The breaking up of an anti-corruption protest led by the colourful and controversial yoga guru Swami Ramdev has added an interesting dimension to the long-running campaign to clear up corruption from India's public life. The ruling coalition government of India, led by Manmohan Singh, is so rattled by numerous recent scandals – the Commonwealth Games and the 2G scam being the most prominent – that it swings wildly from one extreme to another.
Ramdev's aborted fast was a follow-up to a much publicised and partly successful protest by the octogenarian social activist Anna Hazare. His peaceful campaign galvanised millions of Indians. In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, who famously used fasting as a pressure tactic against the British Empire, hunger strikes remain an effective political threat.
The popularity of these campaigns underscores a growing unrest among middle class Indians, who are increasingly fed up with corrupt practices that affect every aspect of ordinary life. It also betrays anger at an inability and, more importantly, reluctance to act on the part of democratically elected representatives. There is deeper suspicion now of their motives than ever before.
It is worrying that India, described as "the world's fastest-growing democracy" lacks a truly accountable political process. Undoubtedly the country is advancing on the economic front, yet this contrasts uncomfortably with the erosion of basic democratic values. Corrupt practices have infiltrated all walks of life: government functionaries, judges, lawyers, engineers and even doctors are seen as corrupt. No wonder the credibility of India as a chosen destination for foreign investors has taken a severe beating. India ranked 72nd in the corruption index of 2006 and is deemed the worst performer in the Bribe Payers Index. Respondents to a recent opinion poll rated the present UPA government as the most corrupt of the past 35 years. In terms of ease of doing business, India scores low, 133th out of 183 countries. This may be one of the reasons why several Indian multinationals, including Tata, Birla and Reliance are keeping their investments, worth several billion dollars, offshore.
With a loss of faith in elected representatives, the Indian public is looking for the intervention of religious gurus as well as social activists to eradicate a disease that is now deeply embedded in Indian life. Such populist protests may not offer any immediate practical solutions but they have became a necessary first step to effecting change.
In April, Anna Hazare's protest succeeded in getting the central government to constitute a panel to draft the Jan Lokpal bill. The bill would create an independent body with the power to prosecute politicians and civil servants without prior government permission. This was a defining moment highlighting the power of the person in the street. But the government is still refusing to comply with Hazare's demand for the prime minister and higher judiciary to be included under the purview of the Lokpal.
Ramdev, with his popular but unrealistic demands, did manage to get a hearing from the government in the form of a high-profile reception at Delhi airport and sessions of hard bargaining with senior ministers. But Ramdev, for all his charm and yogic skills, proved unequal to the game of politics. He entered a secretive deal with ministers to end his fast, believing that they had acceded to his demands. In the process, the publication of the agreement to end the "fast unto death" before it even started has left the guru severely discredited.
Hazare and Ramdev may not have achieved much, but they have highlighted the desire of ordinary Indians to rid themselves of the cancer of corruption. This can be achieved only when the electorate sends honest representatives to the parliament (as many as 120 members of the current parliament, out of a total of 543, have serious criminal records). Successive governments' unwillingness to act against the abuse of political and corporate power has created a vacuum that others are rushing to fill. What India needs now is a strong Lokpal empowered by civil society, led by the likes of Hazare, whose recommendations cannot be ignored. "The world's fastest-growing democracy" marches on, but the soul of India is crying for redemption.
Ramdev's aborted fast was a follow-up to a much publicised and partly successful protest by the octogenarian social activist Anna Hazare. His peaceful campaign galvanised millions of Indians. In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, who famously used fasting as a pressure tactic against the British Empire, hunger strikes remain an effective political threat.
The popularity of these campaigns underscores a growing unrest among middle class Indians, who are increasingly fed up with corrupt practices that affect every aspect of ordinary life. It also betrays anger at an inability and, more importantly, reluctance to act on the part of democratically elected representatives. There is deeper suspicion now of their motives than ever before.
It is worrying that India, described as "the world's fastest-growing democracy" lacks a truly accountable political process. Undoubtedly the country is advancing on the economic front, yet this contrasts uncomfortably with the erosion of basic democratic values. Corrupt practices have infiltrated all walks of life: government functionaries, judges, lawyers, engineers and even doctors are seen as corrupt. No wonder the credibility of India as a chosen destination for foreign investors has taken a severe beating. India ranked 72nd in the corruption index of 2006 and is deemed the worst performer in the Bribe Payers Index. Respondents to a recent opinion poll rated the present UPA government as the most corrupt of the past 35 years. In terms of ease of doing business, India scores low, 133th out of 183 countries. This may be one of the reasons why several Indian multinationals, including Tata, Birla and Reliance are keeping their investments, worth several billion dollars, offshore.
With a loss of faith in elected representatives, the Indian public is looking for the intervention of religious gurus as well as social activists to eradicate a disease that is now deeply embedded in Indian life. Such populist protests may not offer any immediate practical solutions but they have became a necessary first step to effecting change.
In April, Anna Hazare's protest succeeded in getting the central government to constitute a panel to draft the Jan Lokpal bill. The bill would create an independent body with the power to prosecute politicians and civil servants without prior government permission. This was a defining moment highlighting the power of the person in the street. But the government is still refusing to comply with Hazare's demand for the prime minister and higher judiciary to be included under the purview of the Lokpal.
Ramdev, with his popular but unrealistic demands, did manage to get a hearing from the government in the form of a high-profile reception at Delhi airport and sessions of hard bargaining with senior ministers. But Ramdev, for all his charm and yogic skills, proved unequal to the game of politics. He entered a secretive deal with ministers to end his fast, believing that they had acceded to his demands. In the process, the publication of the agreement to end the "fast unto death" before it even started has left the guru severely discredited.
Hazare and Ramdev may not have achieved much, but they have highlighted the desire of ordinary Indians to rid themselves of the cancer of corruption. This can be achieved only when the electorate sends honest representatives to the parliament (as many as 120 members of the current parliament, out of a total of 543, have serious criminal records). Successive governments' unwillingness to act against the abuse of political and corporate power has created a vacuum that others are rushing to fill. What India needs now is a strong Lokpal empowered by civil society, led by the likes of Hazare, whose recommendations cannot be ignored. "The world's fastest-growing democracy" marches on, but the soul of India is crying for redemption.
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