Respect

For those who would be tempted to view our times within the context of the American Civil War, the BP Gulf oil spill would represent Fort Sumter. We currently find ourselves somewhere between Fort Sumter and Gettysburg. The oil spill was the first clear shot across the bow of America. It gave our president his first opportunity to clamp down on America’s jugular. Since then, the Left has managed to rack up an impressive string of victories. Even counting a significant number of electoral setbacks (during midterms), this seems to have had zero effect on the Left’s forward momentum. The economy is still in trouble and our position globally has become increasingly tenuous. It is clear that the American Left is hard at work toward seeing that America slips to second or third rung status among nations. So far, they are succeeding.

I have long predicted that something will happen that will forestall the 2012 elections and that Obama would remain in office. If this is correct, it would suggest the timeframe within which to expect Gettysburg. Gettysburg could be anything, foreign or domestic. Too many fuses are already lit; too much ordinance likely to detonate. When it does, there will either be chaos or the system will collapse into a shadow structure (already built and in place).

No one is willing to fully accept that any of this can happen – not in America. Those raising alarms are systematically silenced, crushed by ignorance, and by a general unwillingness to connect the dots and follow trend lines to their logical conclusion. Others, only semi-aware, place their hopes on 2012, our next chance to replace the leadership in Washington. They do not consider the possibility that we might never get there.

How to prepare? First off, know what you stand for. If you stand for liberty and the spirit of America, say so outright and without hesitation. Your worst move is to succumb to the bullying tactics of the Left, or to retaliate in kind. If you happen to be on the left, come out of hiding and state your intent plainly. Stealth will no longer serve you. Everybody must have a voice in determining where we want to end up. For the exercise to succeed, all cards must be put face-up on the table. Winner takes all.

Recognize too that your money is gone. It is being used as a weapon against you - to get you to do things you wouldn’t ordinarily consider doing. Write it off; start fresh. Hunger is another matter. But even hunger can be used as a weapon for a righteous cause. Anna Hazare moved the world recently by going on a hunger strike – so did Gandhi.

Know where you stand and adjust to doing without creature comforts. Obama’s threat to raise a billion dollars for his reelection campaign is meaningless. The money he intends on using has no value – and he knows it. It is a bluff to fend off adversaries. Doing without money will be easier than it seems. For one thing, you can no longer be bribed or corrupted by it. You will be free to pursue what’s right and true. And your reward will be far greater than anything money can ever hope to buy, among these: self-respect.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

View from India: ASSERTION OF YOUTH POWER IN SUPPORT OF NARENDRA MODI

by B.RAMAN

The storm in the tea cup raised by some so-called secular elements over the praise by Anna Hazare, the social activist, of the rural development achievements of Shri Narendra Modi, their whipping-boy, in his State of Gujarat underlines once again the determination of these elements to keep Modi quarantined in his past and not to take cognizance of his achievements in ushering in an era of prosperity and development in Gujarat. All sections of the population of the State---whatever be their religion or language--- have benefited from the efficient, corruption-free and people-friendly administration given by him to the State for the last three or four years.

2. The results achieved by him comparable to the results achieved in Western China---but not yet in coastal China--- demonstrate that we can catch up with China earlier than anticipated if only we had leaders with the kind of motivation, determination and vision that Modi has shown in developing his State.

3. Unfortunately, the so-called secular elements would rather keep Gujarat and the rest of the country backward and lagging behind China than acknowledge the record of Modi and let his Gujarat model of development become an Indian model.

4. The so-called secular elements that have taken up sword against Modi have only one objective---- keep him quarantined in his past and stop him from playing any role at the national level even if such a role would be of benefit to the country. The venom and hatred, which these elements keep spreading against him, are because of his strong Hindutva ideology, which is anathema to them, and his perceived sins of commission and omission during the horrendous acts of violence against our Muslim co-citizens in the aftermath of the massacre of a number of Hindu pilgrims by some Muslims at the Godhra railway station in Gujarat in the beginning of 2002.

5.There has been a perception---not unjustified---that Modi did not, in the initial stages, deal with the explosive situation vigorously in order to protect the members of the Muslim community from brutal and beastly reprisal attacks by the Hindus. The fact that the Police subsequently took vigorous action to protect the Muslims ---as evidenced by the large number of Hindus killed in police-firing--- would not mitigate from the fact that in the initial hours after the news of the Godhra massacre spread across the State, the administration dragged its feet in protecting the Muslims, thereby wittingly or unwittingly giving a free run to frenzied Hindu mobs. It was a horrible episode of which all of us have to be ashamed.

