Saturday, April 9, 2011

[rti4empowerment] Fwd: Anna Hazare- A point of View

The Attached Article is a good one on Anna Hazare euphoria against corruption. It requires attention as to what this phenomena meant to Aam Aadmi of this country and what is the role of the corrupt so called Civil Society and externally funded NGOs and their corrupt representatives who were surrounding Anna and who represented the people of India in negotiations with corrupt ministers. Do we have to be careful?

This should be widely debated amongst the positive thinkers and Social Activists and necessary conclusion drawn as to how effective this movement against corruption will be. Does the positioning of a Jan Lokpal ensures warding off corruption from Head of the Govt. down to the local Babu level? The present arrangement seem to go up one more level from CBI to CVC and now Jan Lok pal. Whosoever appointed a CVC recently (removed by an SC Order) remains empowered to appoint a Jan Lokpal too. The PM knows nothing on any matter from price rise to price control to corruption by his party men, ministers and members of Parliament. 
Holding a well funded election for individual candidate at a given frequency indicates existence of Democracy- in Prajatantra mode, not in a Jantantra mode. What do the people expect from such TV and SMS publicised election. Is it that no social or political scientist or a politician sees this as a -ve change. For Parliamentarians and Legislatures it provides a good opportunity to remain aloof from the voters and make money through underhand deals as much as they can. 

--
Dr.V.N.Sharma
Cell No.9431102680,
Co-ordinator, Jharkhand Shanti evam Nyaya Yatra (JSNY): May 15-20,2011
Member, Secretariat, All India Forum for Right to Education (AIF-RTE) 
Working Committee Member, Jan Sansad 




[HumJanenge] Fwd: Anna Hazare- A point of View

The Attached Article is a good one on Anna Hazare euphoria against corruption. It requires attention as to what this phenomena meant to Aam Aadmi of this country and what is the role of the corrupt so called Civil Society and externally funded NGOs and their corrupt representatives who were surrounding Anna and who represented the people of India in negotiations with corrupt ministers. Do we have to be careful?

This should be widely debated amongst the positive thinkers and Social Activists and necessary conclusion drawn as to how effective this movement against corruption will be. Does the positioning of a Jan Lokpal ensures warding off corruption from Head of the Govt. down to the local Babu level? The present arrangement seem to go up one more level from CBI to CVC and now Jan Lok pal. Whosoever appointed a CVC recently (removed by an SC Order) remains empowered to appoint a Jan Lokpal too. The PM knows nothing on any matter from price rise to price control to corruption by his party men, ministers and members of Parliament. 
Holding a well funded election for individual candidate at a given frequency indicates existence of Democracy- in Prajatantra mode, not in a Jantantra mode. What do the people expect from such TV and SMS publicised election. Is it that no social or political scientist or a politician sees this as a -ve change. For Parliamentarians and Legislatures it provides a good opportunity to remain aloof from the voters and make money through underhand deals as much as they can. 

--
Dr.V.N.Sharma
Cell No.9431102680,
Co-ordinator, Jharkhand Shanti evam Nyaya Yatra (JSNY): May 15-20,2011
Member, Secretariat, All India Forum for Right to Education (AIF-RTE) 
Working Committee Member, Jan Sansad 




Re: [HumJanenge] At the risk of heresy ....

Dear Gnanisankaran

Thank you very much for bringing some substance to the ridiculous psuedo frenzy against corruption that has been going. Maybe the intentions are right but the naivete is nauseatic.

The ease with which very well educated people have been swayed into thinking that fasts, mass congregations, candle light marches and car rallies will bring change is amusing. The other essential characteristic of Indians of course is cowardice and pussy footing where the gloves should come off.

Rishi

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone


From: jnani sankaran <gnanisankaran@hotmail.com>
Sender: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2011 09:33:24 +0530
To: <humjanenge@googlegroups.com>
ReplyTo: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [HumJanenge] At the risk of heresy ....

Would the pseudo warriors behind Anna Hazare care to know about someone called Irom Sharmila?

 

Gnani Sankaran

 

It was fashionable to be patriotic during Kargil war and now it is fashionable to be fighters against corruption thanks to Anna Hazare.

 

Within two days of the fast of veteran gandhian's understandable ire against delay in creating a lok pal act, the English media channels and their partners - in- arms English print media have created a pseudo war against corruption in India, with middle and upper middle classes suddenly waking up their consciences through candle light walks.

 

Dear pseudo comrades, have you heared of Irom Sharmila , fasting not for one or two days, but a full decade, with absolutely no media hype to create a single candle light walk by the rich and the affluent of India.

 

Lend your ears not to me, friends, Indians and countrymen, but to Irom Sharmila, a fellow Indian like Anna hazare. Unfortunately  she is from Manipur, which many of us in south and western India confuse with Manipal  where money  gets education and  again unfortunately in Manipur , even money cannot guarantee you your life.

 

Here is a quick recap on Irom Sharmila, for the sake of latecomers to public causes. Assam Rifles one of the Indian para military forces under whose control Manipur is, gunned down ten people waiting for bus at a bus stop in Malom in Imphal valley on November 1,2000.  While the army claimed that it fired against insurgents , other eye witness accounts  challenged that. The killed included an old woman.

 

On November 4, Irom Sharmila a 28 year old girl started a fast unto death demanding repeal of the armed forces special powers act of 1958 which empowered the army to kill without being questioned.  She was arrested for attempting to commit suicide and force fed by tubes. For the last ten years, the government repeats the farce of arresting her on the same charge every year, after a formal release for a day or two. This is  because the very charge of attempt to suicide does not entail imprisonment of more than one year even if convicted. Irom Sharmila continues to be under arrest till date  and is being forcefed.

 

In 2004, Thangjam Manorama, another Manipuri girl was found dead, brutally killed by the Indian army and this led to hundreds of women protesting ourside army headquarters in Imphal. Forty women, young and old went naked  with placards demanding "Indian army, rape us."

 

And Irom Sharmila continued to fast under arrest, while rest of India has been merrily carrying on with regular elections and cricket. (If Anna Hazare had been on fast during semi finals and finals of world cup , the media would have blissfully ignored him. Timing, my dear friends, Indians and countrymen, is very very important in politics and media. Remember that if Government of India has taken 42 years to draft a Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare also has taken so long to launch a fast unto death on that demand.)

 

Except for customary casual  and superficial mention about Irom Sharmila in their news bulletins whenever an Arundhathi Roy or Mahaswetha devi mentioned her, the entire Indian media has ignored her. Why ? Simple, my dear watsons, it is unpatriotic to question the army or criticize it, even though it may be as corrupt as our politicians and even more brutal than them.

 

A government  bullying its own citizens of an entire state with its army is worse than corruption. This has been going on in North east irrespective of which party holds power in Delhi. The candle vigilantes of the educated middle, upper middle and rich dare not take up issues of human rights violations, or adivasis' traditional right violations. It is the easiest option to shout from the rooftops about corruption while being part of the very same corrupt system in day to day life. And the politician is the favourite whipping boy for these classes.

 

And is corruption in India waiting only for one single Lok pal bill at the centre to throw it out in entirety  ? No. Anna hazare's fast is only for drafting  of a water tight bill which would take atleast three to four months, even if the committee of his choice works on it. And once the bill becomes the act, it does not dent corruption a bit unless it is enforced. Enforecement is the responsibility of the same corrupt machinery and system we havc.

 

And remember we already have enough laws to book the corrupt politicians and public servants. Whatever cases that remain in court against a Lalu Prasad yadav or Jayalalitha or Madhu Koda or Ramalinga Raju or Ketan Desai  have been booked under the existing well framed laws.

 

What we really need is not just a new law but only a honest enforcemenet machinery to implement the best constitution in the world. And such a machinery also unfortunately has to come only from the educated middle, upper middle and rich classes because it is these classes that have produced,  protected and  perpetuated the existing dishonest enforcement system.

 

What we need is therefore not a candle light rally around the half dead Anna Hazare  but a protest rally outside the houses of auditors, lawyers, doctors and teachers whop have corrupted oru system blaming everything on an imaginary uneducated politician. But lo, they are an indistinguishable but inseperable part of the cacophony of the pseudo war against  corruption.

 

I wish before his martyrdom, someone would first educate Anna Hazare about a place called Manipur and an unsung heroine called Irom Sharmila.

