Prepared, yes, as it was allowed to be! Team Anna allowed the government to take this daring step after many of its key members got themselves involved in unnecessary controversies. And this autocratic government is again going to take a shamelessly audacious attempt to deny the basic rights to grievance redressal that we, the common Indians, need so desperately.
Yes, an audacious attempt exceeding every norm of accepted values of grace and honesty – final draft of the Lokpal Bill by the Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by ‘seasoned’ Abhishek Manu Singhvi tells us about a ‘near consensus’ like situation while keeping all the major demands untouched - deceiving the ethos deeply –once again – a government that was brought to its knees by the collective power of ‘us’ on August 28, has once again, tried to manipulate things by keeping all the major demands that will make Lokpal a strong institution; demands that were bone of contention creating the huge and unprecedented support to the Jan Lokpal Movement. See this:
- PM has not been included.
- Conduct of MPs inside the House is out of its purview (expect more cash-for-votes).
- Judges will be under a separate Judicial Accountability Bill and not under Lokpal.
- Lower Bureaucracy has not been included.
- CBI has been kept out of it.
And so Anna Hazare is miffed. He says he is feeling betrayed, again. He has announced a day-long Fast on December 11 at Jantar Mantar and it will be followed by an indefinite Fast from December 27 at the Ramleela Ground if a strong Lokpal Bill is not passed in the Winter Session of the Parliament.
We are miffed, too.
But will it be so effective this time?
The question becomes all the more necessary when we realize that allegations on Team Anna members this time seem reasonable. And their outright denial and senseless defiance worked to dent the gains.
We need to see; we need to know; we need to follow the Symbolism of the strength of our character again if the promises are not delivered.
Will this Symbolism find its way through the Anna Symbolism again?
