India celebrates Anna Hazare?s victory
For the second time in one week, Indians poured into streets celebrating a victory that some say is sure to go down in history books as one of the proudest moments for the civil society fighting corruption in the world?s largest democracy.
Last Saturday the country witnessed uninhibited euphoria as India beat Sri Lanka to lift the cricket World Cup triggering an extraordinary wave of patriotism that saw everyone from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to actor Amitabh Bachchan join crowds on streets to celebrate the win.
Eight days later, India experienced similar sentiments as it saw 73-year-old Anna Hazare, a Gandhian social activist demanding a tough bill against corruption, break his 98-hour long fast but only after bringing the government to its knees.
Demands that seemed outrageous even a week ago, were met almost word-to-word after the 1965 Indo-Pak war veteran spurred an unprecedented national movement, drawing millions of supporters across the country and even abroad.
Thousands joined the leader at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, an 18th century astronomical observatory, over the past five days and innumerable people, even in other cities, fasted alongside Hazare.
?The real fight begins now,? he said as he broke his fast after getting formal conformation that the government had agreed to virtually every demand that his group India Against Corruption (IAC) had placed over drafting and implementing a fresh ombudsman bill.
A team with five members from the government, and five from civil society, led by a chairman and a co-chairmen from the two sides will now work towards drafting a bill that has been waiting for 42 years and is now finally expected to be tabled in the monsoon session of the parliament.
A formal notification, naming the members and other details of the panel — something which the Congress-led coalition government at the Centre was adamant over not allowing — was issued as well.
Union Minister Kapil Sibal, who himself will be part of the newly-formed team, presented a copy of the notification to Swami Agnivesh, one of the members of the IAC, and it was only then that Hazare broke his fast.
?We got more than we expected. This is a victory of the people,? said Swami Agnivesh, a scholar and social activist, best known for his work against bonded labour through the Bonded Labour Liberation Front, which he founded in 1981.
Hazare and his supporters celebrated with a victory march that began in the evening from the India Gate in New Delhi. Hazare also announced that he would travel the whole country campaigning for the bill.
Hundreds of people swarmed the India Gate to be part of the candle light vigil. Reports of celebrations from all corners of the country came in as well, as people sang and danced basking in a sense of triumph.
?We are all one. I thank the youth of the country. If the country’s youth wake up, we will win. This win is not mine alone, but for all of us. This is your victory,? he said.
?This is the dawn of the second battle for independence. The Lokpal Bill is our responsibility,? the septuagenarian leader added.
Called the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen?s Ombudsman Bill), once passed it will give an ombudsman police-like powers to investigate and prosecute ministers, bureaucrats and judges over corruption charges without being externally influenced.
It aims to create completely independent bodies, not unlike the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, called the Lokpal at the Centre and the Lokyukta at the state levels which will look into charges of graft against ministers and government officials.
The 10-member panel, with Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as the chairman and former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan as the co-chairman, will also include Hazare himself and will come up with a fresh draft of the bill trashing the earlier supposedly weaker versions.
As per the government?s notification, other members from the government?s side will include Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Telecoms Minister Kapil Sibal and Minister for Minority Affairs Salman Khursheed.
From civil society, besides Hazare and Shanti Bhushan, eminent lawyer Prashant Bhushan, retired Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde and Right to Information (RTI) activist Arvind Kejriwal will join the committee.
Even though the IAC had expressed its reservations over the ?co-chairman? title given to Bhushan, the government assured that it came with the same power and authority as the chairman.
However, the National Advisory Council (NAC) which pushed the 2010 draft of the Lokpal Bill, that has been widely drubbed for being weak and laden with loopholes, criticised the IAC?s version saying it was too wide in its ambit.
?Can the Lokpal look into all possible grievances of the public? Morever, absolute transparency as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill could weigh against privacy as well as limitations prescribed in Section 8 of the RTI Act,? Harsh Mander, an NAC member was quoted saying by Outlook magazine.
NAC members also reportedly said that the inclusion of civil society members in a committee to draft the bill was not desirable.
Faces in government, however, put up brave smiles welcoming the consensus, which was achieved after five days of most intense non-stop campaigning, media frenzy, online appeals and closed-door meetings in recent memory.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued a statement saying that he was happy that the government and representatives of civil society have reached an agreement in ?our mutual resolve to combat corruption?.
?The fact that civil society and Government have joined hands to evolve a consensus to move this historic legislation augurs well for our democracy,? he added.
?I am pleased that Anna Hazareji has agreed to give up his fast. The Government intends to introduce the Lokpal bill in Parliament during the monsoon session,? the Prime Minister said. The monsoon session generally begins in July.
On Friday after reaching the agreement Kapil Sibal, one of the prime negotiators with the activists said, “We have resolved issues which seemed intractable. Our fight against corruption is a fight in which we are the civil society are in the same page.”
“I am very happy that we are now ending these days of uncertainty through a resolution in which both sides have confidence,” he said.
“I think it is a victory for democracy. We exult in that,” he said
He also praised Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for what he called their “generosity” in resolving the issue.
Earlier on Friday Prime Minister Manmohan Singh briefed President Pratibha Devisingh Patil on the Lokpal Bill crisis and efforts to find a solution to the impasse.
The standoff between the civil society led by Anna Hazare and the central government over drafting an anti-corruption ombudsman prevailed for nearly four days, with crowds at the Jantar Mantar growing each day.
On the fourth day of the “fast-unto-death” by Hazare, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Bollywood actors like Anupam Kher and choreographer Farah Khan showed up and egged on people to support the movement.
Bollywood superstars Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan too had earlier voiced support for the movement.
The top brass of Congress party – Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and Kapil Sibal – met several times to find a way out, but until Friday the government kept ruling out a formal notification on the bill.
In response Hazare hardened his stance and called for a “Jail Bharo” (fill up the jails) movement.
With millions of supporters backing his hunger strike, and thousands joining him at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the threat had come as a below-the-belt blow for the government which was struggling to hold its own in front of the unprecedented protest movement.
Finally on Friday night, after extensive meetings between leaders from both the sides, a consensus was reached with almost all demands of the IAC being met. The bills drafted by either side were exchanged as the journey towards forming a unified one began.
In its latest corruption index, Transparency International ranked India at 78, placing it below neighbouring rival China.
The latest spree of corruption scandals that came to light since late last year have rattled and tarnished the image of the Manmohan Singh’s government ushering a public unrest over the explicitly visible accounts of graft.