 

---------------------------------

Gnanisankaran is a tamil writer, columnist, theatreperson and video film maker

Contact at gnanisankaran@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 



an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind - mahatma gandhi



> Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2011 20:54:27 -0700
> Subject: [HumJanenge] At the risk of heresy ....
> From: sroy.mb@gmail.com
> To: HumJanenge@googlegroups.com
>
> http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/April/09.04.2011/risk_in_lokpal_bll.htm#
>
> Saturday April 09, 2011 10:10:31 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>
> At the risk of heresy, let me express my profound unease at the
> crescendo of euphoria surrounding the 'Anna Hazare + Jan Lokpal Bill'
> phenomenon as it has unfolded on Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and across
> several hysterical TV stations over the last few days.
>
> This time around, I have to say that the print media has acted (upto
> now) with a degree of restraint that I think is commendable. Partly,
> this has to do with the different natures of the two media. If you
> have to write even five hundred words about the Jan Lokpal bill, you
> run out of platitudes against corruption in the first sentence (and
> who can speak 'for' corruption anyway?) and after that you have to
> begin thinking about what the bill actually says, and the moment you
> do that, you cannot but help consider the actual provisions and their
> implications. On television on the other hand, you never have to speak
> for more than a sound-byte, (and the anchor can just keep repeating
> himself or herself, because that is the anchor's job) and the
> accumulation of pious vox-pop sound bytes 'against corruption' leads
> to a tsunami of 'sentiment' that brooks no dissent.
>
> Between the last NDA government and the current UPA government, we
> have probably experienced a continuity of the most intense degree of
> corruption that this country has ever witnessed. The outcome of the
> 'Anna Hazare' phenomenon allows the ruling Congress to appear gracious
> (by bending to Anna Hazar's will) and the BJP to appear pious (by
> cozying up to the Anna Hazare initiative) and a full spectrum of NGO
> and 'civil society' worthies to appear, as always, even holier than
> they already are.
>
> Most importantly, it enables the current ruling elite to have just
> stage managed its own triumph, by crafting a 'sensitive' response
> (ably deployed by Kapil Sibal) to a television media conjured popular
> upsurge. Meanwhile, the electronic media, by and large, have played
> their part by offering us the masquerade of a 'revolution' – that ends
> up making the state even more powerful than it was before this so
> called 'revolution' began. Some people in the corridors of power must
> be delighted at the smoothness and economy with which all this has
> been achieved. Hosni Mubarak should have taken a few lessons from the
> Indian ruling class about how to have your cake and eat it too on
> Tahrir Square,
>
> We have been here before. Indira Gandhi's early years were full of
> radical and populist posturing, and the mould that Anna Hazare fills
> is not necessarily the one that JP occupied (despite the commentary
> that repeatedly invokes JP). Perhaps we should be reminded of the man
> who was fondly spoken of as 'Sarkari Sant' – Vinoba Bhave. Bhave lent
> his considerable moral stature to the defence of the Internal
> Emergency (which, of course, dressed itself up in the colour of anti-
> corruption, anti-black marketeering rhetoric, to neutralize the anti-
> corruption thrust of the disaffection against Indira Gandhi's regime).
> And while we are thinking about parallels in other times, let us not
> forget a parallel in another time and another place. Let us not forget
> the example of how Mao's helmsmanship of the 'cultural revolution'
> skilfully orchestrated popular discontent against the ruling
> dispensation to strengthen the same ruling dispensation in China.
>
> These are early days, but Anna Hazare may finally go down in history
> as the man who - perhaps against his own instincts and interests – (I
> am not disputing his moral uprightness here) - sanctified the entire
> spectrum of Indian politics by offering it the cosmetic cloak of the
> provisions of the draft Jan Lokpal Bill. The current UPA regime, like
> the NDA regime before it, has perfected the art of being the designer
> of its own opposition. The method is brilliant and imaginative. First,
> preside over profound corruption, then, utilise the public discontent
> against corruption to create a situation where the ruling dispensation
> can be seen as the source of the most sympathetic and sensitive
> response, while doing nothing, simultaneously, to challenge the abuse
> of power at a structural level.
>
> I have studied the draft Jan Lokpal Bill carefully and I find some of
> its features are deeply disturbing. I want to take some time to think
> through why this appears disturbing to me.
>
> The draft Jan Lokpal bill (as present on the website of
> Indiaagainstcorruption.org) foresees a Lokpal who will become one of
> the most powerful institutions of state that India has ever known. It
> will combine in itself the powers of making law, implementing the law,
> and punishing those who break the law. A lokpal will be 'deemed a
> police officer' and can 'While investigating any offence under
> Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, they shall be competent to
> investigate any offence under any other law in the same case.'
>
> The appointment of the Lokpal will be done by a collegium consisting
> of several different kinds of people – Bharat Ratna awardees, Nobel
> prize winners of Indian origin, Magasaysay award winners, Senior
> Judges of Supreme and High Courts, The Chairperson of the National
> Human Rights Commission, The Comptroller and Auditor General of India,
> The Chief Election Commissioner, and members of the outgoing Lokpal
> board and the Chairpersons of both houses of Parliament. It may be
> noticed that in this entire body, only one person, the chairperson of
> the Lok Sabha, is a democratically elected person. No other person on
> this panel is accountable to the public in any way. As for 'Nobel
> Prize Winners of Indian Origin' they need not even be Indian citizens.
> The removal of the Lokpal from office is also not something amenable
> to a democratic process. Complaints will be investigated by a panel of
> supreme court judges.
>
> This is middle class India's dream of subverting the 'messiness' of
> democracy come delightfully true. So, now you have to imagine that
> Lata Mangeshkar (who is a Bharat Ratna), APJ Abul Kalam (Bharat Ratna,
> ex-President and Nuclear Weapons Hawk) V.S. Naipaul (Who is a Nobel
> Prize Winner of Indian Origin) and spectrum of the kinds of people who
> take their morning walks in Lodhi Garden – Supreme Court Judges,
> Election Commissioners, Comptroller & Auditor Generals, NHRC chiefs
> and Rajya Sabha chairmen will basically elect the person who will run
> what may well become the most powerful institution in India.
>
> This is a classic case of a priviledged elite selecting how it will
> run its show without any restraint. It sets the precedent for the
> making of an un accountable 'council of guardians' something like the
> institution of the 'Velayat e Faqih' – a self-selected body of clerics
> – in Iran who act as a super-state body, unrestrained by any
> democratic norms or procedures. I do not understand what qualifies
> Lata Mangeshkar and V.S. Naipaul (whose deeply reactionary views are
> well known) to take decisions about the future of all those who live
> in india.
>
> The setting up of the institution of the Lokpal (as it is envisioned
> in what is held out as the draft Jan Lokpal Bill) needs to be seen,
> not as the deepening, but as the profound erosion of democracy.
>
> I respect the sentiment that brings a large number of people out in
> support of the Jan Lokpal Bill movement. but I do not think there has
> been enough thought given to the implications of the provisions that
> it seeks to make into law. In these circumstances, one would have
> ordinarily expected the media to have played a responsible role by
> acting as a platform for debate and discussion about the issues, so
> that we can move, as a society, towards a better and more nuanced law.
> Instead, the electronic media have killed the possibility of any
> substantive discussion by creating a spectacle. It is absolutely
> imperative that this space be reclaimed by those who are genuinely
> interested in a serious discussion about what corruption represents in
> our society and in our political culture.
>
> Clearly, there is a popular rage, (and not confined to earnest middle
> class people alone) about the helplessness that corruption engenders
> around us. But we have to ask very carefully whether this bill
> actually addresses the structural issues that cause corruption. In
> setting up a super-state body, that is almost self selecting and
> virtually unaccountable, it may in fact laying the foundations of an
> even more intense concentration of power. And as should be clear to
> all of us by now, nothing fosters corruption as much as the
> concentration of unaccountable and unrestrained power.
>
> I am not arguing against the provision of an institution of a Lokpal,
> or Ombudsman, (and some of the provisions even in this draft bill –
> such as the provision of protection for whistle-blowers, are indeed
> commendable) but if we want to take this institution seriously, within
> a democratic political culture, we have to ask whether the methods of
> initiating and concluding the term of office of the Lokpal conforms to
> democratic norms or not. There are many models of selecting Ombudsmen
> available across the world, but I have never come across a situation
> where a country decides that Nobel Prize winners and those awarded
> with state conferred honours can be entrusted with the task selecting
> those entrusted with the power to punish people. I have also never
> come across the merging of the roles of investigator, judge and
> prosecutor within one office being hailed as the triumph of democratic
> values.
>
> Nothing serves power better than the spectacle of resistance. The last
> few days have witnessed an unprecedented choregraphy of the spectacle
> of a united action. As I type this, I am watching visuals on Times
> Now, where a crescendo of cheezy 'inspirational' music strings
> together a montage of flag-waving children speaking in hypnotic
> unison. This kind of unison scares me. It reminds me of the happy
> synchronized calisthenics of the kind that totalitarian regimes love
> to use to produce the figure of their subjects. And all fascist
> regimes begin by sounding the tocsin of 'cleansing' society of
> corruption and evil.
>
> When four Bombay page three worthies, Rishi Kapoor, Prithwish Nandy,
> Anupam Kher, Anil Dharker conduct a shrill inquisition (as they did on
> the Newshour on Times Now) against two co-panelists, Meenakshi Lekhi
> and Hartosh Singh Bal simply because they were not sounding 'cheerful
> and celebratory' (Anupam Kher even disapproved of their 'body
> posture') I begin to get really worried. The day we feel self-
> conscious and inhibited about expressing even non-verbally, or
> silently, our disappointment in public about a public issue, is the
> day when we know that authoritarian values have taken a firm hold on
> public discourse.
>
> Of course, there are other reasons to get worried. All we need now is
> for someone, say like Baba Ramdev (one of the worthies behind Anna
> Hazare's current campaign) to go on a fast on Jantar Mantar in support
> of some draconian and reactionary measure dear to him, backed by
> thousands of pious, earnest television supported, pranayamic middle
> class supporters.
>
> Having said this, lets also pause to consider that Its not as if
> others have not been on hunger strikes before – Irom Sharmila has been
> force fed for several years now – but I do not see her intransigence
> being translated into a tele-visually orchestrated campaign against
> the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The impunity that AFSPA breeds is
> nothing short of a corruption that eats deep into the culture of
> democracy, and yet, here, moral courage, and the refusal to eat, does
> not seem to work.
>
> The current euphoria needs to be seen for what it is – a massive move
> towards legitimizing a strategy of simple emotional blackmail – a
> (conveniently reversible) method of suicide bombing in slow motion.
> There is no use dissenting against a pious worthy on a fast, because
> any effort to dissent will be immediately read as a callous
> indifference to his/her 'sacrifice' by the moral-earnestness brigade.
> Nothing can be more dangerous for democracy.Unrestrained debate and a
> fealty to accountable processes are the only means by which a
> democratic culture can sustain itself. The force of violence, whether
> it is inflicted on others, or on the self, or held out as a
> performance, can only act coercively. And coercion can never nourish
> democracy.
>
> Finally, if, as a society, we were serious about combating the
> political nexus that sustains corruption – we would be thinking
> seriously about extending the provisions of the Right to Information
> Act to the areas where it can not currently operate – national
> security and defence; we would also think seriously about electoral
> reform – about proportional representation, about smaller
> constituencies, about strengthening local representative bodies, about
> the provision of uniform public funding for candidates and about the
> right to recall elected representatives. These are serious questions.
> The tragedy that we are facing today is that the legitimate public
> outrage against corruption is being channeled in a profoundly
> authoritarian direction that actually succeeds in creating a massive
> distraction.
>
> In all the noise there has been a lot of talk about cynicism, and
> anyone who has expressed the faintest doubt has been branded as a
> cynic. I do not see every expression of doubt in this context as
> cynicism, though some may be. Instead, I see the fact that those who
> often cry hoarse about 'democratic values' seem to be turning a blind
> eye to the authoritarian strains within this draft 'Jan Lokpal Bill'
> as a clear indication of how powerful the politics of cynicism
> actually is.
>
> I hope that eventually, once the din subsides, better sense will
> prevail, and we can all begin to think seriously, un-cynically about
> what can actually be done to combat the abuse and concentration of
> power in our society.
>
> Allow me to pick and choose my revolutions. I am not celebrating at
> Jantar Manta tonight. Good night.

