Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Anna makes the Mahatma breathe again, says Mahesh Bhatt
While Madhur Bhandarkar, Vivek Agnihotri, Anupam Kher, Tom Alter, Farah Khan and Baba Ramdev have already made their presence at Jantar Mantar to meet Hazare personally, other celebrities are voicing their support through internet and social networking sites.
A glimpse of what some of the celebrities have to say:
Mahesh Bhatt
Anna makes the Mahatma breathe again. The Gandhian creed is not the private property of the ruling party. It is the asset of entire nation.
Hrithik Roshan
I support Anna Hazare. It's TIME to make a CHANGE!
Bipasha Basu
The biggest drawback of our country is the existence of corruption right from the grass root level right to the top!
Naseeruddin Shah
We have started accepting corruption as a way of life. We don't think twice or feel bad about handing over Rs. 50 to a traffic cop or Rs. 50 crore to a neta . We don't hitch as we think ' yeh toh chalta hai, yeh toh hota hai' . But it happens because we let it happen and it will never stop till we don't stop it.
What Anna Hazare is doing will definitely bring about a positive change in the way the system works. The need of the hour is for the youth of this country to awaken and fight against corruption. Only that and nothing else can help India become a corruption free nation.
Dia Mirza
This is not a malaise only with bureaucrats and politicos. It runs deep in the character of most Indians. We trade our values for mere greed.
Riya Sen
It's unfortunate that today an individual has to opt for a hunger strike to build such an awareness and shake our system.
Rana Daggubati
Support MUST be in deed... Join me at Indra Park to lend your support. Let us not co-exist with corruption. This is the most democratic movement of our times. A movement by the people, of the people, for the people. Let it not stop at any cost.
Sonakshi Sinha
It's usually ONE person that makes a difference. Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa. Kudos to Anna Hazare! We're with you.
Nagarjuna Akkineni
Hello my friends. Support Anna Hazare today for a brighter India tomorrow. Help eradicate corruption. Jai Hind!
Vivek Agnihotri
It's time to fight out what are we fed up of? Congress? Government? Or the system? If it's the system then its time to look in the mirror.
(source from::http://www.indiaecho.com)
jan lokpal bill
In India, the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen's ombudsman Bill) is a draft anti-corruption bill that would create a Jan Lokpal, an independent body like the Election Commission, which would have the power to prosecute politicians and bureaucrats without government permission.
The bill was drafted by Shanti Bhushan, former IPS Kiran Bedi, Justice N. Santosh Hegde, advocate Prashant Bhushan, former chief election commissioner J. M. Lyngdoh in consultation with the leaders of the India Against Corruption movement and the civil society. The bill proposes institution of the office of Lokpal (Ombudsman) at center and Lokayukta at state level. The Jan Lokpal Bill is designed to create an effective anti-corruption and grievance redressal systems and to assure that an effective deterrent is created against corruption and to provide effective protection to whistleblowers.
The Lokpal Bill drafted by the government has failed to pass the Rajya Sabha for 42 years. The first Lokpal Bill was passed in the 4th Lok Sabha in 1969 but could not get through in Rajya Sabha. Subsequently, Lokpal bills were introduced in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005 and in 2008. Yet none of these bills were ever passed.
Background
The movement for Jan Lokpal Bill started due to the resentment because of the serious differences between the draft Lokpal Bill 2010 prepared by the government and the Jan Lokpal Bill prepared by the members of this movement, which has received significant public support. Supporters of the bill consider existing laws to be too weak and insufficiently enforced to stop corruption.
Key features of proposed bill
A central government anti-corruption institution called "Lokpal", supported by state institutions called "Lokayukta" will be set up
Like the Supreme Court and the Election Commission, they will be completely independent of the governments. No minister or bureaucrat will be able to influence their investigations.
Members will be appointed by judges, private citizens, and constitutional authorities through a transparent and participatory process.
Investigations in each case will have to be completed in one year. Trials should be completed in the following year, meaning the total process will take place within two years.
Any loss that a corrupt person caused to the government will be recovered at the time of conviction.
Help to common citizen: If any work of any citizen is not done in prescribed time in any government office, Lokpal will impose financial penalty on guilty officers, which will be given as compensation to the complainant.
Any complaint against any officer of Lokpal shall be investigated and, if found to be substantive, will result in the the officer being dismissed within two months.
The existing anti-corruption agencies(CVC, departmental vigilance and the anti-corruption branch of CBI) will be merged into Lokpal. Lokpal will have complete powers and authority to independently investigate and prosecute any officer, judge or politician.
The agency will also provide protection to whistleblowers who alert it of potential corruption cases.
