The recent drama that was staged in Indian politics with fasting and non-fasting and again the threat of fasting again has raised many questions on our mind. Are we again going on for the same fight that was fought 100+ years ago?
The start seems the same way. The corruption took 60 years to seep into each and every branch of our system. The people who first ignored it are now getting tired of it. And now few people rise against the corruption and exploitation of this corrupt system. And how we have started? The same way the moderists (or how we know them as naram-dal) started the fight against foreign rule. We have started with showing protests and presenting petitions in the parliament. Another commission is planned to set-up to help us "fight" the fight or placate the now getting self-aware public.
But one question which every one in the public has "who will guard the guards?". How can we be sure that the people in the commission will be immune to the disease called "corruption".
What is missing from this fight to free the country from corruption compared with fight to free the country from foreign reign is that though some people have come forward with strong ideas, all of them lack the public support at large. They are forgetting the point that it is not that the government is corrupt but the whole system is corrupt. So until we change the complete system a simple commission will not be the solution nor the change of government in center. Also, don't forget that our constitution is strong enough. And they do punish the culprits. The issue here is that culprit should be punished as soon as the crime is found so that any new person thinks before doing the offence of corruption rather than years and years of pending cases.
And the only way the system could change is when each and every person in the country is perceptive and ready to fight against corruption. The reason for the success of Mahatma Gandhi is that he brought the fight for freedom to mass where each and every person was eager to be freed. We need the same mobilization and inspiration. We need to ensure that the whole mass is eager to be free of corruption.
Having fasts, demonstrations and a new commission will create a buzz for some time but it may also be lost among so many other things and very soon mass lose the interest about it. And the first thing Anna Hazare or Baba Ramdev is to motivate the public to change rather than asking reforms from the government straight away. Don't forget if the public stops supporting the corruption, no corrupt government will ever be formed.
I believe the new leaders that are trying to lead the fight against corruption should never forget Dushayant Singh's words:
Sirf hungama khada karna mera maqsad nahi,
Meri koshish hai ki ye surat badalni chahiye.
Lead the fight at the ground level. Make public to stop supporting corruption at length. No more quick solutions by giving money - no more money to get your income tax return, no more money to get your property registered sooner, no more bribe to escape the parking ticket. And if public stops giving money - the system will change eventually. It is not an easy fight. It was never easy and it may take long fight to resolve. We need patience and never-say-die efforts from anyone who is joining in this fight against corruption and eventually the "surat" will change.
