2011 Indian anti-corruption movement
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The 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement consists of a series of protests for the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen Ombudsman Bill) that sprang up across India especially after April 5, 2011. The protesters want the Government of India to draft a strong anti-graft Lokpal bill which follows the originally drafted bill and not the changes the government plans to bring in, which will make the Lokayukta just another advisory body with no actual power in the vast Indian bureaucracy. Following continuous calls in vain to the government to work effectively towards passing the bill, a civil society activist and Gandhian, Anna Hazare, went on an indefinite hunger strike until death until his demands in support of the bill were met. Anna demanded for a joint committee of civil society members and government representatives to draft a strong anti-graft bill.
The protests led to the creation of an unprecedented movement that saw protests being organised in various cities and towns of India. Protests included fasts, candlelight vigils and rallies. The protests are especially one of their kind in India as they have no political affiliation and the protesters have been very hostile to any political party trying to grab the initiative to meet its own political goals from the activists. The protests to some extent have similarities in methodologies to Jayaprakash Narayan's Bihar Movement (commonly called the JP Movement) of 1974. There were also similarities to the methods and philosophies used in the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the Tunisian revolution, that have rocked the very foundations of governments in the Arab world.
Background
India has seen a lot of corruption in the last 60 years since independence. The economy of India was under socialist-inspired policies for an entire generation from the 1950s until the late 1980s. The economy was subject to extensive regulation, protectionism, and public ownership, leading to slow growth. There was also pervasive corruption in a system of bureaucratic controls (License Raj), which was often at the core of corruption.
The Vohra Report of 1993, submitted by the former Indian Union , studied the problem of the and of the nexus among criminals, politicians and bureaucrats in India. The report contained several observations made by official agencies on the criminal network which was virtually running a . It also discussed criminal gangs who enjoyed the patronage of politicians – of all political parties – and the protection of government functionaries. It revealed that political leaders had become the leaders of gangs. They were also connected to the military. Over the years criminals had been elected to local bodies, State Assemblies, and even the Parliament.
According to Jitendra Singh, "in the bad old days, particularly pre-1991, when the License Raj held sway, and by design, all kinds of free market mechanisms were hobbled or stymied, and corruption emerged almost as an illegitimate price mechanism, a shadowy quasi-market, such that scarce resources could still be allocated within the economy, and decisions could get made. [...] These were largely distortions created by the politico-economic regime. While a sea change has occurred in the years following 1991, some of the distorted cultural norms that took hold during the earlier period are slowly being repaired by the sheer forces of competition. The process will be long and slow, however. It will not change overnight." One of the major problems and obstacles to development that many developing countries face is corruption by greedy, power-hungry politicians, which is endemic in certain parts of the world.
The Right to Information Act (RTI Act) that came into force in 2005 has helped civilians work effectivley towards tackling corruption. The RTI Act allows all Indian citizens (except those living in Jammu and Kashmir) to request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days, all for a meagre sum of 
10 (US$ 0.22). It has also helped activists uncover graft cases against various politicians and bureaucrats. To quell the findings made by RTI activists, there have been instances where RTI activists have been attacked and even killed in some cases.
In the period 2010-2011, India witnessed various scandals being blown apart by the media, whistle-blowers, civil society activists and government investigation agencies alike. Scams like 2G spectrum scam, Adarsh Housing Society Scam, and many more brought about name of various Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers and even members of the Armed Forces. This showed how deeply entrenched corruption has become in India. It has led to a more expansive civil society movement that wishes to fight graft with the strictest of laws and penalties. India Against Corruption is a body created by various prominent activists and the citizens of India. It has no political affiliations and only wishes to bring about drastic changes in the governance system of India so as to tackle corruption effectively.
The original idea behind the Jan Lokpal Bill is to have the independent body which would investigate cases of corruption within a year and ensure speedy trial within the next year. India Against Corruption has made it its prime objective to bring about the passing in parliament and subsequent effective enforcement of the Jan Lokpal Bill. It has also become a force organizing protests in support of the bill.
Protest Timeline
- 13 March 2011
- A group of Delhi residents dressed in white shirts and t-shirts took a four-hour drive around the city to drum up campaign against corruption and rally support for the Jan Lokpal Bill.
- 28 March 2011
- According to the organisers of the protests held globally on that day - "As many as 45 cities in USA, 40 cities in India and 8 other countries globally joined in an anti-corruption movement. Indians across the globe, as far as from Nagpur to New Jersey and Sydney to Seattle shouted in one voice to enact 'Jan Lokpal Bill' and ratify the UN Convention against Corruption." Many of the marchers were planning to continue the movement by joining Anna Hazare's fast in Delhi on 5 April for the same cause.
- 4 April 2011
- Anna Hazare, the anti corruption activist leader announced his fast unto death till Jan Lokpal Bill is enacted
- 5 April 2011
Drafting Committee of the Bill
The 10 member Drafting Committee of the Jan Lokpal Bill will have an equal representation of both politicians and civil society members. On 8 April 2011, the Ministry of Law and Justice issued an official notification, The Gazette of India, regarding the Joint Drafting Committee of the bill. A copy of the notification can be found here
Chairmen
The Government of India accepted that there be a politician Chairman and an activist, non-politician Co-Chairman. It is reported that Pranab Mukherjee, from the political arena, and Shanti Bhushan, from the civil society, will be the Chairmen of the Drafting Committee.
