I find the “outpouring of support” for an “old Gandhian” Anna Hazare rather strange. I am not objecting to a person standing up to corruption, which has been accepted as a way of life in India. However reprehensible civil society may find it, few of them seem to participate in genuine democracy (and that includes readers of this newspaper). The facts and figures for polling percentages speak for themselves.
If you look carefully, Hazare is pushing for an anti-corruption mechanism without applying any thought to making existing institutional mechanisms work. It’s more fashionable to clamour for a “new version” without really demanding, say, a free anti-corruption wing of CBI or an apolitical police force. The real reform lies in making elected representatives accountable at every step.
Abhishek Puri, on email
