I will fight

Who are these wise guys telling us not to agitate?
Who are these people telling us not to take sides?
Who are these people reminding us of the institutions of democracy and supremacy of the parliament?

I will fight because Ram did so.
I will take sides because Krishna did so.
I will agitate because Ghandhi did it.
I will protest because Martin Luther king did it.
I will even go to war because Abraham Lincoln did it.

When the cause is the greater good, the bigger truth, a fight is justified.

In the name of law making the government has given unto itself unrestricted and arbitrary amount of power to run roughshod over us using the legislature, the police, the judiciary, the executive, and the bureaucracy.

Things have gone way too far. Tyranny has been foisted on us in the name of democracy.

This is not about the drafting of one bill, this is not about the crusade of one man, this is not even about corruption alone. It is about the freedom from a system that is increasing seeing us as pawns to be made use of as per its will.

It only starts with the Anna. It only starts with the Jan Lokpal bill.

It is incumbent on the government to climb down from its high horse and reach out to the people.

Against a collation of the corrupt

There is a collation of the corrupt that runs across the party lines. Not only is the ruling dispensation sure of a majority support from its ranks and files, it is sure of finding people willing to sell their support from amongst the fringes of the opposition ranks. As it happened during the vote on the nuclear debate.

That is why, they are asserting the supremacy of the parliament in law making. They know, that the bill (Jan Lok Pal Bill) can be endlessly delayed in the parliament.

While the institution of the parliament must be respected for the sake of democracy, continual and growing public pressure is necessary to avert any move to scuttle the debate on the bill or delay its passage through the parliament. We're already late by decades.

That is why, Anna & co are right in protesting despite the introduction of the bill in the parliament.

Government as the masters versus enterprise of the people

Here is the basic difference between the Congress and the BJP. The Congress continues to perpetuate a Mai Baap Raaj. This approach is based on the perspective that people are poor and helpless and we (the government and enlightened politicians) must help them. The BJPs view on the other hand is, that we as a people only need to realise our greatness. This view incidentally is not based on western capitalistic ideal but on the ideals that is part of our vedantic philosophy that talks about the divinity waiting to be realised in every individual.

The BJP must articulate this position better. - Are we helpless people that need to live by the grace of our political masters and the crumbs that they throw at us or are we the masters of our own destiny? The question to be asked is that - can only the governments do the task of building the nation or is this nation to be built by its people? Clearly the answer is the latter because despite all the government failures this nation continues to move ahead. Now we are not arguing for no government or less government. And we are certainly not arguing for crony capitalism (like that practiced by Congress and a few of its allies). What we are arguing for, is a government that does enough to make its people succeed in realising their true potential.

What government no matter how big or wise can build a nation all by itself?

This difference must become more pronounced, articulated and encapsulated in the messages and programs of the BJP. It must take a position counter to intellectual arrogance, crony capitalism and corruption. And against government being the masters and commanders, towards collaborative effort, empowerment of the individual and collective enterprise and dharmic (principled) governance.

It is only then can we live up to the vedantic ideals of realising the divinity in the souls of all individuals. There true potential.

Only then can India take a leadership position in the 21st century. And we seek this leadership position not out of our ambition to be seen as better than others but out of our sense of responsibility to lead the world for the better.

Perhaps the biggest achievement of the rule of BJP under Vajpayee was going from a state of extreme despondency to one of self confidence. My hope is that the BJP can deliver on Advani vision of not just restoring our lost self confidence but also on moving us forward to a position of global leadership.

The enemy within

While politicians get much flak for all that is wrong in the country, it's the bureaucracy that is the real enemy. Hidden from public scrutiny. They are the 'enemy within', gnawing the countries vitality from inside.
India's suffocating bureaucracy was ranked the least-efficient by the survey, on 12 economies released recently by the Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC). Indian bureaucrats trailed those from Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines and Indonesia in that order.
‘Working with the country's civil servants was a slow and painful process,’ said the PERC. ‘They are a power center in their own right at both the national and state levels, and are extremely resistant to reform that affects them or the way they go about their duties.’
It is in this context that an institution such as the Lok Pal must be established to call them to question.

Put quality before capital

40% of the water is lost to leakages during transmission. And we want to build dams, 50% misdiagnosis and we want to build hospitals. 86% of the money doesn't reach the beneficiaries and we want to allocate more capital to social spending. 40% of electric power is lost in transmission and we want to build new power plants. 80% of engineering students are unemployable and we want to build more universities.
All this building, capital allocation, investments etc. favors a certain class of people. All such policies promote crony capitalism. All such actions smack of a lazy approach. All such policies create waste. All such policies undermine our people's capacities.
Quality not quantity, innovation not capital, should be focus of public policy. That's how we can build an efficient society. That's how we can be a leading society. That's how we can preserve our traditions. That's how we can preserve our environment. That's how we can provide a higher quality of life for most.

An idea is bigger

An idea is bigger than the people. It has the potential to transform.
The idea of transparency is bigger than the people fighting for it. It is bigger than those fighting to obstruct it.
It is an idea whose time has come.
People fighting for the idea may fail at times. People fighting against it may be powerful. It may even seem at times that they are winning. But in the end it is the idea that will win.
The idea will defeat or transform those against it. The idea will raise the standards of those fighting for it.