Government representation
Five Cabinet ministers will be a part of the Drafting Committee. They are:
- Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister, Co-Chairman
- P. Chidambaram, Minister of Home Affairs, Panel Member
- Veerappa Moily, Minister of Law and Justice, Panel Member
- Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Panel Member
- Salman Khursid, Minister of Water Resources, Panel Member
Civil society representation
Five leading socialists will be a part of the Drafting Committee. They are:
- Shanti Bhushan, Former Minister of Law and Justice, Co-Chairman
- Anna Hazare, Social Activist, Panel Member
- Prashant Bhushan, Lawyer, Panel Member
- N. Santosh Hegde, Lokayukta (Karnataka), Panel Member
- Arvind Kejriwal, RTI activist, Panel Member
Allegations against panel members
Adding a new chapter in Lokpal Bill issue, the candidature of Shanti Bhushan, veteran lawyer, former union law minister and co-chairman of the new committee formed as a result of Anna Hazare’s recent hunger strike to draft a law on corruption, has come under scanner after a new CD controversy. Shanti Bhushan said that “it certainly appears to be a motivated, mallicious campaign to derail the draft of the Lokpal bill.”. Some pro-corruption supporters or those who would benefit from the status quo are drumming up support against this anti corruption movement by using the usual old tactics of attempting to cast doubt on Anna Hazare, the committee members, the who movement and how it was handled in the media and the press etc.
First Lokpal Bill draft meeting
First Lokpal Bill draft meeting was held on 16 April 2011, Eight days after Gandhian Anna Hazare called off his fast demanding a stronger Lokpal law. The government has agreed to audio-recording of all meetings of the Lokpal Bill panel and to holding public consultations before a final draft of the anti-graft law is prepared. Next meeting will be held on 2 May 2011. Anna Hazare insisted to telecast the live proceedings video, but government denied stating certain "drawbacks" of doing so and so the first meeting was held recording the audio for future references.
Use of social networks
Within a day of the beginning of the agitation, more than 30,000 people pledged their support to the Lokpal Bill. Organisers of the India Against Corruption said 30,000 people from Maharashtra expressed their support on their website. With an active Facebook page comprising of over 60,000 fans and a Twitter profile with more than 3300 followers, the “India Against Corruption” movement has already been a big success. The website has 20,000 members in Mumbai alone. Within a few days the Facebook page for India Against Corruption had more than 150,000 likes. There was heightened political activity on social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook. Various support group pages and events were created on the websites to show support and rally the masses.
Nonpartisan nature
Hazare and the protesters have tried to keep the protests non-political. No politicians were welcome at the site of the fast. Former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti and pro Sonia Gandhi journalist Barkha Dutt were forced by civilians to leave, after the protesters objected against their presence which they believed was harming the integrity of their movement.
Government response
Hazare's protest has led to the resignation of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar from the on corruption after Anna took potshots at him. On 8 April, the government started seriously considering the demands of the protesters. The government has stated that it will table the bill in the parliament in the upcoming Monsoon session. On 9 April, the government finally agreed to have a 50:50 distribution of the Government appointed officials and the members of the civil society. On May 13, PM Manmohan Singh stated that the Indian government has completed the process for ratification of UN Convention against Corruption.
Political response
Bhartiya Janata Party
Bhartiya Janata Party supported Anna Hazare. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley urged the Congress-led UPA Government to take veteran social activist Anna's indefinite fast very seriously.
Senior BJP leader, L.K. Advani suggested that a meeting of political parties should be convened to discuss this issue "particularly in the context of black money and curbing money-power in elections".
BJP leader and Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi posted on his Facebook account that he was diligently praying for Anna Hazare's health. He also published an open letter to Anna Hazare thanking him for the latter's support for the development work in Gujarat (being spearheaded by Narendra Modi himself as the chief minister of the state). Narendra Modi also cautioned Anna Hazare of possible vilification by a certain 'powerful-group' that wishes to defame Narendra Modi and Gujarat. He reiterated his support for the Jan Lokpal Bill, stating that he was also just another common man.
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) came out in support of Anna Hazare. Prakash Karat pledged support to Hazare over the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Indian black money in Swiss banks
Swami Ramdev has also publicly raised the issue of Indian money stashed away illegally in Swiss bank which is estimated to be between 1-1.5 trillion USD. He says that the government must take concrete action and bring back the money as it belongs to the people of India and has been taken out of the country illegally. The bill is a first step towards anti-corruption measures and will not be complete without addressing certain major reformations like bringing back black money. He wanted the government to make it mandatory for those who have deposited money in foreign banks to declare them and also to close the Mauritius route, which is a haven for tax evaders
Satyagraha against Corruption (SAC)
Swami Ramdev declared that a people's movement to liberate the country from rampant corruption and build a strong spiritual ‘Bharat' would be launched by him in June . The movement which is second phase of Bharath Swabhiman Yatra is named 'Satyagraha against Corruption'. He declared one of the main objectives of the movement was to bring about an end to corruption and bring back black money stashed away in various financial institutions in the country and abroad.
See also
References
Further reading
External links
- India Against Corruption, Official website
- India Against Corruption, Discussion Community
- Timeline (SIMILE Timeline, generated from hCalendar microformats on this page)
- Event data as RDF
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Indian_anti-corruption_movement
