INDIANS AGAINST CORRUPTION

“This is the next struggle for our independence. Even though the British have left, only the colour of the ruler’s skin has changed, nothing else has.” – Anna Hazare
Anna Hazare renowned social activist and a true follower of Gandhian thoughts is on fast unto death since Tuesday. The respected social activist deeply pained and shocked at the extent corruption for the last decade or so finally decided enough is enough and the rampant corruption should be wiped out from the soil of India once and for all. Citizens like you and me were watching in shocking silence at the mountain of corruption the already burdened country is carrying over its shoulders. We sincerely hoped and prayed for the incarnation of a Missiha to take up cudgels against this looming menace. Now that the Missiha in the form 72 year old Anna Hazare has appeared on the scene demanding the formation of Jan Lok Pal Bill. Even before jumping into the fray he had demanded our Prime Minister to do something to erase corruption but the gentleman never cared to listen to saner counsels of Anna Hazare.
Even when he was about to start his fast unto death after all avenues of a solution failed the Prime Minister was adamant. The ‘Yes men and women’ of Mr.Singh and Sonia Gandhi like Manish Tiwari, Jayanti Natarajan and such elements accused Hazare of venturing into a ‘premature’ action and appealed to him to withdraw his fast.
Hazare’s ire and sarcasm against the group of Ministers to chart out a course of action as this group of Ministers consisted of Sharad Pawar who according to Hazare is himself a man of corruption and Kapil Sibal the Tele-communications Minister who went to the extent of justifying that in the 2G Spectrum scam our nation actually didn’t lose a single paise the truth was just the opposite, a massive loss of Rs 1,76000 lakh crore drained off the exchequer. Hazare without waiting for even a second, rejected the aforesaid group of Ministers looking into the matter.
Our Law Minister Veerappa Moily is a man with some sense of humour. He informed Hazare of the loss of the copy of draft Lok Pal Bill and requested Hazare to provide him with a new copy. A fasting Hazarika mocked at Veerappa Moily’s request and sarcastically pointed out the ‘seriousness’ the govt of India had displayed over the matter.
We witnessed a long procession of scams after scams, scandals after scandals like Anna Hazare and we can very well imagine the pain and agony he had undergone watching the scenes sitting on the side-lines. A true Gandhian like Hazare’s heart bled for the country. His voice turned into voice of the nation. Simultaneously the ‘so-called’ Gandhians in the corridors of power enjoyed power and pelf continue to enjoy, amass huge chunks of money without any qualms but preach Gandhism at the top of their voices a daily sight we all witness.
Soon after Hazare started fast at Jantar Mantar hundreds of citizens from various walks of life visit him and along with Hazare one hundred and fifty youth are on fast and to show solidarity with him citizens all over India who are fed up with a corruption-ridden govt are coming out into the streets to extent support for his noble cause.
A cross-section of our citizens for years eagerly waited for somebody to take up the mantle and that moment has reached now for another liberation struggle. As Anna Hazare compared to his movement with Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement of 1975 - his ‘Total Revolution’ and this comparison is apt and perfect.
Let the Jan Lok Pal bill be enacted under pressure from Anna Hazare, Medha Patkar, Aruna Roy, Aravind Kejriwal, Nikhil Dey, Sandip Pandey, Ms. Kiran Bedi IPS with the whole-hearted support of majority of Indians. The need of the hour is vigilance on the part of citizens, some political leaders to capitalize on Hazare’s movement tried to encroach upon the venue at Jantar Mantar like Uma Bharti, Ajith Singh, Om Prakash Chautala and they were prevented from it by Hazare’s people, a welcome step indeed. We know them. We know their history. To keep them out of such a noble venture is also the need of the hour. Otherwise this hallowed movement would be spoilt by all and sundry.