Anna HazareLok Pal Bill

The man is a Gandhian, has served in the Indian Army, turned his village Ralegaon Siddhi in drought prone Ahmednagar in Maharashtra into a model rural inhabitation with surplus water, fought against rural alcoholism and has been an activist. For those in Maharashtra he is a household name but recently the man has hogged national attention. Anna Hazare needs no introduction. He is on a fast at JantarMantar in New Delhi which has become a pilgrimage of sorts. His fight is against corruption and his demand is that the government introduce the Lokpal Bill in parliament that has been languishing since 42 year. There has been a national upsurge and the civil society is abuzz with the demand made by Hazare. The social networking media is agog with Facebook chats, Tweets on the Twitter and discussions galore. All and sundry are voicing their support for Anna Hazare. Candle light marches are being organized across the country and there are supporters of Anna Hazare who are fasting with the man. Many are frail and old and may not be able to go on for long. Lokpal or Ombudsman Bill was first proposed by the Administrative Reforms Commission in 1966 and was passed by the LokSabha in 1968 and forwarded to the upper house RajyaSabha. Since then it has been languishing. The bill was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005and most recently in 2008. The recent corruption scandals in the country seems to have galvanized the nation and the constant media coverage has sent home the point that rampant corruption is endemic and needs to be checked. The common man also associates his own problems with the ever present corruption that is also the cause of massive price rise, or so the people believe. There is a pent up anger that has found voice in what Anna Hazare is doing. People from all walks of life are joining the Gandhian and this has turned into a so called mass movement. Some have gone on to say that JantarMantar where Anna Hazare is fasting is the Tahrir Square of India. Anna Hazare and his followers are however not impressed. They want changes in the proposed Lokpal Bill. Other social activists like KiranBedi, MedhaPatkar, Swami Agnivesh, ArvindKejriwal, Aruna Roy, Mallika Sarabhai etc have joined the chorus. What started as a social movement seems to have been overtaken by a class of people who have an agenda of their own. Some political opportunists like OP Chautala and Uma Bharti tried to join Anna Hazare but were shouted out of the venue. Known criminals like PappuYadav have voiced support for Hazare and have ostensibly been fasting in jail. Hazare and his activist friends are demanding that they be invited for talks on the Lokpal Bill. They want an equal representation in any committee formed to draft the proposed Lokpal Bill. They feel that till such time that the Lokpal is given adequate powers and an independent charge on the lines of Election Commission etc. the institution cannot be useful. They also believe that Lokpal is the answer to stemming the rot that pervades the society especially the political and bureaucratic class. There is no doubt that corruption is on the increase. It is also true that we need to nip it in the bud. But I am not too sure the way to go about it is the introduction of the Lokpal Bill in the form envisaged by the social activists lead by Anna Hazare. 1. They want that anyone from the civil society may be appointed as the Lokpal and not necessarily a judge from the Supreme Court, which means that any of these innumerable social activists that are creating ruckus at the JantarMantar will be eligible for the position of a Lokpal. 2. They further demand that the prime ministers office and his council of ministers be under the purview of the Lokpal. It is true that PM and his council of ministers do fall under the purview of the Lokpal but with the exception that on matters of public order or defense the Lokpals jurisdiction will not hold. Hazare and his men want a blanket access to PM and his Cabinet. 3. They also want that the Lokpal be allowed to take suomoto cognizance of issues pertaining to probity for those in office, which means that there shall be no filters and that any issue purportedly about graft from secondary sources should be enough for the Lokpal to institute an inquiry. The current proposed bill allows any notice of graft be first presented to the Speaker of the LokSabha or the Chairperson of the RajyaSabha who will then decide whether the case is fit to be pursued by the

Lokpal. This is to avoid frivolous and baseless charges being pursued by the Lokpal. But this does not impress the civil society and they want that this be done away with. 4. They want that the civil society appoint the Lokpal and not a committee of corrupt politicians including the Prime minister, the speaker of the house and the leader of the opposition.

Role Played by Media

Media plays a crucial role in shaping a healthy democracy. It is the backbone of a democracy. Media makes us aware of various social, political and economical activities happening around the world. It is like a mirror, which shows us or strives to show us the bare truth and harsh realities of life. The media has undoubtedly evolved and become more active over the years. It is the media only who reminds politicians about their unfulfilled promises at the time of elections. However, media does play a negative role as well. Over the last couple of weeks media is playing a crucial role by highlighting and supporting the fast of vetarianGandhian Anna Hazare on Jan Lokpal Bill / anti-corruption crusade and also reaching the same to the masses. But in the same time media is also responsible for misquoting the words of Digvijaya Singh, AICC general Secretary. None of his statements reveal that he is against anti corruption law or Jan Lok Pal Bill rather his statement reflects that he is a strong supporter of anticorruption law and for the passing of Jan Lokpal Bill. I didn't find any of his his speech against Anna Hazare or Jan Lok Pal Bill. It is the media who is accusing him for alleged smear campaign against civil society representatives. What we can perceive from his statement is that he actually wants the presence of more and more competent people / senior representatives from civil societies like Dr. Aruna Roy and Harsh Mander in the Lokpal bill drafting panel but the media have completely misquoted him on this aspect. As per as lawyers duo son and father ( Bushans) is concerned what he stated in the media, is known to everybody that they have been noticed for under valuing their property and also avoiding paying the right amount of stamp duty and receiving of notice from UP Govt. Now it is time for the people and Anna Hazare being the friend of the people to react and to choose his partner. It is not fair for someone to react on Digvijay Singh for informing the people of this country about the truth of lawyers duo. If Anna Hazare is right in his anti-corruption stand then he should not chose persons who have received UP Govt. notice for under valuing their property and also avoiding paying the right amount of stamp duty. He should rethink his stand on lawyers duo , otherwise it will give a negative message to the people of this country. We want people with clean image in the committee of JAN LOKPAL BILL. On justice Hegde is concerned, Mr. Singh had at no time attacked Justice Hegde, a member of the joint committee, but had only raised a question that if the best Lokayukta in Karnataka cannot stop "rampant corruption" in the state then a serious thought should be given to the system. So I request to the media, Please think a while and its consequences while putting a positive sentence in a negative manner because it is the common people who always depend on media to know the truth and if media add the flavour for making the news in its own style than its give a negative impact on the masses.