even globally with Indian community protesting in London , New York and elsewhere .This has brought disrepute to the Indian political system and even discredited the Congress ,though a political party of India with 125 years of standing .The party of this stands ridiculed domestically and internationally with irreparable loss.
Had the official Lokpal bill been drafted in a spirit of meaningful understanding and cooperation with the representative of civil society keeping the problem of corruption in mind, Congress would not have found itself in such a sorry state of pass. In addition to uncaring attitude of ministers ,even the prime minister was not found head and shoulders above his team of ministers to impart sanity and wisdom to tackle the problem.While the public anger was gathering steam in a most unprecedented manner in kilometers long marches ,the ministers were turning out stereotype statements referring to constitutional provisions otherwise very well known to the present educated youth of the country.Ironically no lessons have been learnt from the most shaking happenings of Mid –East while our leadership was lecturing on the happenings in Libya , Syria and Egypt.
While team Anna has astutely stolen much of the dignity of the Congress party,BJP as the main opposition has finalized its strategy to take on the Congress inside and outside the Parliament .
Immediate dialogue with the Anna team can only tackle the political crisis and save Congress from further damage .