6. After the frenzy of the initial hours, the State Administration did move in vigorously to bring the situation under control. The fact that no effective action was taken in the initial hours has left a scar in the minds and hearts of Muslims. This scar is likely to take a long time to heal. The cases registered in connection with the brutal attacks on the Muslim community are under investigation or prosecution. The investigation made so far has not produced any evidence of complicity by Modi.

7. Under these circumstances, the right thing would have been to let the law take its own course in the cases registered and proposed to be registered and let Modi continue on the path of development of the State and not stand in the way of the aspirations of people, who want to see him play a much a larger political role at the national level so that the country as a whole benefits from the kind of efficient administration he has given Gujarat.

8. Modi enjoys the unqualified support of large sections of the Gujarat population and is increasingly admired for his drive and administrative acumen in other parts of the country too by people who can by no means be called Hindutva ideologues. People, who look up to him and want him to increasingly play a pan-Indian role, are nationalists and as much secular in their outlook and beliefs as the so-called secularists whose main preoccupation has become stopping Modi at every stage. They are concerned over the slow rate of development, over the aggravating internal security situation and over India lagging behind China . They feel that the type of governance and leadership that Modi has provided to the people of Gujarat needs to be tried out in other parts of India too, but these so-called secular elements are not prepared to let Modi play his due role for the development of the country.

9. The unexpected success of the Anna Hazare movement in the initial stages of the battle against corruption was made possible by the assertion of youth power in support of his movement. There is a need for a similar assertion of youth power in support of the development model as experimented with in Gujarat by Modi and for its spread to other parts of India . The Stop Modi Movement by these elements has to be stopped and rolled back. Only youth power can do it. ( 15-4-11)

(Bahukutumbi Raman is Additional Secretary ( retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies.. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)
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My comment: In America too the good work of people is often summarily dismissed on the mere basis of religious or party affiliation.

Bretton Woods' Smoke-Filled Rooms

I have recently devoted considerable space on this blog to corruption in India and to India’s way of dealing with it once it came to light. We’ve seen that the Indian government had to be dragged kicking and screaming into cleaning up its act, largely by the efforts of one, Anna Hazare, who had begun a protest fast till death.

The Indian media jumped on it and splashed it all over the country, and the entire population – particularly its youth – mobilized to force the government to confront various issues. [Kudos to the Indian university professors who must have exerted considerable (positive) influence over their legions of ‘skulls-full-of-mush’ scholars.]

May I be so bold as to suggest that the corruption that has come to light in India so far – bribery, money laundering, dipping into the public trough, influence peddling; trial fixing, cover-up, etc. – is peanuts when compared to what’s going on in the United States today? Bluntly put, there is a cadre of crafty individuals who are working on stealing no less than an entire nation - lock, stock, and barrel. (Let’s just call a spade a spade.)

For a long time now, we’ve had a feeling that something is terribly wrong. It first showed up in policies that seemed utterly insane. It snowballed into the dubious results we are seeing today. These were entirely predictable but are somehow being summarily ignored. People who were beginning to smell a rat were systematically neutered, ridiculed and marginalized.

The things we presently argue about on blogs and on talk shows – the usual Democrat/Republican divide – are now utterly beside the point. This is pure diversion and blame-shifting fun. Even the Islamic vs. infidel argument, as well as the Socialism/Democracy debates we endlessly engage in, are hardly worth mentioning anymore. What is truly important is routinely hidden or swept into inaccessible places - like what’s happening as we speak up at Bretton Woods.

None of the usual left-wing rabble showed up to protest – only a handful to ‘tea party’ people. They were barred from the (closed door) proceedings.

What is going on in New Hampshire is a long way from having to hand a judge a few thousand rupees to get a favorable ruling in a traffic dispute. Though annoying to the individual parties involved, the outcome would hardly determine the fate of a nation.