RE: [HumJanenge] At the risk of heresy ....

Would the pseudo warriors behind Anna Hazare care to know about someone called Irom Sharmila?

 

Gnani Sankaran

 

It was fashionable to be patriotic during Kargil war and now it is fashionable to be fighters against corruption thanks to Anna Hazare.

 

Within two days of the fast of veteran gandhian's understandable ire against delay in creating a lok pal act, the English media channels and their partners - in- arms English print media have created a pseudo war against corruption in India, with middle and upper middle classes suddenly waking up their consciences through candle light walks.

 

Dear pseudo comrades, have you heared of Irom Sharmila , fasting not for one or two days, but a full decade, with absolutely no media hype to create a single candle light walk by the rich and the affluent of India.

 

Lend your ears not to me, friends, Indians and countrymen, but to Irom Sharmila, a fellow Indian like Anna hazare. Unfortunately  she is from Manipur, which many of us in south and western India confuse with Manipal  where money  gets education and  again unfortunately in Manipur , even money cannot guarantee you your life.

 

Here is a quick recap on Irom Sharmila, for the sake of latecomers to public causes. Assam Rifles one of the Indian para military forces under whose control Manipur is, gunned down ten people waiting for bus at a bus stop in Malom in Imphal valley on November 1,2000.  While the army claimed that it fired against insurgents , other eye witness accounts  challenged that. The killed included an old woman.

 

On November 4, Irom Sharmila a 28 year old girl started a fast unto death demanding repeal of the armed forces special powers act of 1958 which empowered the army to kill without being questioned.  She was arrested for attempting to commit suicide and force fed by tubes. For the last ten years, the government repeats the farce of arresting her on the same charge every year, after a formal release for a day or two. This is  because the very charge of attempt to suicide does not entail imprisonment of more than one year even if convicted. Irom Sharmila continues to be under arrest till date  and is being forcefed.

 

In 2004, Thangjam Manorama, another Manipuri girl was found dead, brutally killed by the Indian army and this led to hundreds of women protesting ourside army headquarters in Imphal. Forty women, young and old went naked  with placards demanding "Indian army, rape us."

 

And Irom Sharmila continued to fast under arrest, while rest of India has been merrily carrying on with regular elections and cricket. (If Anna Hazare had been on fast during semi finals and finals of world cup , the media would have blissfully ignored him. Timing, my dear friends, Indians and countrymen, is very very important in politics and media. Remember that if Government of India has taken 42 years to draft a Lokpal bill, Anna Hazare also has taken so long to launch a fast unto death on that demand.)

 

Except for customary casual  and superficial mention about Irom Sharmila in their news bulletins whenever an Arundhathi Roy or Mahaswetha devi mentioned her, the entire Indian media has ignored her. Why ? Simple, my dear watsons, it is unpatriotic to question the army or criticize it, even though it may be as corrupt as our politicians and even more brutal than them.

 

A government  bullying its own citizens of an entire state with its army is worse than corruption. This has been going on in North east irrespective of which party holds power in Delhi. The candle vigilantes of the educated middle, upper middle and rich dare not take up issues of human rights violations, or adivasis' traditional right violations. It is the easiest option to shout from the rooftops about corruption while being part of the very same corrupt system in day to day life. And the politician is the favourite whipping boy for these classes.

 

And is corruption in India waiting only for one single Lok pal bill at the centre to throw it out in entirety  ? No. Anna hazare's fast is only for drafting  of a water tight bill which would take atleast three to four months, even if the committee of his choice works on it. And once the bill becomes the act, it does not dent corruption a bit unless it is enforced. Enforecement is the responsibility of the same corrupt machinery and system we havc.

 

And remember we already have enough laws to book the corrupt politicians and public servants. Whatever cases that remain in court against a Lalu Prasad yadav or Jayalalitha or Madhu Koda or Ramalinga Raju or Ketan Desai  have been booked under the existing well framed laws.

 

What we really need is not just a new law but only a honest enforcemenet machinery to implement the best constitution in the world. And such a machinery also unfortunately has to come only from the educated middle, upper middle and rich classes because it is these classes that have produced,  protected and  perpetuated the existing dishonest enforcement system.

 

What we need is therefore not a candle light rally around the half dead Anna Hazare  but a protest rally outside the houses of auditors, lawyers, doctors and teachers whop have corrupted oru system blaming everything on an imaginary uneducated politician. But lo, they are an indistinguishable but inseperable part of the cacophony of the pseudo war against  corruption.

 

I wish before his martyrdom, someone would first educate Anna Hazare about a place called Manipur and an unsung heroine called Irom Sharmila.

