Anna Hazare and Loksatta

Just to clarify, this post is neither about the demerits of Anna Hazare movement nor is it about the demerits of Loksatta. It is about the contrasts between the two which are clearly being ignored by a lot of Loksatta supporters.

If one really thinks about it, the Anna Hazare movement and the Loksatta party's ideology are in complete contrast of each other. They probably do share the Utopian promises of grandeur for India, but their philosophical stances are in complete opposition - yet, we see many who support both and a few who are confused.

On more than one occasion, the Loksatta party president has unequivocally said that there is no place for hunger strikes in a democracy. The view put forward by him is that - while such protests may have been relevant during the British Raj, today when the constitution offers ways for conflicting interest groups to elect representatives and attempt a consensus, rejecting these constitutional rights in favor of a hunger strike is akin to blackmail. Many of the Loksatta supporters I talked to are of the view that while the above may be right, hunger strike can be justified when it is for a 'good cause'. It is an altogether different matter that some of them do not consider another recent hunger strike as being for a good cause. And pandering to this hypocrisy, the party leadership has toned down their opposition to hunger strikes as a form of protest.

The second biggest contrast has to do with decentralization. While team Anna wants a super CBI which combines the powers of existing CBI, CAG, CJI, PMO, ACB and parliament, Loksatta was understood to be against any centralization of powers. The argument has been that any local executive (for e.g., a city commissioner) would be answerable to the local legislative representative (a city mayor). The Jan Lokpal draft however follows the existing bureaucratic hierarchy of the most Government institutions. It is my understanding that the employees of a Lokpal are answerable directly to him who of course is answerable directly to the 'people' and not to the legislative at any level.

The other contrast is the outlook towards politics. Loksatta party came with the mantra that the solution to bad politics is to have good politics - while Team Anna's view is that politics would always remain bad, and that is why their powers should be curbed by the another institution which should remain independent of legislature. This is clearly evident on the requirement of 'search committee' members of Lokpal to be not affiliated with any political party.

I believe we can and should discuss the merits and demerits of Jan Lokpal bill without having to resort to any slander or questioning one's patriotism. Loksatta however is of the view that since so many of its members are caught up in the Anna wave, either through decisive support or willful naivety, it is probably best to subvert some principles for a minute in view of the 'larger picture'.