'An open letter to Anna Hazare', appeared in The Hindu(http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2331292.ece), dated 6th August, for which I had a conversation with the writer; Hema Raghvan. Below is the verbatim mail that we shared.
1:
*************************************************************
Pawan.
**********************************************************************
2:
**********************************************************************
Very well expressed with incisive points of view.
My simple answer is there are alternatives which Mr. AH( who is called the second Mahatma) and all of you should understand that one man's fast is not the country's gain. On the other hand, the country will benefit and become a corruption-free nation if Mr.Ah and his supporters inspire the masses to sacrifice their unholy greed for more by taking recourse to bribery. If we sacrifice our greed and take to ethical ways, where will be the bribe taker? Cleanse one's own stable and not try to look for the mole in others' eyes.
**********************************************************************
3:
**********************************************************************
My thoughts included, spare me for grammatical error and typos if any, as I am not a regular writer.
I really respect and appreciate that you are concerned about our country but the thoughts for that are not practical for present conditions. We are living in an age of divided India, we don't have a common language for us to communicate. In maharashtra they favor only Marathi, moreover oppose Hindi, just because of an idiotic leadership. Leaders try to get public votes by touching issues of language and castes. Similar thing is worse in South India. Just to get some votes they have divided India. We are divided by language, by caste, by birth place and many other factors only because of corruption by the leaders.
We have been suffered by congress for more than 50 years, and as a result we have got: Corruption at its peak, poverty, illiteracy, PM that cant take decisions, widening lacuna between rich and poor, houses that a common man cant buy and many many other society diseases.
I want to complaint about many of corrupt practices that I know in daily life, but I have got no channel to communicate. I can lodge a police complaint which wont be taken care unless I provide them bribe, I have no channel to oppose this bribe too. I can lodge a case but it will be only me who will suffer from it, I need to wait atleast 20 years to get a certain resolution,when it might be not relevant for me, which might not be justified too.
PS.- I live in a housing society which needs an ID card for its residents, those ID cards have to be approved by the near by police station. Police requires rent agreement and a photo identity to approve the ID card. They also demand for Rs200 bribe to approve, and they wont even try to question any of your document if given the bribe.
Now, anyone can get a fake rent agreement stamped by Notary person in 100Rs. That rent agreement + 200 Rs can give anyone an identity of this housing society.
Try to link this with terrorism, I think links are easy to identify here.
I am living in this India which I want to make better, that is the reason I support Anna Hazare.
It wont be a one man's fast, count me in, I am Anna too!!
Regards
Pawan Gangwani
**********************************************************************
Above was the mail chain shared between me and Hema (writer for the article 'http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2331292.ece' in 'The Hindu' dated 6th august). I am eagerly waiting for the response to my last mail.
1:
*************************************************************
Dear hema,
Saw your article which fears the fall of Indian democracy because of Anna Hazare. Nice to see that you too are concerned about India, below is the verbatim with original in black and my comments in red. Please have a look.
“
I am a septuagenarian like you. Like you, I fight for principles and fight [Nice to know really, but unfortunately I am not aware]following the Gandhian way of satyagraha. But you may not include me as a member of ‘civil society' as we differ in the means to be adopted to secure the ideal ends.[]
Gandhiji never resorted to coercion to have his way. He never used fasting to blunt his opponent to accept his views and ideals. He never abused the British whose rule he fought against (except for one odd remark about a ‘gutter inspector')[may be this is the only remark that you know, others are hidden, who knows?]. But you call the Prime Minister a ‘liar' because he has accepted the Cabinet decision not to include the Prime Minister within the purview of the Lokpal.
