---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Abhijit Sengupta <[email protected]> Date: Sat, May 7, 2011 at 10:34 PM Subject: [IHRO] We're not bypassing parliament ~ Kejriwal To: Int'l Human Rights Organization <[email protected]>
‘We are not bypassing Parliament’ 6 May 2011 Mr Arvind Kejriwal is a member of the joint committee to draft the Lokpal Bill and is credited with being the brain behind the successful campaign for the proposed anti-graft law led by Mr Anna Hazare. A mechanical engineer from IIT, Kharagpur, Mr Kejriwal was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006 for activating India’s Right to Information movement at the grassroots level and for his initiative to empower the poorest citizens to fight corruption by holding the government answerable to the people. Born in Hissar, Haryana, in 1968, Kejriwal joined the Indian Revenue Service in 1992. But he resigned after five years to work full time as a social activist for greater transparency in government. He founded Parivartan, a Delhi-based citizens’ movement, which works on ensuring just, transparent and accountable governance. Mr Kejriwal spoke to RANJEET S JAMWAL on the recent agitation for the Lokpal Bill, the controversies surrounding civil society representatives in the joint-drafting panel and the importance of a strong anti-graft law. *What was the reason for the overwhelming response to your (India Against Corruption) campaign under the leadership of Mr Anna Hazare? * Firstly, the people of this country are completely fed up with corruption. Corruption in public life is being exposed by one scam after another and the common man is paying the price. The slew of scams exposed in the past year has enraged people and the government’s passivity only rubbed salt into the wound. People were already very angry. This campaign was not only directed against corruption but also proposed a very concrete solution by way of the Lokpal Bill to tackle corruption realistically for the first time. All previous campaigns against corruption had offered no roadmap to tackle it. But this one offered one. Everything put together, the response was overwhelming. *What do you think will come of this whole exercise? Will the proposed Lokpal Bill be enough to tackle corruption? * We hope that a strong and effective strong Lokpal Bill will be enacted. *There is a perception that your campaign for the Lokpal Bill is directed against the parliamentary system of India. More so, as civil society members are not elected and are not accountable to anyone. What do you have to say on that? * Is the Planning Commission of India elected? Is the current Prime Minister of India elected? Is the National Advisory Council elected? I think the argument is bogus. We are not even bypassing Parliament and there are several precedents for this kind of an exercise. Seven laws in Maharashtra have been drafted with the help of a similar joint committee. What we will create will be the first draft (of the Lokpal Bill). It will then go to the Cabinet and Parliament. So, we are not bypassing Parliament. *What do you make of the alleged smear campaign against civil society members in the joint drafting committee? Was it motivated?* I think it was well organised and well orchestrated to derail the process of drafting the Lokpal Bill by maligning the members of civil society. Some people acted as the face of that smear campaign but there were many forces behind it. But we are very happy that they have not been successful. *Is the government now earnest in working out a comprehensive and credible Lokpal Bill through the joint drafting committee? * Let us see. The 2 May meeting was very fruitful. It was held in a very good atmosphere. Some civil society members are upset with Mr Anna Hazare’s praise of Gujarat chief minister Mr Narendra Modi. Has it damaged your campaign? I don’t think so. Mr Hazare made an innocuous statement. In it, he only praised the rate of rural development in Gujarat. He hadn’t, in any way, endorsed the communal violence perpetrated in that state. Subsequently, he issued a statement saying that he was completely against communal violence. Later on, he received many letters from people living in Gujarat claiming that the state had not seen as much progress as being made out in media. So he went to the extent of saying that if rural development in Gujarat hadn’t taken place with as much gusto as thought, he took back his statement in its entirety. So, I don’t think that a lot should be attached to a stray or innocuous statement of (Mr) Hazare. *If the 15 August deadline for the passage of the Lokpal Bill is not met, will you or India Against Corruption (IAC) again take to the streets? * It will depend on the circumstances at that time. All of us spearheading the campaign will sit together and discuss the future course of action. *Some civil society members are of the view that liberalisation, privatisation and corporatisation that have taken place in India since 1991 are the main reasons for corruption in the country. Do you agree? * Yes, of course. I agree. But the causes of corruption can’t be compartmentalised. It is all-pervasive. It is not as if India had no corruption prior to 1991. There had been corruption before liberalisation and there is corruption post-liberalisation. What this law (Lokpal Bill) is aiming at is to put in place an effective system of deterrence. We are not saying that the Lokpal law will wipe out corruption from the country. But it will build deterrence. There are many more things that are needed beyond the Lokpal Bill. Annaji has already announced what course of action needs to be taken following the enactment of the Lokpal Bill. *What criteria were followed for nominating civil society representatives in the Lokpal Bill joint drafting committee? * There was just one criterion ~ that the panel should comprise the people who had drafted the original Lokpal Bill. There were four people who had drafted the Bill. Myself, Mr Shanti Bhushan, Mr Prashant Bhushan and Mr Justice Santosh Hegde. 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