We often wonder how it is possible to shred our Constitution in plain sight; how we can ignore our border security; how we can nullify contracts with the stroke of the executive’s pen; how we can allow our dollar to slip into oblivion; how we can elect a man to the highest office in the land about whom next to nothing is known; how we can tolerate a Congress that is predominantly ineffective except when it comes to rubberstamping outrage after outrage; how – with all that is happening around us – our media remains silent.

I’m not saying that the kinds of solutions to come out of Bretton Woods palaver are necessarily bad. It may well be the best thing since sliced bread. What is suspect, however, is that the public has been excluded. We are being shaped, and herded into taking positions without explanation. Thanks to our media, which have become pure, unadulterated left-wing propaganda mills; our universities, which have become (in essence) madrassas promoting hatreds and Pavlovian response – thanks to our educational system overall, critical thought in our nation seems to have run its course. We’ve all become victims of an uncertain scheme that, by my calculations, can only end up in servitude for most of us. This is not how it was supposed to be.

It is significant that the one man who had both an inkling of what is going on and the skill to impart its essence, has now been forced from the stage. His departure is being heralded by professional left-wing and right-wing talkers alike. Now, tell me again that we’re not being played by both sides; that there is not effectively only one side: Soros’ side.

Watch closely the choices we will be presented with in our next election charade. The whole thing will hinge on what Republicans manage to come up with. As it looks now, they’ll serve up losers. And even if some standard-issue Republican should catch the public’s fancy, he’ll most likely turn out to be a ‘schlemiel’ like the rest.

Look too at the ones who draw the lion’s share of the Left’s condemnation (Palin, Trump). It is they who, if given even half a chance, are most likely to buck the trends that have been carefully mapped out, and promoted for years - that are only now coming to fruition.

http://pkoelliker.blogspot.com/

View from India: Anna And The Power of One

by Parvathi

In a sense, independent India came of age last week. I am talking of Anna Hazare's fast unto death spearheading the campaign against corruption. After 90 hours Anna broke his fast, as the government issued a gazette notification to draft an effective Lokpal Bill. The government did not know what it was that hit them. Right there on the eve of the general elections, the vox populi seemed definitely threatening. No way in hell could the present government avoid issuing the notification. They were damned anyway, and wasn't there something good old Dante said about the way to hell being paved with good intentions? I am not trying to be clever by half, just that it looks as though our very venerable Prime Minister and his men personally scripted and acted out their endgame. The writing was on the wall.

Anna's fast precipitated the simmering discontent and anger against corruption rampant in every aspect of everyday life in India. So much had it become part of local color, that the not so informed and educated, spoke resignedly of it being the the matrix itself. This after sixty years of hard won independence? A crying shame to say the least.

When I needed a death certificate for my father, the cryptic answer I got from the tehsildar's office was, that as my father passed away in America. I would get the certificate if I coughed up INR 7,000! Oh yes, we then bargained and brought it down to a more user friendly INR 5,000, but less than that they would not budge. The reason for such behaviour? Well, it sits on vertical thinking: if my parents had the money to holiday in the United States, my mother could definitely come up with the five thousand. Had my father died in India, we might have had to pay just a paltry whatever it is you pay for a death certificate. And this is just the benign face of the malignancy that has grown so huge, we literally cannot not see it!

Anna targeted this. And better, the youth rose as one with him and therein lies the moral of the tale. The very young alone --- with their unclouded vision and their untarnished idealism --- can take a nation forward. At this point in India's history, what we desperately need is idealism in the face of a decadent and decrepit political system. Sixty years ago, one man galvanized the nation and took us forward into freedom and independence.

Like in the wonderfully allegorical Animal Farm, we now find ourselves submitting to the tyranny of the very people ( or parties) that rode us to freedom. "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others." This is not what Gandhi dreamed about or gave his life for. We stand among the rubble of moral authority, but there's hope yet, as I see it.

There's hope in the young of India, who have chosen to remain here and fight the bitter battles, not trade it in for creature comforts elsewhere. Anna's call was to the conscience of the nation, and the conscience answered with a roaring cry that echoed in the corridors of power and frightened the power mongers. We are still alive and kicking, people, we care about this country never mind how bedeviled it may be. We still have dreams, we need the young to inherit our dreams, and "We shall overcome......."

My comment: Applies to us here in America as well.