Dr. Singh is a team leader [every Indian except Congressians, will laugh at this line if you call him a leader. A leader is one who leads, not the one who follows; tell me if there is any Indian who wants to lead like Man Mohan singh. Why doesn’t he come out in front of Indians to prove the efficacy of govt drafted bill? Why the public should remain under speculations? If the bill drafted by govt has got the potential to remove the corruption, being a leader he should prove it to us. A leader never hides, he always face his troops to answer them] and does not impose his views on his Cabinet. This is functioning in the true spirit (ahmm!!) of democracy where the collective wisdom of the majority is respected as against one's own personal views[visit the roads, if you get some time, where there are daily protests going on against this spineless bill. It’s not of one man only]. Did Gandhiji ever tell the British: “Come on, jail me,” when he went on fast. No, because he did not want to deny the British government its right to action. Aren't you whipping up mob hysteria and anger just because the government has not accepted six out of your 40 clauses?[Do you really think it’s all about numbers here, or are you favoring the spineless lokpal draft of our non respectable govt??] Do you mean to say that there can be only your thinking [mind you, see the involvement of public in the support of Anna, this can’t be said as only one’s opinion] and there shall be no alternative?[PLEASE SUGGEST THE ALTERNATIVE, WE(Indians) WILL BE MORE THAN GRATEFUL TO HAVE IT FROM ANYONE] Your silence about the mining scam in Karnataka is baffling[Feeling pity on you for this statement, why do you want him to speak about this, go ahead, you can speak too, you too are a responsible citizen of this country as much as he is and govt’s silence on any issue is much more baffling, you just didn’t notice it because you might have got used to it]. But you choose to vent your righteous ire on the Prime Minister and his government! [Even I do it, call me Anna too in that case]
You say you are not against democracy but against the government. The government, elected by the people can be thrown out at the next hustings[Do you really think we have any democracy left ?, People of India have lost lakhs of crores, yes lakhs of crores, to these politicians. If you define democracy like “money of people for the corrupts” then only you are right]. This is democracy. If you are in favour of democracy, why are you against a democratically-elected government that is given a mandate of just five years to govern?[Five years are not ‘just’, and if we have elected a govt it never means we should be bearing it for five years for whatever acts they do ]
You did a yeoman service, pushing the government to table the Lokpal Bill in this monsoon session [This bill was first introduced in 1968 and still pending, what do you think could be the possible reason of this delay?? Moreover who has brought the issue back into notice? Was it you or Anna?]. But you cannot say that ‘it should be my team's version and nothing else.'[They can say for it should be a majority version, to find out the truth go to the roads where you will see common man standing in support of Anna, or against the govt version of Lokpal bill, I think you are not in touch with common Indian man] You [Not to mention again and again, it’s not him only, it’s me and many like me who support him.] want to bring all three main pillars of democracy — the legislative, the executive and the judiciary — under the jurisdiction of the Lokpal to function as an effective single pillar for deciding on crime and punishment [do u want to see PMs like Mr Rao, god forbids if Laalu to make mockery at these weak pillars of so called democracy??]. The dance of democracy unleashed by you and your team has every danger of destroying our democracy.[“so called democracy”, we don’t have a democracy anymore, it’s already destroyed. This movement is all about restoring it again]
“
Don’t be against someone just because you don’t feel him right; better suggest some alternatives and the possible corrections that can be done. Like every Indian I am tired of the daily corruption now, but we have to live with it. This is a chance that we should take to remove the very roots of it. If you think that all this is Anna’s personal script, better check the statements made by SC judge, Mr. Narayan Murthi, Mr Aziz Aremji, Aamir Khan, and many other tycoons. Hear it too from me and every Indian those are protesting against govt draft of Lokpal everyday in every city of India, and then you will be surely convinced that it’s not anything personal to anyone.
Few questions before finishing:
Do you think we can mitigate poverty without corruption?
Can you link corruption to Inflation?
Is terrorism possible without corruption?
Do you know about the status of the tax that we pay? It’s used for us or it’s residing in Swiss accounts with unnamed account holder?
Do you think our dream of developed India will be true by 2020?
There are millions of similar questions in many minds, answer these few with true heart to yourself and you will see the need of the 6 clauses that were not entertained.
PS. Any offenses unintentional, but could not resist to write when I saw your text.
PPS. "I am an Indian like you, I too fight for principles " sounds much better.
**********************************************************************
2:
**********************************************************************
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My simple answer is there are alternatives which Mr. AH( who is called the second Mahatma) and all of you should understand that one man's fast is not the country's gain. On the other hand, the country will benefit and become a corruption-free nation if Mr.Ah and his supporters inspire the masses to sacrifice their unholy greed for more by taking recourse to bribery. If we sacrifice our greed and take to ethical ways, where will be the bribe taker? Cleanse one's own stable and not try to look for the mole in others' eyes.
