Anna Hazare and People of India

In facebook and in most of the Social Networking sites..we can see lot of people supporting something called as a "movement against Corruption" and Anna Hazare is their hero. What are we trying achieve here by showing that support - NRI people in US/ UK lit some candles and come to the streets - huh..

And what is Anna Hazare fighting for?

- why does he want a bill that he proposes?

- why can't he fast to make the existing laws to be more stringent?

- why can't he fast for speeding up the investigations on the corruptions?

- why does he want to create a furore for this when he could meet all the ruling and opposition party leaders and come on a consensus on the Lokpal Bill.

- And who could guarantee that there will be no corruption after the Lokpal and Lokaukytha committees are set-up?

- Who are going to be the people that would be running that Committee?

- If it is going to be something like the Supreme Court and Election Commission - where anyway Politicians can influence them - then why do you need a separate committee?

Media has been making him a hero and the Indian people are so emotional that they get charged when they see someone putting up a fast or a fight and saying that it is for the good of the country.

I saw some profile pictures supporting Anna - why do you need to do that?..ask yourself - are you really not corrupt or not bribing for your needs given a situation?

Why are NRIs in US and Western countries shouting for this? - Ask yourself what have you done for your country? You just go there seeking a lucrative life not bothering anything about India and only during Bomb blasts and some instances like this - you come out to say - We are Indians!!

See everyone needs to understand that neither Congress nor most of the Opposition parties including BJP are ready accept the Bill that was proposed by Anna and his group (I won't call them a team - as Media calls them), they want a version of the bill that should not curtail the Authoritarian Powers of the Government (this is more in a foresight for a country that is developing and which is trying to make a mark in the Global Economy). And as a matter of fact, I read in an article by Gnani - which says - Only the Members of Parliament decide on Passing a Bill - not an X, Y or Z. - As citizens of India, we can recommend, argue and file a case on the bill - but except for the MPs of India no one has the right to decide on a Bill to be passed. That is how our Democracy is being built.

So my kind request is - Guys - Don't be emotional in these circumstances. As Indians we have lot of other problems to solve - of course Corruption is one of those - but there are different ways to do that. Coming to streets and lighting candles would not help. When I was watching a debate in NDTV yesterday, there was person who was asking - why the Mumbaikars - if they turn out to streets in big numbers to support a "so called' movement against corruption - why didn't they turnout for voting - the voting percentage was so less in Mumbai last May. It is more to our culture too, where we tend to get fame or just to convince ourselves that just by supporting Anna Hazare - we are against corruption - where we would continue to be what we are and we would still bribe people for our own needs. Yesterday in a discussion in our office - a friend of mine Dinesh Kumar pointed out that "Employees give 5% commission for getting fake Medical Bills to the Medical Store guy - during Financial Year end to claim the 15K rupees and they come to street and support Anna Hazare - to fight against Corruption". We need to think of these before we get emotional to support anyone.

Politicians would play their politics - Media would play their gimmicks to make their news more attractive - Anna Hazare would be in the limelight for some more days. But let’s be honest to ourselves and then make a call on what is right and what is wrong.

Some Incidents..

In the past few weeks, I happened to come across policemen showing different stature. I thought I would pen those incidents.

Incident - 1

Ashok Nagar Jawahar Vidhayalaya school 4-corner road and a peak morning 9.30 traffic, vehicles are simply struck there without any movement because it is a four corner road with no signal and everyone trying to sneak into the small gaps and hence a total chaos. Particularly the autos - enough has been said about them. I can say we were far behind the road junction and were impatient for few mins as we are struck there. And then suddenly vehicles started moving and particularly vehicles were moving in order. And this could be possible in Chennai only when there is a traffic police or some other police. I was not seeing any traffic police nor any police too. I was wondering who was the person who regulated the traffic, and normally people in Chennai don't tend to obey any volunteers (I have seen a lot of people just disobeying the NCC students or any other part-time traffic police - because they know these people can't get hold of them and book them). When I crossed the 4-corner road I noticed this man, tall, handsome, well built - I guessed definitely he should be a police. Later I saw his vehicle parked bit ahead of the 4-corner junction; it read 'Chennai Sub-urban Police'. By the time my car crossed the 4-corner road, the traffic is almost cleared and this guy in his casual dress was walking to his vehicle where his driver was waiting. So he should be an Inspector of Police who was passing by the road and he did care about the public, got down from his vehicle and started to regulate the traffic. Not many of them do this. I liked the way he regulated the vehicle's movements, he was not shouting, not arrogant rather he was so pleasant with a smiling face asking vehicles in one road to wait for the others to go on.

I and my wife, who were travelling, really were so impressed to see a policeman like this.

Incident - 2

Just opposite side of Olympia Tech Park where my office is, here again vehicles are struck in heavy traffic due to the roads being narrowed due to the Metro Rail works going on. The roads when seen from the top would resemble bottle necks and normally most of the people try to sneak in to the narrow portion before the other vehicle moves in. And in once such incident a girl with 'L' board on a Maruti Swift rammed on the right side of my car, and we got down, were in an argument with her. I had taken back my car from the garage a week ago and again damage, I was frustrated. Also for the minor damage that she made to the car doors, I knew it would cost me Rs5000 (insurance would cover it of course). So I was demanding an amount of Rs3000 to the girl and she was so adamant that it was both of ours mistake and there are damages to both of our cars. I was not ready to accept that because, I know my car was not moving and she came from the behind and wanted move in quickly and hence had rammed on my car. And now there were traffic police nearby and when I asked him to settle the issue, he told me "Man, how can I talk to a girl"..and I was surprised and it was bit funny for me. Now enters another bit elderly police, he calls both of us (I was so adamant that day that I need to file a case and take it legally) and asks us compromise ourselves and don't go for any case or anything. He was so polite and he called me "Raja..leave this..these are minor things, take it easily" etc etc. Finally, I and my wife decided we would leave it and moved on to our office. Though that I felt bit frustrated, I was ok later because the complete charges were borne by the Insurance Company. But I learnt an important lesson, there would be always support from public for girls irrespective of whether they have done a mistake or not.

Incident - 3

This happened yesterday, I was waiting outside a small fast-food shop nearby my home ordering some dinner. A night police patrol jeep came and stopped in front of the shop; one guy from the shop took Rs20 to them and gave it to the police driving the jeep. This is at 9.45pm @ Kodambakkam and ironically the jeep back door glasses have various contact numbers - emergency, bribing, etc. After having a chat with the shop-owner, I came to know that it is a regular daily bata of Rs20 and occasionally chicken-rice, beef etc. And the police want public to respect them!