The on-going protest for the enactment of the Lokpal Bill has raised several questions; legal, political, social, and of course ethical!
There is already too much being said in the media about what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. How the law needs to shape up, how politicians need to bring some integrity into politics, how civil society shouldn't interfere with the processes of legislature and how we the people should be part of this mega-event post independence? Basically everyone has set of ideas and all want to see them churn into some form of action. Frustration among the masses is prevalent but who is to be really blamed for all this mess??? Well yes, its we the people, because after all we are a democracy, we have the right to vote, if we do not exercise our rights, then who should be blamed??? On one hand we say, we have made them MPs and now they should work and fulfill their promises but on the other hand, what have we done when they haven't been responsible? Well we have been all the more irresponsible by sending them back to the Parliament and other legislative bodies!
Speaking as a lawyer... the laws in the country need to be amended BIG time! and there is great deal of practical application (implementation) of law that is missing! Whether it is the land laws or the penal code? In near future Lokpal Bill may get enacted but that is not the solution to all the problems...The appointment of P J Thomas is still a question. Despite all the media attention the subject received and it was only when the Supreme Court asked Thomas to step down as Central Vigilance Commissioner that he agreed!... Therefore the establishment of a correct procedure is not enough, its implementation and further filling the voids is also important. The Civil Society / Anna shouldn't be just adamant about having a bill passed, well that is the job of the legislature, but their role is greater after the Bill is passed! Corruption did not start only because of the people who headed the system, its started for some reasons because there was no system of our own!!!
We study history, geography, literature, science, and other subjects the way Britishers left them for us!! We in some way are still carrying the burden of being ruled by other civilizations and cultures (India being the most invaded country in history). We seldom realize the essence of our very own society!!! The law and order that was set up by the British is still being followed, that needs to be changed/amended to our present needs. Without going into the technical, let me give a simple example (of course the problem is big!) - in the last few years all the major metros in India have been struggling due to rains every monsoon. Reason? the sewage system dates a century back, something set up by the British, post independence what have we done? We are grappling due to lack of a system!
We study history, geography, literature, science, and other subjects the way Britishers left them for us!! We in some way are still carrying the burden of being ruled by other civilizations and cultures (India being the most invaded country in history). We seldom realize the essence of our very own society!!! The law and order that was set up by the British is still being followed, that needs to be changed/amended to our present needs. Without going into the technical, let me give a simple example (of course the problem is big!) - in the last few years all the major metros in India have been struggling due to rains every monsoon. Reason? the sewage system dates a century back, something set up by the British, post independence what have we done? We are grappling due to lack of a system!
The only place system is well defined is the Constitution, written by Indian for a bright future of Indian, therefore without any abuse of the Constitution I hope Lokpal Bill is passed and implemented soon but i also hope that after all these demonstration and protest we do not forget the main cause that we are fighting for, i.e. we have a functional system such that corruption is not needed for system to work!!!