View from India: FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: STRATEGIC & TACTICAL

by B.RAMAN

What one saw on the morning of April 9,2011, when social activist Anna Hazare broke his fast unto death after the Government of India accepted his demands relating to the enactment of legislation to set up an independent institutional mechanism to deal with corruption, was the end of the initial tactical phase of this confrontation between the Government and a group of civil society activists and the beginning of the strategic phase.

2. The victory in the initial tactical skirmishes was with the civil society activists led by Anna Hazare. Confronted with a rapidly developing movement, which assumed the dimensions of a storm within four days of its start --aided by widespread anger and disgust over the perceived foot-dragging by the Government on the issue of action against those allegedly involved in serious cases of corruption-- the Government of Dr. Manmohan Singh caved in and accepted all the demands in order to buy for itself time to recover from the surprise caused by the assertion of Youth Power on the issue and the emerging unity of action between social and student activists. This was a phenomenon that the Government had not anticipated.

3. The Government accepted the demands of the civil society coalition not because it was fully convinced that their demands are legitimate, but because it realised that having been taken totally by surprise, it had no other option but to concede their initial demands. It was a tactical concession to the view-point of the civil society coalition and not a strategic acceptance of it.

4. The Government's decision to concede a tactical victory to the civil society coalition was based on two apparent calculations. Firstly, the unexpected coalition between the social and students, activists may not be durable and may break asunder with the flux of time. Secondly, once the coalition demobilises its fighters, after its tactical victory, may find it difficult to re-mobilise if another confrontation should develop, and this could give the necessary time to the Government to prepare itself for the next round. Histories of people's movements often show that once they demobilise half-way, they find it difficult to re-mobilise. We are seeing this in Egypt now.

5. It would be unwise on the part of the Government to take advantage of the breather offered by the agreement on the setting-up of a joint committee of Government and civil society representatives in an attempt to create divisions within the civil society coalition. It could prove counter-productive and further weaken the credibility of the Government. The national movement against corruption spearheaded by Anna Hazare and the long chain of Government inactions on the issue of corruption that preceded it have clearly highlighted certain realities:


- Firstly, there is anger and disgust in all sections of urban societies over the Government's failure to act against corruption. Whether this anger has permeated to rural societies also would be seen from the results of the forthcoming elections in Tamil Nadu, the epi-centre of mega corruption, which did not see the kind of outpouring of support for the Anna Hazare movement that one saw in some other parts of India. One is likely to see an urban-rural divide in the fight against corruption. Can an urban movement alone succeed in the campaign against corruption if the rural masses do not support it? On the answer to this question would depend the future shape and direction of the movement.

- Secondly, large sections of society want not only action in individual cases of corruption, but also institutional changes to impart credibility and give teeth to the fight against corruption. Anna Hazare's movement was for institutional changes and not in connection with the recently exposed individual cases but it was fueled by the public anger relating to the individual cases. If this anger relating to individual cases was not there, it is doubtful whether his movement would have gathered such a rapid momentum on the Jan Lok Pal issue alone.

6. It is important for the Government to re-establish its credibility in the eyes of the civil society. This will be possible only if it takes simultaneous action on both fronts, namely, individual cases and the setting-up of an independent institutional mechanism. The interest taken by the Supreme Court in monitoring the investigation in the individual cases obviates the need for the civil society coalition to activate itself on this issue. The Government will be mistaken if it thinks that it can take advantage of the breather to frustrate the efforts of the civil society coalition for a strong and really independent institutional mechanism.

7. Instead of indulging in such an unwise exercise of delay and dilution, it should take the lead in facilitating the quick completion of its tasks by the joint committee and in ensuring an early implementation of the proposal. If it has the wisdom to do so, it may be able to recover some of the ground lost by it on this issue because of its hitherto lethargic approach. The Government and civil society representatives in the committee should identify areas of convergence and divergence and initially approve the points of convergence. The goodwill created by such an exercise would make the task of dealing with the points of divergence easier.

8. Even now, there are many laws and regulations having a bearing on anti-corruption. If they are effectively implemented instances of corruption in both the Government and the civil society will decline. As examples, one could mention laws and regulations relating to submission of declaration by public servants regarding acquisition of property of certain value, payment of income-tax, acquisition of disproportionate assets, prevention of money-laundering etc There has been an increase in instances of corruption in both the Government and the civil society due to a failure to enforce these laws and regulations and punish those guilty of violating them. The Government should see that violations are no longer tolerated.

