The following was sent to Deccan Herald on 10.4.2011 and was published on 11.4.2011
Sir,
The victory of civil society over government’s filibustering of the Lokpal Bill has to be channelized now into making our political system truly democratic. What had corrupted Indian political establishment over time was the appropriation of power without accountability by an extremely narrow section of the so-called ‘public servants’ comprising of political leaders and bureaucrats abetted and supported by big industrialists and corporates. This powerful group of ‘robber barons’ has become a self-serving, self-sustaining narrow group, and entry into it by any route other than blood-bond or cronyism is almost completely blocked. It pampers the real repositories of power, the people, through entreaties and enticements during the election, but immediately after that, makes them cringe before it even for their legitimate rights. To make its strangle hold on power unhampered, it blocks all election reforms including the right to recall. Even in a representative democracy, the ultimate political power is never forfeited by the people. But through treating the election as an absolute license to do whatever they and their henchmen want, the ‘representatives’ turn themselves into masters and the real masters are turned into slaves. This needs to be corrected.
The civil society, now flushed with victory, however, has to be vigilant to see that its leaders do not ever become another power lobby and get sucked into the corrupt system.
P.P.Sudhakaran
Bangalore.
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