We do not need another Gandhi

 The Confusing Anna Hazare

The anti- corruption crusader Anna Hazare is preparing for battle again with his demand of the tabling of his (the Civil society’s) version of the “Jan Lok Pal Bill”. However; news reports about his plan of action are confusing at the best.

The news reports on Tuesday (Oct 4th) state as follows: “Anna Hazare on Tuesday put Congress on notice on the Lokpal issue, saying he will campaign against it in election-bound states if the Centre fails to get his version of the anti-corruption bill passed in Parliament's Winter Session. To begin with, Hazare said, he will appeal to voters in Hisar Lok Sabha constituency in Haryana where bypolls are scheduled on October 13 not to vote for the Congress candidate as the party was "deliberately" not bringing the Jan Lokpal bill.

"If the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed in the Winter Session, then I will name the Congress and ask people not to vote for it in the Assembly polls scheduled in five states next year," he said addressing a press conference in his native village, 50 km from Pune.”

This report in itself states Hazare’s focus to take the anti- corruption fight to the Government, since it is the Congress (I) that leads the UPA coalition in the center. Which is good & fine and it will attract the support of the educated middle class that is sick & tired of the prevailing corruption.

However; IBN Live reports on the same day that: “Social crusader Anna Hazare on Tuesday came out in support of arrested Gujarat police officer Sanjeev Bhatt who has accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of complicity in the 2002 communal riots. What Narendra Modi has done is wrong. It is not good for democracy in the country.”

So, Anna Hazare has opened a second battle front against the BJP. That is now raising some questions in the mind of the public:

a) Since when did the Hazare agenda change from being against Corruption to being against politicians?

b) Is the agenda for support of the Civil society’s version of the Lok pal bill now turned into a political agenda of Anna Hazare where he has started to criticize on Government & political actions across all parties?

c) If Hazare is against the Congress and also against the BJP; who exactly is he supporting on the political front, since he and his team have denied any political aspirations?

d) When there are elections, people will vote and someone will win the majority in elections. What happen’s post elections? If Hazare does not like the new party, will he agitate against that party who has won the election? Will this not be considered that Hazare is actually against the people just because they do not agree with him?

e) And if Hazare is against the Congress and also against the BJP; then who exactly does he expect to be occupying the seats in the Legislative assemblies in the States?

We have had one such person before in Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who wreaked havoc in the democratic process of the then Indian National Congress with his selfish “i, me & mine” attitude. We do not need another Gandhi to create a new havoc.

How can India reduce Corruption?

Bharatvarsh (India), as we all know; is a land of diverse cultures, ethnic languages and multi- religious social groups all trying to find space in a over populated mass of land that has been divided once before by the British (1947).

Regardless of the diversity of our Nation's population, almost all residents of India are victims of food inflation, lack of required income for human standards of living and a corrupt Government at all levels; from village administrators to the Central Government bureaucrats & ministers.

Everybody agrees that corruption needs to be removed or at least reduced drastically for our Nation to survive. Here are some ideas that may be considered, not by those in power: but by those whose lives are constantly threatened by corrupt people in power.

1. All members to Rajya Sabha, must be elected by the People by direct voting.
 

2. All Governers of State(s) and Lt. Governers must be elected by the People by direct voting.

3. The President, Prime Minister & Deputy Prime Minister of India must be elected by the People by direct voting, No longer should we allow the political parties to dictate to the People as to who will be the Prime Minister or President. Let it be the choice of the People. The same applies for Lok Ayukta at State level and Jana Lok Pal at national level. All have to be elected directly by the People.
 

4. Immediate dissolution of the IAS & IPS. The entire concept of the IAS & IPS is a remnant of the British Raj policies where the natives (us Indians) needed to be governed by a "higher class" of rulers (initially the British and now the pseudo Brits). Every State in India has its own cadre of Administrators & Police officials who are more capable than the IAS or IPS.
 

5. Segregation of Police departments at the levels of town / village, district, state and national police. Each town / village & district police department will be independent of each other and independent of the state police dept in terms of administration and duties but will report directly to the Governor of the State. The state police will report to the Chief Minister of the state. Even the Courts can have their own police department that reports to the Chief Justice of India. All police departments will be answerable to the President of India, independently.
 

6. The Central Police organizations will be answerable to the President of India directly. They can also be made answerable publicly to the full session of the Parliament of India.
 

7. Draconian punishment for Capital offenses. Capital offenses should include per-meditated murder, kidnapping, rape / gang-rape, misuse of Government office, misuse of Political office, and any other crime that benefits the person or their family at the cost of the Nation's treasury. Punishment should include confiscation of all assets of the guilty (including ancestral property & property in name of spouse, children and siblings), naked flogging in public and hanging to death in public.
 

8. Enforcement of law& order and public discipline. The law must be applied equally to all residents of India, regardless of their status in Government or position in the bureaucracy or other administrative positions. Family members of people in power have a tendency to misuse Government (i.e: People's resources). In such matters the person in power should also be prosecuted along-with his family member to the full extent of draconian law.
 

9. Today criminality is on the rise due to the 'economics of crime' that favor the criminals. This 'economics of crime' must be made extremely expensive for the criminal by use of draconian punishments (both financial & physical). Only this will put an almost instant brake on the criminal and lawless activities in India. Financial punishment should start with fines that are minimum at 11,000 and increase in multiples of 10 for every additional offense. Physical punishments should include flogging and daily physical work on the roads of India during the term of the punishment. The prisoners to be isolated from family & friends at all times during the full duration of prison sentence being served.
 

10. Every resident of India (regardless of whether Indian citizen or not) must be brought into a electronic / bio-metric database. Every law enforcement & judicial department must have easy access to each Indian resident(s): I.D photo, finger prints, iris scan (eye print), blood group and DNA profile. When criminals know that they can be traced and caught, their enthusiasm to commit crime reduces drastically.

These are only some of the suggestions that I can think off to start the process of a disciplined society with drastically reduced crime and lowest corruption index. When those in power are answerable to the People and also to the Laws of India; I am confident that crime and corruption will reduce drastically.

जय हिन्दुस्तान