9. Anna Hazare himself is a man of established integrity and unimpeacheable credentials. One cannot say the same thing about some in his entourage. Those of us who were in Government service in the 1970s would remember the students' agitation in a state over the alleged filing of a false declaration by one of those now close to Anna for getting admission to an issue in a central medical institution. The credibility of the movement would be enhanced further if such elements are identified and excluded.

10. It is important for the Government to work out a long-term strategy to reduce corruption. An exercise for this purpose can be initiated immediately by the Government on its own initiative without waiting for the joint committee to make progress in its work. Other civil society and students activists, who are not part of the Anna movement, should also be associated with it. The Government should maintain its leadership role in the fight against corruption. That is the only way of regaining its credibility. It is important for the Prime Minister to be more articulate on this subject and to interact frequently and vigorously with all sections of civil society and the media.

11. It would be difficult to quantify the extent of support received by the movement from the students. There was an orchestration of the coverage by all TV channels in order to create a dramatic impact on the minds of the viewers. They wittingly or unwittingly created an impression as if waves and waves of students were coming out to join the movement. Any careful viewer would have noticed that this was not so. It is important for the Government and the Congress (I) to interact more closely with those sections of the students who had kept away from the movement.

12. Co-operation with the civil society coalition headed by Anna Hazare in matters relating to the legislation and independent initiatives in other matters should be the over-all strategy of the Government. (10-4-11)

(Bahukutumbi Raman is Additional Secretary, (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)

View from India: DR.MANMOHAN SINGH BOWS TO STREET PRESSURE

by B.RAMAN

If there is one individual who has to be blamed for the success of street power over State power as a consequence of the national movement against corruption launched by social activist Anna Hazare, that individual has to be our Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh.

2.His Government had been confronted with a series of serious allegations of corruption since the middle of last year---many of them true and some still under investigation. The relentless exposure of these instances of major corruption by the electronic media called for a leadership and communication skills of very high quality to reassure the public in a convincing manner that these allegations were being treated with all the seriousness they deserved and would be investigated thoroughly and action taken against those found guilty whatever be the position in public life occupied by them and whatever be the consequences to his continuance as the Prime Minister and to the stability and durability of the coalition Government headed by him.

3. Instead of doing so, he handled these allegations in a halting manner that seemed not serious to the public of the country. There was a suspected attempt to keep the investigation pro forma instead of thorough-going and act against the wrong-doers only when forced to do so by the public campaign on this issue. Instead of accepting responsibility for what had gone wrong with an expression of his determination to root out this cancer, he constantly tried to blame the constraints of coalition politics for what had happened and gave an impression to the public of being weak and helpless.

4. The nation desperately needed a cool and courageous captain who could control the ship of State after it had hit the iceberg of corruption. Instead what it had was a low-grade sailor who didn't seem to know how to steer the ship.

5. The public was totally bewildered. It did not know what was happening as serious allegations of corruption came out one after the other from the news channels. Instead of interacting with the public directly and through his policy advisers and media managers in order to keep it informed of the real facts of the cases and to restore its shattered confidence in his administration, he withdrew into the fortress of the Prime Minister's office and avoided as far as possible interactions with the public and the media. One would have expected him to address the public through the TV and the radio in order to restore its confidence in the State. One would have thought that he would interact more frequently, more vigorously and more transparently with the media in order to regain his credibility and that of his Government.

6. Instead, he avoided interactions with the media and left this important task to his ministers of varying shades of seniority and credibility. His media managers, instead of acting as the facilitators of interactions with the media, saw themselves as controllers of his interactions with the media. Instead of encouraging him to boldly face the media and the public on this subject, they protected him from any unnecessary and unwise exposure to the media and the public.

7. Dr.Manmohan Singh was never known as a good communicator ----either as a bureaucrat or as the Finance Minister or as the Prime Minister since he took over in 2004. His poor communication skills were repeatedly seen during the various terrorist strikes, during his handling of crisis situations in our relations with Pakistan and China , and during the controversy over allegations of widespread corruption in his Government. Ever since he took over as the Prime Minister, there was a gradual drying up of the communication channels between the public and the Prime Minister. The ordinary citizens of this country hardly had an opportunity of listening to their Prime Minister either directly at public meetings or indirectly through TV channels or the radio. We had a Prime Minister who was seen, but rarely heard or felt in flesh and blood.

