Anna Hazare , the Lok Pal and what we can do

The Events in Egypt , Yemen , Libya and smoke in Bahrain are all great signs of what people power can do . No matter what type of military power you have with you or other support you possess , people power can easily decimate these powers in no time. Egypt was classic . A dictator overthrown after thirty years in power. It was so simple . People wanted him to go and they did it without any great strategy or tact. The common theme of "Oust Mubarak " brought them together.

In this context , Anna Hazare has brought in attention in India with various groups in multi cities and for all good reasons . A simple man , who gave notice of his fasting to the government to take forward the Lok Pal bill would not have expected such a support through out India for what he is trying to do . May be the timing of his call was just about right . With the background of Egypt events, and what was happening locally in India,with the 2G scam involving crores , the Adarsh Housing Scam , the Commonwealth debacle and the Race stud Owner deeds ( unnoticed for couple of years or more ) , the amounts involved were staggering and the personalities that were involved were famous . It was the right time that our Countrymen reacted correctly to these misdeeds. Corruption had to go and Corrupt had to be punished in quick time. One could no more live to the fact that corruption would be a accepted part of our life and system . There was overwhelming support to the fasting call and media attention was at its best limelight . The background of the man leading the effort also made the difference. Here he was , a simple man , no huge background of wealth and fame ,living his life in a temple , willing to take on the mightiest who had the capability to "fix" him. He could not be dismissed so lightly and with support gathering momentum , the government had to give in . Give in -- what -- the usual , form a committee that will examine and put in a acceptable bill.

I was wondering as to how we have accepted few things in our life.

Examples
Accepting favours in any form is a need to get things done.
If you do not make this a habit , you are not a person that can survive.( Kam ka Aadmi nai hai )
It is okay if the favours were in limited value ( read couple of Crores up till Bofors Benchmarking )
I can " manage type " attitde .
Need is to be successful, does not matter how i get there .

People do not want to question wrong deeds .

How easy we have made things for the corrupt to thrive ?

What is defined as a good , ethical way of doing business ?

I was looking at the survey of the top 100 most ethical companies in the world and we have just one Indian Company in that list ( HDFC ) Is that a great statistic ? And note none of the other big wig companies are part of this top 100 Ethical companies in the world. .. They are conquering the world but not in this list !! That tells us a huge story. So ,it came as no surprise with this fact , that in the 2G scam some big business leaders were hauled in one way or the other. It is another matter that nothing is proved yet. But, there is no fire without a smoke first.

What does this tell us ?

Things can and have to be done in only one way --
With Integrity , honesty , following the laws of the land , being Ethical in dealings , Creating a culture of Complying citizens is needed. Using bye pass routes , using "influence " to get things fixed are not means to achieve .

Some good things to have more off :

The Elections in Tamilnadu may be a good example of things going right . There was heavy voter turn out. ID cards were a necessity to cast your vote. Police kept a tight vigil ( why cannot they behave like this all the time ? ) . I am confident that rigging could not be possible since the voting through the state was in the high 70 + percentages and one cannot consistently rig it through the state. Election Commission stood up and prevented or at least put in measures to prevent a "Thirumanglam " type scenario. They seized over 54 crores during the period running up to the election. I am intrigued to know how this money will be disposed off !!
There was noise that the Election Commission had created a "emergency " type sceanarioin Tamilandu. Clearly , there was disconfort and it was the right discomfort. And we all know that there was no "Emergency type situation to the common man


Where do we go from here :

Automation and use of technology will help in reducing the options available to beat the system .. Technology is a boon and aid that prevents corrupt deeds. We should also put in to practice the habit of doing things in the right way. It could be as simple as obeying traffic lights . We should insist on bills on every purchase we do . I know there are easier ways but we should strive not to be part of the system that we have today. We need to start making a difference ..
And what the Lok Pal and Anna Hazare do will be added equipments to deal with the offenders. We should question people who have already put in a fabricated CD ( Shanthi Bhusan ) and also claims on who funded and the amount spent on the Fasting event by Anna Hazare ? If someone questions this , I think it is imperative we challenge this person . This is not the only event for which funding needs to be questioned. On the other hand ,I thought the question of funding itself is a panic reaction and good for the cause. Anna Hazare deserves all the backing and he has a fight with the sharks of the land . And we if do not get this right now , I think we will loose the opportunity forever. This is the single theme that can bind people after the call of "Poorna Swaraj" that lead to India's independence.

Tthe Lok Pal bill alone will not solve the Corruption but it will be us who can make the difference. Anna Hazare has the momentum and he is challenging the big wigs non challantaly and the good thing is that he is being heard.
Let us hope he carries on and gets the bill passed while we continue our part in our daily deeds