Anna Hazare's letter to the PM
Dear Dr. Singh,
I have started
my indefinite fast at Jantar mantar. I had invited you also to fast and pray
for a corruption free India on 5th April. Though I did not receive any reply
from you, I am hopeful that you must have done that.
I am pained to
read and hear about government's reaction to my fast. I consider it my duty to
clarify the points raised on behalf of Congress party and the government by
their spokespersons, as they appear in media:
1. It is being
alleged that I am being instigated by some people to sit on this fast. Dear
Manmohan Singh ji, this is an insult to my sense of wisdom and intelligence. I
am not a kid that I could be "instigated" into going on an indefinite
fast. I am a fiercely independent person. I take advice from many friends and
critics, but do what my conscience directs me to do. It is my experience that
when cornered, governments resort to such malicious slandering. I am pained
that the government, rather than addressing the issue of corruption, is trying
to allege conspiracies, when there are none.
2. It is being
said that I have shown impatience. Dear Prime Minister, so far, every
government has shown complete insensitivity and lack of political commitment to
tackling corruption. 62 years after independence, we still do not have
independent and effective anti‐corruption
systems. Very weak versions of Lokpal Bill were presented in Parliament eight
times in last 42 years. Even these weak versions were not passed by Parliament.
This means, left to themselves, the politicians and bureaucrats will never pass
any law which subjects them to any kind of objective scrutiny. At a time, when
the country has witnessed scams of unprecedented scale, the impatience of the
entire country is justified. And we call upon you, not to look for precedents,
but show courage to take unprecedented steps.
3. It is being
said that I have shown impatience when the government has "initiated"
the process. I would urge you to tell me - exactly what processes are underway?
a. You say that
your Group of Ministers are drafting the anti‐corruption
law. Many of the members of this Group of Ministers have such a shady past that
if effective anticorruption systems had been in place, some of them would have
been behind bars. Do you want us to have faith in a process in which some of
the most corrupt people of this country should draft the anti‐corruption law?
b. NAC sub‐committee has discussed Jan Lokpal
Bill. But what does that actually mean? Will the government accept the
recommendations of NAC sub‐committee?
So far, UPA II has shown complete contempt for even the most innocuous issues
raised by NAC.
c. I and many
other friends from India Against Corruption movement wrote several letters to
you after 1st December. I also sent you a copy of Jan Lokpal Bill on 1st
December. We did not get any response. It is only when I wrote to you that I
will sit on an indefinite fast, we were promptly invited for discussions on 7th
March. I wonder whether the government responds only to threats of indefinite
fast. Before that, representatives of India Against Corruption had been meeting
various Ministers seeking their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill. They met Mr
Moily also and personally handed over copy of Jan Lokpal to him. A few hours
before our meeting with you, we received a phone call from Mr Moily's office
that the copy of Jan Lokpal Bill had been misplaced by his office and they
wanted another copy. This is the seriousness with which the government has
dealt with Jan Lokpal Bill.
d. Dear Dr
Manmohan Singh ji, if you were in my place, would you have any faith in the
aforesaid processes? Kindly let me know if there are any other processes
underway. If you still feel that I am impatient, I am happy that I am because
the whole nation is feeling impatient at the lack of credible efforts from your
government against corruption.
4. What are we
asking for? We are not saying that you should accept the Bill drafted by us.
But kindly create a credible platform for discussions - a joint committee with
at least half members from civil society suggested by us. Your spokespersons
are misleading the nation when they say that there is no precedent for setting
up a joint committee. At least seven laws in Maharashtra were drafted by
similar joint committees and presented in Maharashtra Assembly. Maharashtra RTI
Act, one of the best laws of those times, was drafted by a joint committee.
Even at the centre, when 25,000 tribals came to Delhi two year ago, your
government set up a joint committee on land issues within 48 hours. You yourself
are the Chairperson of that committee. This means that the government is
willing to set up joint committees on all other issues, but not on corruption.
Why?
5. It is being
said that the government wants to talk to us and we are not talking to them.
This is utterly false. Tell me a single meeting when you called us and we did