8. The shockingly incompetent manner in which the question of the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner was handled ultimately creating considerable embarrassment for him and his Government demonstrated to the public the ineptitude of the officers preferred by him as his close advisers to man the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Secretariat. Instead of being seen as policy and action galvanisers, the public saw them as a pack of bunglers who mishandled important affairs of State and were as helpless as the Prime Minister in anticipating and handling important issues that could damage the credibility of the Prime Minister and his Government.

9. The cumulative effect of the cascading instances of corruption and incompetence was the weakening of the credibility of the Prime Minister, a widening trust deficit between the Government and the public and spreading anger and disgust over the unbridled corruption and the Prime Minister's perceived inability to deal with it.

10. Into this messy situation walked a group of non-Governmental activists led by Anna Hazare, who were hailed by growing sections of the public, particularly the youth, as the liberators of the people from the clutches of corruption and incompetence. They exploited the reluctance of successive Governments for over 40 years to initiate action for setting up an independent institutional mechanism for dealing with corruption to rally the people around their flag for achieving a single demand---the setting-up of the independent institutional mechanism. The action of Anna Hazare in going on a fast unto death electrified the youth of the country who came out in their hundreds into the streets to support the demand of Anna Hazare.

11. The Prime Minister and his advisers totally misread the situation. They were surprised by the support of all sections of the people for this demand. They were taken aback by the youth coming out into the streets all over the country to support Anna Hazare. They were without answer to the triumvirate of forces that had joined hands in the name of a people’s movement----the social activists led by Anna Hazare, self-motivated and angry students coming from different classes of society and the TV news channels.

12. Faced with this formidable non-governmental force, which came into existence within four days of Anna Hazare starting his fast unto death, the Government found itself with no other alternative but to concede the demand for setting up a joint committee consisting of five representatives nominated by the Government and five by Anna Hazare to prepare a draft Bill for setting up the independent institutional mechanism, with a commitment by the Government to have it enacted by the Parliament during the monsoon session.

13. There is nothing wrong with the joint committee. The setting up of an independent institutional mechanism to deal with corruption is a long overdue measure. The association of non-governmental experts with the process for drafting the required legislation is an idea to which nobody can object.

14. What is objectionable is not what the Government has conceded, but the manner in which it has conceded it. It was evident from as early as January 30,2011, that the movement of the social activists for the setting-up of the institutional mechanism was gaining momentum and that attempts were being made to persuade Anna Hazare to take over the leadership of the movement. Dr.Manmohan Singh had nearly three months at his disposal to assume the parentage of this idea and to have it implemented as a Government initiative. He did not do it. He and his adviser kept quiet hoping it will lose steam.

15. When it did not and when confronted with four dramatic days of agitation on this issue, the PM conceded all the demands. Instead of being seen as the product of a constructive initiative of the Government determined to root out corruption, it is now seen as the trophy of the street power as a result of its victory over State power.

16. Addressing the supporters of Anna Hazare before he broke his fast on the morning of April 9, Swami Agnivesh, an activist of the movement, said :” This is not the end of the battle. This is only the beginning of the battle.”

17. Ominous words. ( 9-4-11)

(Bahukutumbi Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi , and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com)
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My comment: It must be underlined that nowhere has it been alleged that Dr. Mammohan Singh was corrupt himself - only timid. While some may claim that it led to the same thing, there is a huge difference.

View From India: AN ANTI-CORRUPTION AYATOLLAH

By B. Raman

One has reasons to be gratified and at the same time concerned over the direction the national anti-corruption movement led and galvanised by social activist Anna Hazare has been taking since it was launched three days ago from Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

2. It has shaken up the indifference of the Government on the issue of corruption and mobilised the urban youth across the country to come out into the streets in support of the demand voiced by Anna Hazare and his supporters for setting up an institutional mechanism to deal with corruption at all levels, with even the Prime Minister not exempt from its scrutiny and action.The way Indian youth in various urban centres and netizens have woken up from their slumber on this issue and risen to the colours of the Anna Hazare movement should be a matter of satisfaction to all right-thinking people in the country.