 

---------------------------------

Gnanisankaran is a tamil writer, columnist, theatreperson and video film maker

Contact at gnanisankaran@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 



an eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind - mahatma gandhi



> Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2011 20:54:27 -0700
> Subject: [HumJanenge] At the risk of heresy ....
> From: sroy.mb@gmail.com
> To: HumJanenge@googlegroups.com
>
> http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/April/09.04.2011/risk_in_lokpal_bll.htm#
>
> Saturday April 09, 2011 10:10:31 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
>
> At the risk of heresy, let me express my profound unease at the
> crescendo of euphoria surrounding the 'Anna Hazare + Jan Lokpal Bill'
> phenomenon as it has unfolded on Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and across
> several hysterical TV stations over the last few days.
>
> This time around, I have to say that the print media has acted (upto
> now) with a degree of restraint that I think is commendable. Partly,
> this has to do with the different natures of the two media. If you
> have to write even five hundred words about the Jan Lokpal bill, you
> run out of platitudes against corruption in the first sentence (and
> who can speak 'for' corruption anyway?) and after that you have to
> begin thinking about what the bill actually says, and the moment you
> do that, you cannot but help consider the actual provisions and their
> implications. On television on the other hand, you never have to speak
> for more than a sound-byte, (and the anchor can just keep repeating
> himself or herself, because that is the anchor's job) and the
> accumulation of pious vox-pop sound bytes 'against corruption' leads
> to a tsunami of 'sentiment' that brooks no dissent.
>
> Between the last NDA government and the current UPA government, we
> have probably experienced a continuity of the most intense degree of
> corruption that this country has ever witnessed. The outcome of the
> 'Anna Hazare' phenomenon allows the ruling Congress to appear gracious
> (by bending to Anna Hazar's will) and the BJP to appear pious (by
> cozying up to the Anna Hazare initiative) and a full spectrum of NGO
> and 'civil society' worthies to appear, as always, even holier than
> they already are.
>
> Most importantly, it enables the current ruling elite to have just
> stage managed its own triumph, by crafting a 'sensitive' response
> (ably deployed by Kapil Sibal) to a television media conjured popular
> upsurge. Meanwhile, the electronic media, by and large, have played
> their part by offering us the masquerade of a 'revolution' – that ends
> up making the state even more powerful than it was before this so
> called 'revolution' began. Some people in the corridors of power must
> be delighted at the smoothness and economy with which all this has
> been achieved. Hosni Mubarak should have taken a few lessons from the
> Indian ruling class about how to have your cake and eat it too on
> Tahrir Square,
>
> We have been here before. Indira Gandhi's early years were full of
> radical and populist posturing, and the mould that Anna Hazare fills
> is not necessarily the one that JP occupied (despite the commentary
> that repeatedly invokes JP). Perhaps we should be reminded of the man
> who was fondly spoken of as 'Sarkari Sant' – Vinoba Bhave. Bhave lent
> his considerable moral stature to the defence of the Internal
> Emergency (which, of course, dressed itself up in the colour of anti-
> corruption, anti-black marketeering rhetoric, to neutralize the anti-
> corruption thrust of the disaffection against Indira Gandhi's regime).
> And while we are thinking about parallels in other times, let us not
> forget a parallel in another time and another place. Let us not forget
> the example of how Mao's helmsmanship of the 'cultural revolution'
> skilfully orchestrated popular discontent against the ruling
> dispensation to strengthen the same ruling dispensation in China.
>
> These are early days, but Anna Hazare may finally go down in history
> as the man who - perhaps against his own instincts and interests – (I
> am not disputing his moral uprightness here) - sanctified the entire
> spectrum of Indian politics by offering it the cosmetic cloak of the
> provisions of the draft Jan Lokpal Bill. The current UPA regime, like
> the NDA regime before it, has perfected the art of being the designer
> of its own opposition. The method is brilliant and imaginative. First,
> preside over profound corruption, then, utilise the public discontent
> against corruption to create a situation where the ruling dispensation
> can be seen as the source of the most sympathetic and sensitive
> response, while doing nothing, simultaneously, to challenge the abuse
> of power at a structural level.
>
> I have studied the draft Jan Lokpal Bill carefully and I find some of
> its features are deeply disturbing. I want to take some time to think
> through why this appears disturbing to me.
>
> The draft Jan Lokpal bill (as present on the website of
> Indiaagainstcorruption.org) foresees a Lokpal who will become one of
> the most powerful institutions of state that India has ever known. It
> will combine in itself the powers of making law, implementing the law,
> and punishing those who break the law. A lokpal will be 'deemed a
> police officer' and can 'While investigating any offence under
> Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, they shall be competent to
> investigate any offence under any other law in the same case.'
>
> The appointment of the Lokpal will be done by a collegium consisting
> of several different kinds of people – Bharat Ratna awardees, Nobel
> prize winners of Indian origin, Magasaysay award winners, Senior
> Judges of Supreme and High Courts, The Chairperson of the National
> Human Rights Commission, The Comptroller and Auditor General of India,
> The Chief Election Commissioner, and members of the outgoing Lokpal
> board and the Chairpersons of both houses of Parliament. It may be
> noticed that in this entire body, only one person, the chairperson of
> the Lok Sabha, is a democratically elected person. No other person on
> this panel is accountable to the public in any way. As for 'Nobel
> Prize Winners of Indian Origin' they need not even be Indian citizens.
> The removal of the Lokpal from office is also not something amenable
> to a democratic process. Complaints will be investigated by a panel of
> supreme court judges.
>
> This is middle class India's dream of subverting the 'messiness' of
> democracy come delightfully true. So, now you have to imagine that
> Lata Mangeshkar (who is a Bharat Ratna), APJ Abul Kalam (Bharat Ratna,
> ex-President and Nuclear Weapons Hawk) V.S. Naipaul (Who is a Nobel
> Prize Winner of Indian Origin) and spectrum of the kinds of people who
> take their morning walks in Lodhi Garden – Supreme Court Judges,
> Election Commissioners, Comptroller & Auditor Generals, NHRC chiefs
> and Rajya Sabha chairmen will basically elect the person who will run
> what may well become the most powerful institution in India.
>
> This is a classic case of a priviledged elite selecting how it will
> run its show without any restraint. It sets the precedent for the
> making of an un accountable 'council of guardians' something like the
> institution of the 'Velayat e Faqih' – a self-selected body of clerics
> – in Iran who act as a super-state body, unrestrained by any
> democratic norms or procedures. I do not understand what qualifies
> Lata Mangeshkar and V.S. Naipaul (whose deeply reactionary views are
> well known) to take decisions about the future of all those who live
> in india.
>
> The setting up of the institution of the Lokpal (as it is envisioned
> in what is held out as the draft Jan Lokpal Bill) needs to be seen,
> not as the deepening, but as the profound erosion of democracy.
>
> I respect the sentiment that brings a large number of people out in
> support of the Jan Lokpal Bill movement. but I do not think there has
> been enough thought given to the implications of the provisions that
> it seeks to make into law. In these circumstances, one would have
> ordinarily expected the media to have played a responsible role by
> acting as a platform for debate and discussion about the issues, so
> that we can move, as a society, towards a better and more nuanced law.
> Instead, the electronic media have killed the possibility of any
> substantive discussion by creating a spectacle. It is absolutely
> imperative that this space be reclaimed by those who are genuinely
> interested in a serious discussion about what corruption represents in
> our society and in our political culture.
>
> Clearly, there is a popular rage, (and not confined to earnest middle
> class people alone) about the helplessness that corruption engenders
> around us. But we have to ask very carefully whether this bill
> actually addresses the structural issues that cause corruption. In
> setting up a super-state body, that is almost self selecting and
> virtually unaccountable, it may in fact laying the foundations of an
> even more intense concentration of power. And as should be clear to
> all of us by now, nothing fosters corruption as much as the
> concentration of unaccountable and unrestrained power.
>
> I am not arguing against the provision of an institution of a Lokpal,
> or Ombudsman, (and some of the provisions even in this draft bill –
> such as the provision of protection for whistle-blowers, are indeed
> commendable) but if we want to take this institution seriously, within
> a democratic political culture, we have to ask whether the methods of
> initiating and concluding the term of office of the Lokpal conforms to
> democratic norms or not. There are many models of selecting Ombudsmen
> available across the world, but I have never come across a situation
> where a country decides that Nobel Prize winners and those awarded
> with state conferred honours can be entrusted with the task selecting
> those entrusted with the power to punish people. I have also never
> come across the merging of the roles of investigator, judge and
> prosecutor within one office being hailed as the triumph of democratic
> values.
>
> Nothing serves power better than the spectacle of resistance. The last
> few days have witnessed an unprecedented choregraphy of the spectacle
> of a united action. As I type this, I am watching visuals on Times
> Now, where a crescendo of cheezy 'inspirational' music strings
> together a montage of flag-waving children speaking in hypnotic
> unison. This kind of unison scares me. It reminds me of the happy
> synchronized calisthenics of the kind that totalitarian regimes love
> to use to produce the figure of their subjects. And all fascist
> regimes begin by sounding the tocsin of 'cleansing' society of
> corruption and evil.
>
> When four Bombay page three worthies, Rishi Kapoor, Prithwish Nandy,
> Anupam Kher, Anil Dharker conduct a shrill inquisition (as they did on
> the Newshour on Times Now) against two co-panelists, Meenakshi Lekhi
> and Hartosh Singh Bal simply because they were not sounding 'cheerful
> and celebratory' (Anupam Kher even disapproved of their 'body
> posture') I begin to get really worried. The day we feel self-
> conscious and inhibited about expressing even non-verbally, or
> silently, our disappointment in public about a public issue, is the
> day when we know that authoritarian values have taken a firm hold on
> public discourse.
>
> Of course, there are other reasons to get worried. All we need now is
> for someone, say like Baba Ramdev (one of the worthies behind Anna
> Hazare's current campaign) to go on a fast on Jantar Mantar in support
> of some draconian and reactionary measure dear to him, backed by
> thousands of pious, earnest television supported, pranayamic middle
> class supporters.
>
> Having said this, lets also pause to consider that Its not as if
> others have not been on hunger strikes before – Irom Sharmila has been
> force fed for several years now – but I do not see her intransigence
> being translated into a tele-visually orchestrated campaign against
> the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The impunity that AFSPA breeds is
> nothing short of a corruption that eats deep into the culture of
> democracy, and yet, here, moral courage, and the refusal to eat, does
> not seem to work.
>
> The current euphoria needs to be seen for what it is – a massive move
> towards legitimizing a strategy of simple emotional blackmail – a
> (conveniently reversible) method of suicide bombing in slow motion.
> There is no use dissenting against a pious worthy on a fast, because
> any effort to dissent will be immediately read as a callous
> indifference to his/her 'sacrifice' by the moral-earnestness brigade.
> Nothing can be more dangerous for democracy.Unrestrained debate and a
> fealty to accountable processes are the only means by which a
> democratic culture can sustain itself. The force of violence, whether
> it is inflicted on others, or on the self, or held out as a
> performance, can only act coercively. And coercion can never nourish
> democracy.
>
> Finally, if, as a society, we were serious about combating the
> political nexus that sustains corruption – we would be thinking
> seriously about extending the provisions of the Right to Information
> Act to the areas where it can not currently operate – national
> security and defence; we would also think seriously about electoral
> reform – about proportional representation, about smaller
> constituencies, about strengthening local representative bodies, about
> the provision of uniform public funding for candidates and about the
> right to recall elected representatives. These are serious questions.
> The tragedy that we are facing today is that the legitimate public
> outrage against corruption is being channeled in a profoundly
> authoritarian direction that actually succeeds in creating a massive
> distraction.
>
> In all the noise there has been a lot of talk about cynicism, and
> anyone who has expressed the faintest doubt has been branded as a
> cynic. I do not see every expression of doubt in this context as
> cynicism, though some may be. Instead, I see the fact that those who
> often cry hoarse about 'democratic values' seem to be turning a blind
> eye to the authoritarian strains within this draft 'Jan Lokpal Bill'
> as a clear indication of how powerful the politics of cynicism
> actually is.
>
> I hope that eventually, once the din subsides, better sense will
> prevail, and we can all begin to think seriously, un-cynically about
> what can actually be done to combat the abuse and concentration of
> power in our society.
>
> Allow me to pick and choose my revolutions. I am not celebrating at
> Jantar Manta tonight. Good night.