Do you think we can mitigate poverty without corruption? Yes, if each one of us shares 10% of our resources . During the independence struggle, my father, in response to the call of Rajaji gave up his annual increment. I come from such a family.
Can you link corruption to Inflation? To some extent. Inflation is due to the traders making merry whenthere is a global inflation. If we the consumers take a pledge not to buy nor indulge in wasteful expenditure, inflation can be contained.
Is terrorism possible without corruption? Terrorism has nothing to do with corruption. Rajas and Kalmadis are economy's terrorists
Do you know about the status of the tax that we pay? It’s used for us or it’s residing in Swiss accounts with unnamed account holder? Not all. Yes, a certain %age. Why should black money of others worry us? Black money is due to corrupt practices. Let us try to contain bribery.
Do you think our dream of developed India will be true by 2020? Yes, I am confident if democracy is not substituted by mobocracy. What has happened in Arab nations and what is happening in London can get replicated in India if we whip up mass hysteria. Better that each one of us pledges to do his/her work sincerely and ethically.
By the way, I should add that I have held very senior positions in the university and never once in my personal or professional life I have resorted to giving or taking bribes. Another point is when I say I am 70+, that was addressed to afellow Indian of70+
**********************************************************************
3:
**********************************************************************
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
My thoughts included, spare me for grammatical error and typos if any, as I am not a regular writer.
On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 4:15 PM, hema raghavan <hema.vr@hotmail.com> wrote:
Very well expressed with incisive points of view.
My simple answer is there are alternatives which Mr. AH( who is called the second Mahatma) and all of you should understand that one man's fast is not the country's gain. On the other hand, the country will benefit and become a corruption-free nation if Mr.Ah and his supporters inspire the masses to sacrifice their unholy greed for more by taking recourse to bribery. If we sacrifice our greed and take to ethical ways, where will be the bribe taker? Cleanse one's own stable and not try to look for the mole in others' eyes.
Do you think we can mitigate poverty without corruption? Yes, if each one of us shares 10% of our resources . During the independence struggle, my father, in response to the call of Rajaji gave up his annual increment. I come from such a family. Sharing might have worked at that time, but its not in goodwill for todays India. We are already suffering the sting of reservation that bites us daily, which was initially set up for 5 years and is continued till date. We have made reserved castes handicapped, majority of them have no fighting spirit for anything, let it be education, job or whatever, they dont like to compete knowing its already there for them. Sharing would be much like spoon feeding, instead a good idea is to make all learn parallel with others, good idea would be to create opportunities which get suppressed today because of corruption involved every where. A normal Indian competing for a post in police has to have a jack or money to get into it, he has no other option. And if he pays say 5 lakhs to get a 15k/month job, he will surely get into the path of corruption to at least get his paid money back.
Can you link corruption to Inflation? To some extent. Inflation is due to the traders making merry whenthere is a global inflation. If we the consumers take a pledge not to buy nor indulge in wasteful expenditure, inflation can be contained. Lets take a practical example instead of theory, Sugar prices have surged last year enormously, that is real inflation for common man. Let me explain the reason that I could understand with certain level of investigation. Maharashtra is the major producer of Sugar, and Maharashtra also have Sharad Powar-one of the most corrupt person on earth. I came to know about the huge donation taken by sugar mills from Mr Powar, which in turn left the only option for Mill owners to increase the price of Sugar. This is just one example, countless others are there similar to this. I dont think I can pledge not to buy Sugar or say Onion, these are the necessities for a common man. Now if I complaint against Powar, it will probably result in a CBI probe, which is nothing but a govt body controlled by govt, and will take probably 20 years or more from now to come into a handicapped conclusion. Only option left here is to have a body independent of govt involvement which can probe men like him within a time limit. This is one of the 6 clauses that govt has disagreed. Here me and many others feel why Anna is right.