3. While we have noted with amazement the way the young people have bestirred themselves on this issue, none of us has been able to explain this phenomenon adequately. But we had seen this phenomenon repeatedly in different countries of the world since the Second World War. We saw it first in France in 1968 when Youth Power ultimately led to the exit of Gen.de Gaulle from power. We saw it in action the same year in the US where the anger of the American youth over the Vietnam war contributed to the decision of then President Lyndon Johnson not to seek re-election.

4. We saw it again on different occasions in Iran, Poland, South Korea, Myanmar (where it did not succeed) and more recently in Tunisia and Egypt.I have been criticised by many and ridiculed by some for comparing the phenomenon of youth in action now being seen in India to the phenomenon of youth in action that we saw in Egypt earlier this year. The main point of criticism is that India has strong traditions of democracy and hence cannot be compared to Egypt ruled by a discredited despot.

5 I have been comparing India to Egypt not because I am oblivious of the merits of our democracy, but because I feel unhappy over the state of our democracy which has stopped enthusing the people of the rest of the developing world because of the ills of corruption, nepotism and political insensitivity. I also compare India to Egypt because just as the assertion of the Youth Power in Egypt forced the powers that be in that country to at least make a pretense of action against the ills confronting the country, in India too, it is only the assertion of Youth Power that has forced the Government to come out of its shell of indifference and insensitivity.

6. Anna Hazare and his supporters have been agitating on the need for an effective institutional mechanism against corruption for years and have re-doubled their efforts since January last. The Government has suddenly bestirred itself on this issue not just because of the fast of Anna Hazare, but because it has been startled by the outpouring of empathy and support for him from the youth of the country. Even the TV channels of this country largely ignored this movement since January till it saw hundreds of youth coming out into the streets in support of Anna Hazare. Hence, I do feel my repeated compasrison to the assertion of Youth Power in Egypt is apt and cannot be lightly dismissed.

7.But there has been a major difference between the way the Youth In Action phenomenon worked itself out in Egypt and the way it has been working itself out in India. In Egypt, the youth kept the leadership and initiative in its hands and did not allow an Ayatollah of Democracy to emerge by taking advantage of the mobilisation of the youth and the assertion of its power, but in India the assertion of the Youth Power has been sought to be manipulated by some leaders of the Anna Hazare movement---- without his noticing and discouraging it--- to project him as the Ayatollah of Anti-Corruption, who has the monopoly of wisdom on this issue and hence whose wishes and stature in this movement have to be accepted implicitly by the Government without any questions being asked.

8. It is this self-assumed and over-projected moral superiority of Anna Hazare over the rest of us mere mortals which should explain the deadlock in their talks with the Government and their totally unwise demand that he should be made the head of the joint committee to be constituted for drafting the proposed legislation.

9. There are many of us who are fighting on this issue of corruption for years----each in his or her humble way. There are many non-governmental organisations across the country which have been creditably fighting on this issue. We are all grateful to Anna Hazare and his followers for the way they have galvanised the anti-corruption movement. But, at the same time, I am not prepared to accept that he has superior or a monop[oly of wisdom on this issue and that we can do nothing better than to accept whatever he says or demands without subjecting it to scrutiny.

10. We want effective action against corruption. At the same time, we do not want an Ayatollah of Anti-Corruption in our midst surrounded by subaltern Ayatollahs.

11.Finally, a humble appeal to the youth of the country. You have succeeded where we failed by directing the spotlight on the issue of corruption. The Government is showing signs of action thanks to you and because of you. It is more afraid of your power than of any other phenomenon.

12. Use that power wisely and imaginatively. Don't allow that power to be misappropriated and misused by fledgeling Ayatollahs of Anti-Corruption.

13. The Government is terribly confused in its response. All its efforts have been towards placating Anna Hazare and his followers. We have come to the present messy situation because of the indifference of successive Governments to the public anger and disgust over the issue of corruption and criminalisation of politics. It is also because of the failure of communications between the Government and the middle class and the absence of a far-seeing political leadership in the seats of power.

14. It is good that even at this late hour the Government has opened up its channels of communications with Anna Hazare and his followers. It should also simultaneously establish a dialogue on this subject with the other political parties and with the youth of the country. It should constitute a group of eminent personalities to come out with an alternative approach to the issue of corruption in general and to the institutional mechanism in particular. These initiatives should not wait till its talks with the leaders of the Anna Hazare movement succeed. ( 8-4-11)

(Bahukutumbi Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com )