Re: [HumJanenge] IMPORTANT, Restricted posting to Humjanenge


Wht abt "Moderators" who use abusive language, express personal opinions in objectionable manner?? Surely that's not in consonance with the implementation of core objectives of this Group??

Aren't Moderators supposed to maintain decorum by example rather than verbally aggressive sentances,that at times even belittle Respcted members of the Group??

Is it acceptable in this Group for Moderators to agrresively "put down" Members, by a "show"of verbal force backed by bad language ??

Pramod Bhandari
Gurgaon

Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel


From: "S.D. Sharma" <anonsharma@yahoo.com>
Sender: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2011 07:45:16 +0530
To: humjanenge<humjanenge@googlegroups.com>
ReplyTo: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
Subject: [HumJanenge] IMPORTANT, Restricted posting to Humjanenge

In only 1 week of April about 300 emails have been sent to this group.
An exceptionally high percentage of which is uncorrelated to groups
objectives - viz. RTI

To ensure 300 email per month limit of group, from now till the end
of  this month, message posts to this group are restricted to comply
with our 300 email limit. This means that moderators shall manually
review all emails posted against the objectives of the group.

Moderators have also decided to enforce group regulations with
retrospective effect concerning members who have abused other
members in their posts.

S D Sharma

[HumJanenge] At the risk of heresy ....

http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/April/09.04.2011/risk_in_lokpal_bll.htm#

Saturday April 09, 2011 10:10:31 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta

At the risk of heresy, let me express my profound unease at the
crescendo of euphoria surrounding the 'Anna Hazare + Jan Lokpal Bill'
phenomenon as it has unfolded on Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and across
several hysterical TV stations over the last few days.

This time around, I have to say that the print media has acted (upto
now) with a degree of restraint that I think is commendable. Partly,
this has to do with the different natures of the two media. If you
have to write even five hundred words about the Jan Lokpal bill, you
run out of platitudes against corruption in the first sentence (and
who can speak 'for' corruption anyway?) and after that you have to
begin thinking about what the bill actually says, and the moment you
do that, you cannot but help consider the actual provisions and their
implications. On television on the other hand, you never have to speak
for more than a sound-byte, (and the anchor can just keep repeating
himself or herself, because that is the anchor's job) and the
accumulation of pious vox-pop sound bytes 'against corruption' leads
to a tsunami of 'sentiment' that brooks no dissent.

Between the last NDA government and the current UPA government, we
have probably experienced a continuity of the most intense degree of
corruption that this country has ever witnessed. The outcome of the
'Anna Hazare' phenomenon allows the ruling Congress to appear gracious
(by bending to Anna Hazar's will) and the BJP to appear pious (by
cozying up to the Anna Hazare initiative) and a full spectrum of NGO
and 'civil society' worthies to appear, as always, even holier than
they already are.

Most importantly, it enables the current ruling elite to have just
stage managed its own triumph, by crafting a 'sensitive' response
(ably deployed by Kapil Sibal) to a television media conjured popular
upsurge. Meanwhile, the electronic media, by and large, have played
their part by offering us the masquerade of a 'revolution' – that ends
up making the state even more powerful than it was before this so
called 'revolution' began. Some people in the corridors of power must
be delighted at the smoothness and economy with which all this has
been achieved. Hosni Mubarak should have taken a few lessons from the
Indian ruling class about how to have your cake and eat it too on
Tahrir Square,

We have been here before. Indira Gandhi's early years were full of
radical and populist posturing, and the mould that Anna Hazare fills
is not necessarily the one that JP occupied (despite the commentary
that repeatedly invokes JP). Perhaps we should be reminded of the man
who was fondly spoken of as 'Sarkari Sant' – Vinoba Bhave. Bhave lent
his considerable moral stature to the defence of the Internal
Emergency (which, of course, dressed itself up in the colour of anti-
corruption, anti-black marketeering rhetoric, to neutralize the anti-
corruption thrust of the disaffection against Indira Gandhi's regime).
And while we are thinking about parallels in other times, let us not
forget a parallel in another time and another place. Let us not forget
the example of how Mao's helmsmanship of the 'cultural revolution'
skilfully orchestrated popular discontent against the ruling
dispensation to strengthen the same ruling dispensation in China.

These are early days, but Anna Hazare may finally go down in history
as the man who - perhaps against his own instincts and interests – (I
am not disputing his moral uprightness here) - sanctified the entire
spectrum of Indian politics by offering it the cosmetic cloak of the
provisions of the draft Jan Lokpal Bill. The current UPA regime, like
the NDA regime before it, has perfected the art of being the designer
of its own opposition. The method is brilliant and imaginative. First,
preside over profound corruption, then, utilise the public discontent
against corruption to create a situation where the ruling dispensation
can be seen as the source of the most sympathetic and sensitive
response, while doing nothing, simultaneously, to challenge the abuse
of power at a structural level.

I have studied the draft Jan Lokpal Bill carefully and I find some of
its features are deeply disturbing. I want to take some time to think
through why this appears disturbing to me.

The draft Jan Lokpal bill (as present on the website of
Indiaagainstcorruption.org) foresees a Lokpal who will become one of
the most powerful institutions of state that India has ever known. It
will combine in itself the powers of making law, implementing the law,
and punishing those who break the law. A lokpal will be 'deemed a
police officer' and can 'While investigating any offence under
Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, they shall be competent to
investigate any offence under any other law in the same case.'

