Ghost Lines (part I) ....

It has been a week since my exams have ended; from 26^th, it is back to the battlefield amidst the challenging and wonderful MBA subjects which are teaching me so much as I go along. The issue over the Lokpal is the headline news these days; and try as I might of disregarding the entire chaos and uselessness surrounding the issue, it keeps on reminding me of a topic which I have had in my mind since long. It makes me ponder over the connection I have observed between the Lokpal and the Education system of the country (reminded time and again when I see the condition of the 10th/12th kids or the numerous articles I read over the internet where many psychiatrists literally plead with folded hands to the parents and adults at large to protect their children against the rat race); It makes me think over where we are heading and reminds me what I had said in my blog Awakening the Ombudsman - I was unsure about how effective the sole implementation of the Lokpal will be and how those who wield the power would allow it to function; 8 months from that post - and if I was unsure then, I have become downright against it now. Now, I see it as a threat to the sovereign state of the future. Lokpal, whether that of the civil society or the Government is a grave threat for the country. I am going to break this blog into 3 parts :

Part I will contain the answer to why my attitude has changed from "unsure" to "against" highlighting as to why the Lokpal is NOT THE LONG TERM SOLUTION for the system. I was skeptical then about the Lokpal and the developments since then make me doubt the very foundation of the purpose of Lokpal.

The next two parts would deal with what I have not seen anyone tackling as the major solution in the long term. I have seen comments and opinions about the Lokpal, but solutions - I have not; so these parts would be my attempt to do that!

Part II will speak on the "ghost" link - the link between the Lokpal and the Education in India; it will be my attempt to flash a torch light in the dark corridors in a bid that I pass on what I have learnt from my readings and experiences/understanding.

Part III will finish this series culminating into my idea of "the solution" with an outline as to what "we" can do about it in the short as well as long term and manning the lines like dedicated soldiers !!

Part I --

Cutting to the chase, what is the Lokpal going to do? Set up a committee with a certain degree of power to act as a watchdog against corruption in India and encourage men to fight against it and protect such men. Both, the Lokpal and Jan-Lokpal are not the solution - why? It is so because a weak bill wont serve any purpose, while a strong bill will wield a great power and how is it going to be ensured that a strong selfless bench of men are handed such a powerful tool?

We seek the Lokpal today because we believe that it will solve our problems; but my dear friends, let us take a time-out and think over it. It is not wrong to hope, and we hope that a strong Lokpal will keep the rogues in check and hence we are all for it. Let us presume that happens and the civil society's demands are fulfilled and a strong Lokpal is incorporated - what then? Are we willing to place our faith in a new set of men, what is the difference then between the Lokpal as an institution and the government? The sole difference is administration, nothing else. Are these not the baby steps of a future parallel government? Is there any meaning in a country having 2 Govts? What happens is chaos - Naxal regions as an example. We see the corrupt Govt as the problem today, but by implementing the Lokpal, are we solving that problem or giving rise to another in addition with the current? The Govt is not the problem, the attitude is. By incorporating a Lokpal, will that attitude be resolved?

Let us just ask ourselves the following questions --

1. A Lokpal to do a job of watching over those who should be doing the job; tomorrow, a new Lokpal to watch over the Lokpal - this is a technical redundancy or an infinite loop asking us the same question the Roman Poet Juvenal asked, "Quis Ipsos Custodies Ipsos?" (Who will guard the guards?) Will it have a higher probability to solve the problem?

2. Who elects the bench? Who will have such a great power in their hands? Is there any mechanism to test the appropriate candidate for the 9 seats? No, there are not - the bench is not elected ! and the reservation, is Lokpal going to be another front for casteism? ("not less than 50%" quota for "minorities" which works out to atleast 5 out of the 9 members reserved !!)

3. With power over the judiciary when it comes to investigation, are righteous men supported or challenged? If a man cries foul and accuses a judge of corruption, how will that be dealt? Is it not undermining the judicial system?

4. Complaints against the Lokpal members are to be handled by the judiciary - its like both carry the whip against the other ! They might just collude or a power tussle forgetting the main issue altogether, right?

So, It appears to be right way ahead as we are tired of the policies and loot of the Government; it is because we view them as the bad guys and we want someone to watch over the bad guys while they handle our country, but they are still in charge - the wicked attitude is in charge !! We don't want evil to stay in-charge, its the good we seek ! While implementing a law, we have to think over all possibilities - what would be the function of the Lokpal when a selfless administrator is in-charge? Will the Lokpal let such a man function or will the bench of men abuse their power? We have seen what has happened in a particular case in Gujarat where the Ombudsman has interfered at times in the developmental work of the Government. We have examples of the Ombudsman as a system working in other nations across the globe but we fail to understand that it is not a blanket law which can be picked up and applied anywhere as a template - situations and conditions change from country to country; India, is a very very special and delicate matter altogether! The point is, it is the wrong solution to the problem; it is like a cardiac arrest being treated with neurological methods ! Its apples and oranges !! This is not Egypt/Syria/Libya, this is not the United Kingdom nor is it the US. That is the reason that Lokpal is not a long term, but a very short term solution - i.e. to watch over this particular government, not the ones of the future. If it has to be implemented, there has to be a conditional implementation to it. Without a mechanism to pull its plug and dissolve it in due course, it is akin to Skynet in the movie series Terminator - it is going to be self aware and it is going to be bad !! I know this will not happen, i.e it being implemented in the short term only because once there - it will stay on while being manipulated and hence I am altogether against this parallel set up and undermining of the system - it needs to be fixed. Setting up something without fixing what is already there is not the right way! It is what I like to call the classic Band-aid Blunder !

This blog wouldn't be complete without reading of one of my prior blogs - Elixir to Governance Paralysis - it is a part solution to the Governance side problem we face, the other is the part of Education which I will talk off in part III of this blog series. I had written this blog way back in July 2010 when Lokpal was not even on the horizon, so it wont be fine-tuned with today's scenario but the underlying idea I believe is not outdated. The election aspect which I have spoken off in that blog will be put into a better perspective when I put forth the education angle to this series.

Finally, I am not against Anna which can be easily misunderstood from what I write. I understand him; he is doing what he can at the moment and I respect him for that. A mass appeal and mobilization is a great feat, but it will not solve the country's problems in the long term is my stand; though a much smaller footprint I have vis-a-vis Anna, I plan to contribute to the existing movement on the aspect which he has missed either by choice or chance - the cleansing of the education system and the solution to that side of the story.

I'l post "Ghost Lines (part II) .... " on 29th Dec 2011; till then ....

Jai Hind !