Anna Hazare's letter to the Prime Minister
Veteran social activist and Gandhian Anna Hazare has written an open letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In the letter dated April 6, 2011, Hazare has raised many questions and sought the Prime Minister's reply.
The 72-year-old social activist, supported by eminent persons including Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal, has been demanding that the drafting committee for the Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption should include members of civil society.
He started his fast-unto-death at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Tuesday to demand a stricter anti-corruption law that that is being proposed by the Government.
India Against Corruption
A-119, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad . 201010. UP Ph: 09868069953
www.indiaagainstcorruption.org
Date: April 6, 2011
To,
Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
New Delhi Dear
Dr. Singh,
I have started my indefinite fast at Jantar mantar. I had invited you also to fast and pray for a corruption free India on 5th April. Though I did not receive any reply from you, I am hopeful that you must have done that.
I am pained to read and hear about government's reaction to my fast. I consider it my duty to clarify the points raised on behalf of Congress party and the government by their spokespersons, as they appear in media:
1. It is being alleged that I am being instigated by some people to sit on this fast. Dear Manmohan Singh ji, this is an insult to my sense of wisdom and intelligence. I am not a kid that I could be "instigated" into going on an indefinite fast. I am a fiercely independent person. I take advice from many friends and critics, but do what my conscience directs me to do. It is my experience that when cornered, governments resort to such malicious slandering. I am pained that the government, rather than addressing the issue of corruption, is trying to allege conspiracies, when there are none.
2. It is being said that I have shown impatience. Dear Prime Minister, so far, every government has shown complete insensitivity and lack of political commitment to tackling corruption. 62 years after independence, we still do not have independent and effective anti-corruption systems. Very weak versions of Lokpal Bill were presented in Parliament eight times in last 42 years. Even these weak versions were not passed by Parliament. This means, left to themselves, the politicians and bureaucrats will never pass any law which subjects them to any kind of objective scrutiny. At a time, when the country has witnessed scams of unprecedented scale, the impatience of the entire country is justified. And we call upon you, not to look for precedents, but show courage to take unprecedented steps.
3. It is being said that I have shown impatience when the government has "initiated" the process. I would urge you to tell me - exactly what processes are underway?
a. You say that your Group of Ministers are drafting the anti-corruption law. Many of the members of this Group of Ministers have such a shady past that if effective anticorruption systems had been in place, some of them would have been behind bars. Do you want us to have faith in a process in which some of the most corrupt people of this country should draft the anti-corruption law?
b. NAC sub-committee has discussed Jan Lokpal Bill. But what does that actually mean? Will the government accept the recommendations of NAC sub-committee? So far, UPA II has shown complete contempt for even the most innocuous issues raised by NAC.
c. I and many other friends from India Against Corruption movement wrote several letters to you after 1st December. I also sent you a copy of Jan Lokpal Bill on 1st December. We did not get any response. It is only when I wrote to you that I will sit on an indefinite fast, we were promptly invited for discussions on 7th March. I wonder whether the government responds only to threats of indefinite fast. Before that, representatives of India Against Corruption had been meeting various Ministers seeking their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill. They met Mr Moily also and personally handed over copy of Jan Lokpal to him. A few hours before our meeting with you, we received a phone call from Mr Moily's office that the copy of Jan Lokpal Bill had been misplaced by his office and they wanted another copy. This is the seriousness with which the government has dealt with Jan Lokpal Bill.
d. Dear Dr Manmohan Singh ji, if you were in my place, would you have any faith in the aforesaid processes? Kindly let me know if there are any other processes underway. If you still feel that I am impatient, I am happy that I am because the whole nation is feeling impatient at the lack of credible efforts from your government against corruption.
4. What are we asking for? We are not saying that you should accept the Bill drafted by us. But kindly create a credible platform for discussions . a joint committee with at least half members from civil society suggested by us. Your spokespersons are misleading the nation when they say that there is no precedent for setting up a joint committee. At least seven laws in Maharashtra were drafted by similar joint committees and presented in Maharashtra Assembly. Maharashtra RTI Act, one of the best laws of those times, was drafted by a joint committee. Even at the centre, when 25,000 tribals came to Delhi two years ago, your government set up a joint committee on land issues within 48 hours. You yourself are the Chairperson of that committee. This means that the government is willing to set up joint committees on all other issues, but not on corruption. Why?
5. It is being said that the government wants to talk to us and we are not talking to them. This is utterly false. Tell me a single meeting when you called us and we did not come. We strongly believe in dialogue and engagement. Kindly do not mislead the country by saying that we are shunning dialogue. We request you to take some credible steps at stemming corruption. Kindly stop finding faults and suspecting conspiracies in our movement. There are none. Even if there were, it does not absolve you of your responsibilities to stop corruption.
With warm regards,
(K B Hazare)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)