The appointment of the Lokpal will be done by a collegium consisting
of several different kinds of people – Bharat Ratna awardees, Nobel
prize winners of Indian origin, Magasaysay award winners, Senior
Judges of Supreme and High Courts, The Chairperson of the National
Human Rights Commission, The Comptroller and Auditor General of India,
The Chief Election Commissioner, and members of the outgoing Lokpal
board and the Chairpersons of both houses of Parliament. It may be
noticed that in this entire body, only one person, the chairperson of
the Lok Sabha, is a democratically elected person. No other person on
this panel is accountable to the public in any way. As for 'Nobel
Prize Winners of Indian Origin' they need not even be Indian citizens.
The removal of the Lokpal from office is also not something amenable
to a democratic process. Complaints will be investigated by a panel of
supreme court judges.

This is middle class India's dream of subverting the 'messiness' of
democracy come delightfully true. So, now you have to imagine that
Lata Mangeshkar (who is a Bharat Ratna), APJ Abul Kalam (Bharat Ratna,
ex-President and Nuclear Weapons Hawk) V.S. Naipaul (Who is a Nobel
Prize Winner of Indian Origin) and spectrum of the kinds of people who
take their morning walks in Lodhi Garden – Supreme Court Judges,
Election Commissioners, Comptroller & Auditor Generals, NHRC chiefs
and Rajya Sabha chairmen will basically elect the person who will run
what may well become the most powerful institution in India.

This is a classic case of a priviledged elite selecting how it will
run its show without any restraint. It sets the precedent for the
making of an un accountable 'council of guardians' something like the
institution of the 'Velayat e Faqih' – a self-selected body of clerics
– in Iran who act as a super-state body, unrestrained by any
democratic norms or procedures. I do not understand what qualifies
Lata Mangeshkar and V.S. Naipaul (whose deeply reactionary views are
well known) to take decisions about the future of all those who live
in india.

The setting up of the institution of the Lokpal (as it is envisioned
in what is held out as the draft Jan Lokpal Bill) needs to be seen,
not as the deepening, but as the profound erosion of democracy.

I respect the sentiment that brings a large number of people out in
support of the Jan Lokpal Bill movement. but I do not think there has
been enough thought given to the implications of the provisions that
it seeks to make into law. In these circumstances, one would have
ordinarily expected the media to have played a responsible role by
acting as a platform for debate and discussion about the issues, so
that we can move, as a society, towards a better and more nuanced law.
Instead, the electronic media have killed the possibility of any
substantive discussion by creating a spectacle. It is absolutely
imperative that this space be reclaimed by those who are genuinely
interested in a serious discussion about what corruption represents in
our society and in our political culture.

Clearly, there is a popular rage, (and not confined to earnest middle
class people alone) about the helplessness that corruption engenders
around us. But we have to ask very carefully whether this bill
actually addresses the structural issues that cause corruption. In
setting up a super-state body, that is almost self selecting and
virtually unaccountable, it may in fact laying the foundations of an
even more intense concentration of power. And as should be clear to
all of us by now, nothing fosters corruption as much as the
concentration of unaccountable and unrestrained power.

I am not arguing against the provision of an institution of a Lokpal,
or Ombudsman, (and some of the provisions even in this draft bill –
such as the provision of protection for whistle-blowers, are indeed
commendable) but if we want to take this institution seriously, within
a democratic political culture, we have to ask whether the methods of
initiating and concluding the term of office of the Lokpal conforms to
democratic norms or not. There are many models of selecting Ombudsmen
available across the world, but I have never come across a situation
where a country decides that Nobel Prize winners and those awarded
with state conferred honours can be entrusted with the task selecting
those entrusted with the power to punish people. I have also never
come across the merging of the roles of investigator, judge and
prosecutor within one office being hailed as the triumph of democratic
values.

Nothing serves power better than the spectacle of resistance. The last
few days have witnessed an unprecedented choregraphy of the spectacle
of a united action. As I type this, I am watching visuals on Times
Now, where a crescendo of cheezy 'inspirational' music strings
together a montage of flag-waving children speaking in hypnotic
unison. This kind of unison scares me. It reminds me of the happy
synchronized calisthenics of the kind that totalitarian regimes love
to use to produce the figure of their subjects. And all fascist
regimes begin by sounding the tocsin of 'cleansing' society of
corruption and evil.

When four Bombay page three worthies, Rishi Kapoor, Prithwish Nandy,
Anupam Kher, Anil Dharker conduct a shrill inquisition (as they did on
the Newshour on Times Now) against two co-panelists, Meenakshi Lekhi
and Hartosh Singh Bal simply because they were not sounding 'cheerful
and celebratory' (Anupam Kher even disapproved of their 'body
posture') I begin to get really worried. The day we feel self-
conscious and inhibited about expressing even non-verbally, or
silently, our disappointment in public about a public issue, is the
day when we know that authoritarian values have taken a firm hold on
public discourse.

Of course, there are other reasons to get worried. All we need now is
for someone, say like Baba Ramdev (one of the worthies behind Anna
Hazare's current campaign) to go on a fast on Jantar Mantar in support
of some draconian and reactionary measure dear to him, backed by
thousands of pious, earnest television supported, pranayamic middle
class supporters.

Having said this, lets also pause to consider that Its not as if
others have not been on hunger strikes before – Irom Sharmila has been
force fed for several years now – but I do not see her intransigence
being translated into a tele-visually orchestrated campaign against
the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The impunity that AFSPA breeds is
nothing short of a corruption that eats deep into the culture of
democracy, and yet, here, moral courage, and the refusal to eat, does
not seem to work.

The current euphoria needs to be seen for what it is – a massive move
towards legitimizing a strategy of simple emotional blackmail – a
(conveniently reversible) method of suicide bombing in slow motion.
There is no use dissenting against a pious worthy on a fast, because
any effort to dissent will be immediately read as a callous
indifference to his/her 'sacrifice' by the moral-earnestness brigade.
Nothing can be more dangerous for democracy.Unrestrained debate and a
fealty to accountable processes are the only means by which a
democratic culture can sustain itself. The force of violence, whether
it is inflicted on others, or on the self, or held out as a
performance, can only act coercively. And coercion can never nourish
democracy.

Finally, if, as a society, we were serious about combating the
political nexus that sustains corruption – we would be thinking
seriously about extending the provisions of the Right to Information
Act to the areas where it can not currently operate – national
security and defence; we would also think seriously about electoral
reform – about proportional representation, about smaller
constituencies, about strengthening local representative bodies, about
the provision of uniform public funding for candidates and about the
right to recall elected representatives. These are serious questions.
The tragedy that we are facing today is that the legitimate public
outrage against corruption is being channeled in a profoundly
authoritarian direction that actually succeeds in creating a massive
distraction.

In all the noise there has been a lot of talk about cynicism, and
anyone who has expressed the faintest doubt has been branded as a
cynic. I do not see every expression of doubt in this context as
cynicism, though some may be. Instead, I see the fact that those who
often cry hoarse about 'democratic values' seem to be turning a blind
eye to the authoritarian strains within this draft 'Jan Lokpal Bill'
as a clear indication of how powerful the politics of cynicism
actually is.

I hope that eventually, once the din subsides, better sense will
prevail, and we can all begin to think seriously, un-cynically about
what can actually be done to combat the abuse and concentration of
power in our society.

Allow me to pick and choose my revolutions. I am not celebrating at
Jantar Manta tonight. Good night.

Re: [HumJanenge] Do we need a Lokpal Bill to remove Ministers ?

Dear All.

July 2011 Calendar

Don't want to mess up my feng shui!

This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens
once every 823 years. This is called money bags. So, forward this to
your friends and money will arrive within 4 days. Based on Chinese
Feng Shui the one who does not forward 20 People..... will be without
money. Not taking any chance !!!

July 2011


Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31

On 4/9/11, Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Mathre
>
> From the facts before you, the best you could conclude was that I have
> removed AT LEAST ONE MInister.
>
> (I have actually got rid of 2). I got rid of both of them in under 2
> months.
>
> On your point about the 42 year delay in Parliament, ask yourself
> simply 1 question.
>
> In 1972 A Congress party Law Minister Shanti Bhushan piloted the
> Lokpal Bill and failed.
> Today 42 years later the same corrupt Congress through their 73 year
> old brain dead ventriloquist dummy expects the pubic to believe that
> the same Shanti Bhsuihan is the one to draft the Bill.? This is all
> stage managed and it is a sad reflection on the brainwashed citizenry
> of this country who will swallow any garbage given to them as
> tranquilisers to keep them quiet.
>
> Sarbajit
>
> On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 11:36 AM, Mathre Rangarajan <rangajan@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>> Dear Sarbjit Roy,
>>
>> I fully agree and command you that you have been able to get rid of ONE
>> currupt minister - What about others? It is known every minister including
>> Chief Mister is currupt (especially so in Karnataka). We need a law to get
>> rid of all currupt with out needing to wage a war in each and every case.
>> Unfortunately there is absolutely no deterrent what so ever - the currupt
>> boldly say you may go ahead and prosecute (if you can), it takes a decade
>> or
>> more to punish the guilty that too with a paltry fine of few rupees or a
>> small sentence and all the ill gotton wealth is safely with them to enjoy
>> pepetually.
>>
>> Secondly you said that Sri Anna Hazary's movement is illigal and
>> unconstitutionnal and he is blackmailing - Parliament is there to make law
>> -
>> So why is it taking that your Parleament to even consider the law for 42
>> years (it is refusing to consider as every parlimentarian is against it),
>> and if this movement were not there it would take another 42 years or more
>> to consider such a law.
>>
>> God help India.
>>
>> mathre rangarajan
>>
>

Re: Re: [HumJanenge] Re: ANNA'S FAST UN TO DEATH

It's nonsense to choose between Anna and sarbajit. We who claim that we support right to information are ready to come down on one of our frineds sismply because he is speaking against the tide.