Is terrorism possible without corruption? Terrorism has nothing to do with corruption. Rajas and Kalmadis are economy's terrorists. Taking the point of Raja's and Kalmadi, do you really think Raja and Kalmadi's are the only one behind the scenes, and Mr . MMS(worst PM India has ever seen), has no idea about the scam. License for 2G have been allocated in 2008 to novices Telcos(unitech for ex, which has no relation with Telecom) in the price rate of 2001, could this be possible without the knowledge of PM?? If he was really not aware then he is not the PM and the PM office is getting controlled from somewhere else, no bigger proof than this can be given for him being spineless.
Coming to the point of terrorism, Consider an example: What would it take for a common man in India to get his
photo identity like driving license or votor ID?? a few hundred bucks and he doesn't even need to show his driving
to any official, and will get an identity at his home at his mentioned time. Now this thing applies to anyone who
want to get such identity and live here as an Indian, that is what happens with most of the terrorist cases,
terrorists make themselves amicable to the city which they want to intrude.
photo identity like driving license or votor ID?? a few hundred bucks and he doesn't even need to show his driving
to any official, and will get an identity at his home at his mentioned time. Now this thing applies to anyone who
want to get such identity and live here as an Indian, that is what happens with most of the terrorist cases,
terrorists make themselves amicable to the city which they want to intrude.
Do you know about the status of the tax that we pay? It’s used for us or it’s residing in Swiss accounts with unnamed account holder? Not all. Yes, a certain %age. Why should black money of others worry us? Black money is due to corrupt practices. Let us try to contain bribery. Its not their black money which we are concerned, its our money which has turned out black. Bribe is involved in daily practice today in every sector, If I dont pay bribe to a babu, my file wont move to judge's desk for hearing. If you are untouched by this yet, you might have not got the situations to go to govt offices for some work.
Do you think our dream of developed India will be true by 2020? Yes, I am confident if democracy is not substituted by mobocracy. What has happened in Arab nations and what is happening in London can get replicated in India if we whip up mass hysteria. Better that each one of us pledges to do his/her work sincerely and ethically.
By the way, I should add that I have held very senior positions in the university and never once in my personal or professional life I have resorted to giving or taking bribes. Another point is when I say I am 70+, that was addressed to afellow Indian of70+Take my words and thousand dollars bet, Its impossible in 8 more years to attain a status of developed India. We have created such a huge gap between rich and poor which if not subdued will only result in civil war, forget about a developed India.
I really respect and appreciate that you are concerned about our country but the thoughts for that are not practical for present conditions. We are living in an age of divided India, we don't have a common language for us to communicate. In maharashtra they favor only Marathi, moreover oppose Hindi, just because of an idiotic leadership. Leaders try to get public votes by touching issues of language and castes. Similar thing is worse in South India. Just to get some votes they have divided India. We are divided by language, by caste, by birth place and many other factors only because of corruption by the leaders.
We have been suffered by congress for more than 50 years, and as a result we have got: Corruption at its peak, poverty, illiteracy, PM that cant take decisions, widening lacuna between rich and poor, houses that a common man cant buy and many many other society diseases.
I want to complaint about many of corrupt practices that I know in daily life, but I have got no channel to communicate. I can lodge a police complaint which wont be taken care unless I provide them bribe, I have no channel to oppose this bribe too. I can lodge a case but it will be only me who will suffer from it, I need to wait atleast 20 years to get a certain resolution,when it might be not relevant for me, which might not be justified too.
PS.- I live in a housing society which needs an ID card for its residents, those ID cards have to be approved by the near by police station. Police requires rent agreement and a photo identity to approve the ID card. They also demand for Rs200 bribe to approve, and they wont even try to question any of your document if given the bribe.
Now, anyone can get a fake rent agreement stamped by Notary person in 100Rs. That rent agreement + 200 Rs can give anyone an identity of this housing society.
Try to link this with terrorism, I think links are easy to identify here.
I am living in this India which I want to make better, that is the reason I support Anna Hazare.
It wont be a one man's fast, count me in, I am Anna too!!
Regards
Pawan Gangwani
**********************************************************************
Above was the mail chain shared between me and Hema (writer for the article 'http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/article2331292.ece' in 'The Hindu' dated 6th august). I am eagerly waiting for the response to my last mail.
