Team Anna rebuffed by Ilaiah on Lokpal Bill Sep 13, 2011, 03.56AM IST
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Team-Anna-rebuffed-by-Ilaiah-on-Lokpal-Bill/articleshow/9962204.cms?prtpage=1 HYDERABAD: Several dalit, OBC and minority organizations, that have come together under the aegis of Citizens for Social Justice (CSJ), have rejected the offer of talks by Team Anna to accommodate their views in the Jan Lokpal Bill. Having realised that the weaker sections, especially dalits and minorities, are opposed to certain aspects of the ongoing anti-corruption movement, Team Anna invited Kancha Ilaiah, the founder of CSJ, for talks. Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent member of Team Anna, contacted Ilaiah, an ideologue of weaker sections, to convey to him that they were open to discuss dalit's anti-corruption agenda and ready to accommodate their views to give the Lokpal Bill a popular touch. According to sources, Kejriwal was unhappy with the BJP wanting to take over the movement as well as the airing of pro-RSS slogans like Vande Mataram by leaders of the movement. He is also said to have told Ilaiah that Team Anna was trying to rid the movement of any sectarian elements whose presence is hurting the sentiments of other groups in the country. Confirming the interaction with Kejriwal, Ilaiah said he did receive an invitation from him to attend the recently-held Team Anna meeting in Maharashtra. "The proposal is not acceptable to the CSJ. The movement has gone deep into the hands of Hindutva forces. It is very difficult to keep these forces away as the BJP is aiming to reap electoral benefits by turning the movement into a Hindutva crusade against corruption," Ilaiah said. He also added that the Lokpal Bill proposed by Anna Hazare and his group would undermine the constitutional governance which was labouriously built by B R Ambedkar and other national leaders after a thorough debate. Another objection raised by the CSJ was the mode of selection of the Lokpal Bill. "We are opposed to leaving the drafting of the Lokpal Bill to a committee of Nobel laureates and Magasaysay award winner who are invariably from the upper classes", Ilaiah said. He said the constituent members of the CSJ were of the view that the Lokpal institution would create a crisis in the parliamentary democracy. Ilaiah along with other leaders of the CSJ, Joseph D' Souza, John Dayal, Anis Mukhtadar, Asifuddin Mohammad and G Shankar said the government bill, in whatever form it takes, has to be debated by the whole nation in the 2014 election. "If the BJP and the Team Anna think that the entire nation is with them, they should go for elections with their version of Jan Lokpal Bill in 2014 to get the approval of the majority," he said. Only a national referendum on the issue would protect the Constitution and democracy in the country, the leaders said.