If he is wrong he will be washed away with time.But I feel we must have that little democracy in our fraternity where we can hear the opposite voice , whehter we like it or not.

We must work with littel maturity. If sarbajit is wrong just ignore him his importance will be lost . But at any cost i would like to hear him.I will request to stop this and do some littel good of RTI. let us take forward Anna like initiaitive.Suugest topic and we will rti it to hit corription. Jai Hind.

On Sat, 09 Apr 2011 22:33:47 +0530 wrote
>Lets vote.

Please chose among the followings:

01. I support Anna Ji.
02. I support Sarabjit

Mark your vote as 01 or 02.



On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 5:26 PM, Mukund Mohan Sahay wrote:
















Dear All,

 

The way Mr. Sabarjit is opposing the move and putting forth the
govt. ability and the system of govt. working. It appears that either he
belongs to a very elite class ( who can do anything and can get done anything)
or he is a part of govt campaign  to fight against ANNA HAZARE in cyber
world.

 

Mukund

 





From: humjanenge@googlegroups.com
[mailto:humjanenge@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Satish Kumar Kapoor

Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011 5:07 PM

To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [HumJanenge] Re: ANNA'S FAST UN TO DEATH





 





Mr
Sabarjit





 





In
your views, person who try to expose corruption or coorupt practices are
'dhongi"





 





What
about you? are you paid agent of corrupt?





 





S.K.Kapoor









From: Mathre Rangarajan


To: humjanenge@googlegroups.com

Sent: Fri, April 8, 2011 2:34:37 PM

Subject: Re: [HumJanenge] Re: ANNA'S FAST UN TO DEATH





What
does matter if he a 'Dhongi Baba' and he is cheating - What is most impotent is
the cause and the whole nation has joined, even in foreign countries!! What do
you expect to get by exposing him - a Bharat Ratna? Do you sincerely want this
movement to die and the currupt to conqur India? What are your intentions?
Please come out clearly.









From: sarbajit roy


To: HumJanenge RTI India Right to Information Act 2005


Sent: Fri, 8 April, 2011 1:09:43 PM

Subject: [HumJanenge] Re: ANNA'S FAST UN TO DEATH



Dhongi Baba may be your poojya gurudev, he is not mine.



Anna Hazare is not fasting - he is cheating. He is a habitual cheater

(faster), I can list all the occasions when he has done the same thing

on numerous occasions in Maharastra.



The very fact that you claim that masses are with Hazare, proves for

me that I am on the right path.



Sarbajit





On Apr 8, 12:30 pm, M B Vijh wrote:

> It appears that our freind SR is sufferring from some deviation syndrome,
where he tries to deviate the focus from main subject. He is upto some
immaturish efforts to defame a great personality who is moving the entire
nation or rather inspiring everyone to stand against this menace, someone who
is fasting, someone who has the support of Poojya Gurudev HHSSR, Baba Ramdev
besides others. This is turning out to be a mass movement unprecedented in the
history of independent India (if we so call it ), the movement is gathering
momentum. I therefore req. Mr. SR to do some introspection of self and emerge
clean to support Anna Hazareji, who at moment stands Hero of our nation.

>

> --Abhinav




















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Re: [HumJanenge] Do we need a Lokpal Bill to remove Ministers ?

Dear Mathre

From the facts before you, the best you could conclude was that I have
removed AT LEAST ONE MInister.

(I have actually got rid of 2). I got rid of both of them in under 2 months.

On your point about the 42 year delay in Parliament, ask yourself
simply 1 question.

In 1972 A Congress party Law Minister Shanti Bhushan piloted the
Lokpal Bill and failed.
Today 42 years later the same corrupt Congress through their 73 year
old brain dead ventriloquist dummy expects the pubic to believe that
the same Shanti Bhsuihan is the one to draft the Bill.? This is all
stage managed and it is a sad reflection on the brainwashed citizenry
of this country who will swallow any garbage given to them as
tranquilisers to keep them quiet.

Sarbajit

On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 11:36 AM, Mathre Rangarajan <rangajan@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Dear Sarbjit Roy,
>
> I fully agree and command you that you have been able to get rid of ONE
> currupt minister - What about others? It is known every minister including
> Chief Mister is currupt (especially so in Karnataka). We need a law to get
> rid of all currupt with out needing to wage a war in each and every case.
> Unfortunately there is absolutely no deterrent what so ever - the currupt
> boldly say you may go ahead and prosecute (if you can), it takes a decade or
> more to punish the guilty that too with a paltry fine of few rupees or a
> small sentence and all the ill gotton wealth is safely with them to enjoy
> pepetually.
>
> Secondly you said that Sri Anna Hazary's movement is illigal and
> unconstitutionnal and he is blackmailing - Parliament is there to make law -
> So why is it taking that your Parleament to even consider the law for 42
> years (it is refusing to consider as every parlimentarian is against it),
> and if this movement were not there it would take another 42 years or more
> to consider such a law.
>
> God help India.
>
> mathre rangarajan
>

[HumJanenge] Re: Gentle Request !!

Dear Anand

You have titled your email as ":Gentle Request" and then concluded it with a threat for legal action.

As I am not the owner of the group, but only the moderator, I cannot independently take a decision which has legal implications for the group and Google. Had you merely requested to be unsubscribed, I would of course have unsubscribed you promptly.

In the circumstances and since you have a gmail account/ID, I advise you to follow the official procedure of google groups to unsubscribe yourself from the group, which is a transparent, speedy and automatic process with absolutely no involvement of owners / moderators of this group.

Best wishes

Sarbajit Roy

On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 11:12 PM, Anand Verma <anand14b@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Mr. Sarbajit,
 
Please unsubscribe me from your group, I don't wish to get your emails in future. If I'll get any of the post by tomorrow, then I'll go through the legal procedure.
 
Thanks & Regards.
 
Anand Verma
Social Activist
Bhopal

On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 11:00 PM, Sarbajit Roy <sroy.mb@gmail.com> wrote:
Dear Leslie

We agree with you. As about 70 emails are unutilised from last month we shall target 400 emails this month.

We regret that many emails posted have not made it through to the list due to the restrictions in force.  Please bear with us till the end of this month.

PS; Anna Hazare has restricted your right to express yourself on this list (.. and not the moderators) this month.

Sarbajit

On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 8:45 AM, LESLIE ALMEIDA <lesals2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
It was just an overdrive, citizens found any group to post their feelings, and i do hope the moderators over look it, Just as the Police did after India won the world cup. there was also
busting of crackers, drinking and driving,untunately  no untold incident,  i am sure it will all end now with the end of the fast and People are satisfied that the first step to end corruption has been won.
 
--- On Sat, 4/9/11, S.D. Sharma <anonsharma@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: S.D. Sharma <anonsharma@yahoo.com>
Subject: [HumJanenge] IMPORTANT, Restricted posting to Humjanenge
To: "humjanenge" <humjanenge@googlegroups.com>
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011, 7:47 AM

Boxbe Block reason: This message is above your Auto Block threshold | Approve sender | Approve domain




--
Anand Kumar

Re: [HumJanenge] IMPORTANT, Restricted posting to Humjanenge

Dear Leslie

We agree with you. As about 70 emails are unutilised from last month we shall target 400 emails this month.

We regret that many emails posted have not made it through to the list due to the restrictions in force.  Please bear with us till the end of this month.

PS; Anna Hazare has restricted your right to express yourself on this list (.. and not the moderators) this month.

Sarbajit

On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 8:45 AM, LESLIE ALMEIDA <lesals2000@yahoo.com> wrote:
It was just an overdrive, citizens found any group to post their feelings, and i do hope the moderators over look it, Just as the Police did after India won the world cup. there was also
busting of crackers, drinking and driving,untunately  no untold incident,  i am sure it will all end now with the end of the fast and People are satisfied that the first step to end corruption has been won.
 
