In the course of over six decades a wide gap developed between 'Intent' and 'Content' of various laws, and in the process those in governance became more than protected from any form of accountability.

SEEING ANNA Hazare sitting at the centre of crowd assembled at Raj Ghat on August 16, one felt so pure and peaceful. One saw in him the source of strength to fight the malaise that India is currently faced with. People, including young children, sat around and chanted ‘Ramdhun’ giving their support for ‘Satyagrah’ against corruption through non-violent means. The following day, the Delhi Policy, utterly miscalculating the likely repercussions, took Anna into custody and whisked him away from one place to another, chased by hordes of protesters. Hell broke loose in all parts of India and the rest is history.

The Government is saying that Anna and his team are undermining democratic institution, the Parliament. Nobody, including Parliamentarians, is buying this argument. The ‘Annas’, on their part, said that they also respect the institution of Parliament but NOT Parliamentarians. According to them, the present instruments, including laws, are insufficient to change the nature of governance that has resulted in sustaining poverty and deprivation. Reports after reports, some of which were prepared by government institutions, have concluded that the government’s fight against poverty and deprivation has not reaped any significant results and the situation is almost the same as in 1947.

The trust in people’s representatives is at its lowest, primarily because of their selfish doing as more importance is given to their own individual interests over those of the people who elected them. People have seen how decisions on common interests are delayed for years while those that affect the politicians are made in seconds. People having witnessed these events time and again are fed up. They have also had enough of corruption and ill treatment from those in power.

The question is how the menace took such shape and magnitude that people at large feel unconnected with the ‘shinning’ or ‘incredible’ India.

  How come people in power are allowed to play with the taxpayers’ money?  Why the issue of aarakshan has become more important than bias and ineffective governance?

On securing independence, we the people of India gave ourselves a Constitution with the aim of developing a just society. To achieve the Constitutional promises we adopted laws, rules and programs. These laws aimed at promoting and protecting the interests of the Colonial country. The laws created an instrument that insulated its officials from any form of persecution. In the course of over six decades the gap between ‘Intent’ and ‘Content’ of various laws became wide and in the process those in governance became more than protected from any form of accountability. It seems as if the laws were made for others to follow, while the lawmakers remain untouched by the same. We have seen how people with minor or no crime are put behind bars, while those who commit heinous crimes get bail and repeat crime.

What is needed is a complete overhauling of the legal system so as to bring harmony between ‘intent’ and ‘content’. Also, there is a need for the governance to be non-legalistic.