Thursday, April 07, 2011

India Against 'India Against Corruption' blackmail

I have volunteered for India Against Corruption and will resume my support later. I support the enactment of a Lokpal Bill with some changes to the 1968 draft. I want Lokpal as a public ombudsman but not as the chairman of the Gestapo.

The current undemocratic demand by IAC to include "citizen activists" in the draft committee and the blackmail fast by Anna Hazare, both need to be condemned. And people need to be informed that there is no "Jan" in the Jan Lokpal Bill. So, I'm collecting public opinion against Jan Lokpal Bill in general and Anna Hazare's fast in particular.

1. Jan Lokpal - Caveat Emptor.

2. Appeal to India Against Corruption Team: Drop the Fast.

3. Against Jan Lok Pal and the politics of hunger strikes. - Nitin Pai.

4. Anna Hazare’s misguided fast..

5. The dramatically over-hyped faith in the Jan Lokpal Bill.. - Sanjiv Sabhlok.

6. Jan Lokpal Bill undermines democracy: experts.

7. Anna Hazare should have waited, says Santosh Hegde.

8. My issues with the Proposed Jan Lok Pal Bill.

9. An Anti-Corruption Ayatollah. B. Raman.

10. The Hazare hazard. Business Standard Editorial.

11. Of the few, by the few. Pratap Bhanu Mehta.

12. At the Risk of Heresy: Why I am not Celebrating with Anna Hazare.

13. To End Corruption, End Statism. Sauvik Chakravarty.

14. The Jan Lokpal Bill: Good intentions and the road to hell.

15. Aruna Roy, others seek sharper scrutiny of Jan Lokpal Bill.

16. Hazare is being used, exploited: Digvijaya Singh.

17. India's Middle Class Hungers for Undemocratic Change. Salil Tripathi.

18. High Court to AG: Explain Lokpal panel.

19. Why I believe in Shanti Bhushan, not not in double standards.
Vir Sanghvi.

20. Justice Sawant’s remarks on Anna Hazare. Nitin Pai.

21. Make Sure The Cure Isn’t Worse Than The Disease. Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey.

22. Jan Lokpal: an alternative view. K.N. Panikkar.

23. The sheer arrogance of including me (Magsaysay Award winner) in the collegium instead of elected representatives. - P Sainath.



24. A Robin Hood Lokpal.

25. Why this ‘freedom’ is false.

26. Bring Breach of Privilege motion against Shri Anna Hazare and Shri Arvind Kejriwal.

27. Drafting panel faces first legal hurdle.

28. Mahesh Bhatt, KN Panikkar & Shabnam Hashmi object to Hazare's 'attitude'.

29. Mayawati: why no Dalit on Lokpal panel?

more to come.

3 comments:

Surya said...

Good work. I wanted to know your opinion. Happy to know that you share a similar opinion. The moment I saw the word Magsaysay awardees and Nobel winners of Indian origin, I threw the bill away. Who do these people think they are, claiming to speak for India as a whole?

Rajashekar Maram said...

In the Above , Sainath is echoing Some mythes of Janlokpal. He might not read the full draft. And this video was before Janlokpal 2.1 version. (which is 13th version, 14th version is underway).

In 2.1 version , they removed this Awarde clause. And This Janlokpal is not a Super Cop. it's a myth. There are complete check and Balances. If you think its still needs improvement, you are always welcome to give suggestion instead of criticizing.

Real democracy means participation, not criticizing.

Balaji Chitra Ganesan said...

true. the award clause has been removed after people protests against the IAC. but there are hundreds of other problems with the janlokpal bill. and P. Sainath was talking on April 11th.

i think IAC members should for a while stop using the word "democracy" in any context. people are really upset at the way IAC has sabotaged democracy in the last two weeks. please don't get offended. just try to understand others point of view.

seeking opinion of others seems to have occurred as an after thought. when IAC itself could have testified before NAC (like Justice Hegde initially did) and lobbied with MPs. instead you people chose to blackmail your way into the draft committee and once in a position of power, you are turning back and telling others about the virtues of discussing.

its better late than never. the meeting proposed to be organized in Delhi for wider consultation with intellectuals is a good beginning. although its apparently Lok Satta and not IAC which is trying to fix the mess now thru that good initiative.

i hope going forward IAC will show more respect towards elective representatives and the constitution and democracy in India.

ps: sure, i'll try to do my bit.