--- On Sat, 4/9/11, S.D. Sharma <anonsharma@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: S.D. Sharma <anonsharma@yahoo.com>
Subject: [HumJanenge] IMPORTANT, Restricted posting to Humjanenge
To: "humjanenge" <humjanenge@googlegroups.com>
Date: Saturday, April 9, 2011, 7:47 AM

Boxbe Block reason: This message is above your Auto Block threshold | Approve sender | Approve domain

Re: [HumJanenge] Re: EXPOSE: All the usual Haramis operating from under Sonia's petticoat

Dear all , it is very disheartening to know that our groups is splitting. I would request everybody to honour others opinion. Though I too wrote against Sarbajit criticising Anna, I feel he have complete right to do so. I will also request everybody to stay together in our crusade against right to information and removal of corruption.

I will also request to once reconsider sarbajit's apprehension because in India there is nothing impossible.So plz dont theink of break up as suggested Ganapaty ji and Umapatiji. Plz al stay together.



On Sat, 09 Apr 2011 19:47:24 +0530 wrote
>Dear Umapathy / Guptaji



I support you in your plans to form a new group.

I shall certainly apply to join your group and participate as an

ordinary member.



With best wishes



Sarbajit



On Apr 8, 6:14 pm, umapathy subramanyam

wrote:

> Dear Gupta Sir, very good decision on your part. It is now necessary to form

> a new RTI group for the sake of RTI. Mr. Roy is unfit to continue as a

> moderator as most of them have expressed their opinion herein. as one of the

> members expressed Mr. Roy is a shame of this Country. We are with you.

> please initiate necessary actions to form a new group.

>

> regards.

>

> umapathi.s

>

> Very good decision

>

> On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 11:11 AM, M.K. Gupta wrote:

> > For the utterances of a member, along with his proxies, I am boycotting the

> > group till God grant them power of judging good and bad.

>

> > Valuable members interested in sending their messages to me can do that by

> > marking a copy of their messages to me directly.

>

> > If somebody has time and is computer savvy too, I appeal him for starting a

> > new group. If desired, I can help in moderation.

>

> > Now, in an email by the most knowledgeable and member superior to all of us

> > has raised the doubts on the existence of Saint Balmiki and Lord Rama.

>

> > At the end, I pray-

>

> > Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, Patit ke pawan Sita Ram,

>

> > Ishwar Allah Tero Naam, Sabko Sanmati de Bhagwan.

>

> > Hear a candle is challenging the Sun by saying "Anna Hazare is most

> > corrupt….. or he is a disease. We all know the fact and also know who is

> > working for others and is a real disease.

>

> > Enough is enough. I apologies form fellow members. Please unsubscribe me.

>

> > * *

>

> > --- On *Fri, 8/4/11, Sarbajit Roy * wrote:

>

> > From: Sarbajit Roy

> > Subject: [HumJanenge] EXPOSE: All the usual Haramis operating from under

> > Sonia's petticoat

> > To: "humjanenge"

> > Date: Friday, 8 April, 2011, 10:58 AM

>

> > If there is any further proof needed that Anna Hazare is a CONGRESS

> > puppet being used by anti-PM forces (Rahul brigade) within the

> > Congress to cut PM down to size, here it is

>

> >http://nac.nic.in/transparency/lokpal.htm

>

> > All the usual haramis in attendance including Arvind Kejriwal and

> > Wajahat Habibullah.

>

> > Let the citizens expose them all by demanding that LOKPAL BILL must

> > also extend to CHAIRPERSON UPA / CHAIRPERSON NAC and leave out office

> > of PM as the Law Commission recommended.

>

> > C'mon Arvind this is a public challenge from me - be a man not a pyjama !!!

>

> > Sarbajit


[HumJanenge] Declaration of asset by CIC in Public

While Central Information Commissioners have declared the whole of their assets in public domain, the Orissa Commissioners refuse to deny such information even to an RTI applicant. The big question is, why and how long?

 

Dear friends,

Here is a model set by Central Information Commissioners, which every public servant of the country should emulate. In a turnaround of unique significance, especially in the prevailing milieus of hush-hush about one's property, six of them have declared their movable and immovable assets on the Website of the Commission (visit the link 'Declaration of Assets' in http://cic.gov.in). As the Times of India dated 7th April 2011 reported, Mr. Satyananda Mishra, an Orissa-born IAS officer now serving as Chief Central Information Commissioner speaking on the rationale of their latest action, said, "We have taken a decision during the last week of March to voluntarily declare our assets on the website. We thought when there is nothing to hide, why not to place them in public domain". The kind of asset declaration that the Central Commissioners have done, is best illustrated from how Mr.Shailesh Gandhi did in his case. In his declaration Mr.Gandhi has not only disclosed his house property, but also the amount and cost of such piecemeal movable assets as vehicle, jewelry, bank deposits, bank balances, bonds, mutual fund, shares, and cash at hand. It is really a nothing-to-hide kind of declaration of assets by a public servant and worth a trend setter for the rest of the country.  

    

But in Orissa the story is woefully different. Like any petty scribe who is scared of disclosing his assets lest the ill got wealth amassed by him would come under vigilance scanner, the Orissa Information Commissioners are hell-bent to keep their real assets in absolute secrecy, not only from the public domain but also from their office itself.

 

Over years we have been struggling to ensure that the Information Commissioners being the transparency watchdogs should, to start with, set an example before the entire officialdom by declaring both immovable and movable assets owned by them. In pursuit of the said mission, I had applied on 31.8.09 to the Public Information Officers of both Orissa Information Commission and Information and Public Relations Department (nodal RTI Dept) seeking information about the property list of State Chief Information Commissioner (then Mr. D.N. Padhi), Prof. Radhamohan (former State Information Commissioner and Mr. Jagadananda State Information Commissioner, which they might have submitted to the Govt as per the mandate of the Service Rules applicable to them. Needless to mention, as per the RTI Act the State Chief Information Commissioner is equivalent in rank to the Election Commissioner of India and the State Information Commissioner to the Chief Secretary of State, and as per both All India and State Service Rules, the concerned Officers are required to submit the property list to the Govt. whom they are presently serving. 

 

Strangely enough, the PIO, Dept. of I and PR rejected my RTI Application without any rhyme or reason, for which I made the 1st Appeal before the Appellate Authority of the said Dept. The latter on hearing my appeal directed the PIO to transfer the application to the PIO, Orissa Information Commission under Section 6 (3) of RTI Act for providing me the required information.

 

But then the PIO of OIC, supplied me a sheet of information, which revealed a little but concealed the most of the real information sought for. As is well known, as per the existing Service Rules the property list includes both movable assets (Bank Balance, Insurance, vehicle and jewelry etc.) and immovable assets (land, building etc.), and that is exactly what I sought for in my RTI application. But, as against this mandatory provision, the PIO had simply supplied me a list of immovable assets of the above Commissioners, omitting the movable ones which they and their spouses might be owning.

 

As against such incomplete information, I made a 1st appeal to the 1st Appellate Officer of the Commission with a request to supply me complete information as required under law. On 27.11.09, the said 1st Appellate Officer heard my case. During the hearing, the PIO explained that he could not supply the complete information to me as the list of movable assets has not been submitted by any Commissioner to the Office. The 1st Appellate Authority dismissed my case maintaining that the PIO has provided me the information as available with him from the source of the Commissioners themselves.

 

Not satisfied with the decision of the 1st Appellate Officer, I made a 2nd appeal to Orissa Information Commission on 12.1.2010, again pleading for supply of complete information besides taking punitive action against the defaulter PIO as required under Section 20(1) of RTI Act. Meanwhile more than a year and three months has elapsed, since the above appeal was made, but it remains yet pending at Commission's level. I am waiting with a baited breath to attend the day of hearing before the Commission where I can establish the legitimacy of my right under RTI Act to receive the complete property list of the Information Commissioners. 

 

But the question remains, if they are legally correct in withholding their property list from the public view, why are they scared of calling me to a hearing over my second appeal? Is it that in their feverish anxiety to hide the truth about their accumulation, they have given a calculated miss to their overriding obligation under RTI Act i.e. to hear and decide a citizen's appeal, precisely for which they are being fed fabulously from the public exchequer?

 

Be that as it may, shall they learn a lesson from the recent initiative of Central Information Commissioners and declare their own assets, both movable and immovable in public domain? Before sermonizing other public servants on the wisdom of declaring their assets by the former Chief Mr.Padhi, should they not apply it first to themselves? 

 

Pradip Pradhan

RTI Activist

Orissa

Date- 9.4.2011