Interview with social activist and Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal. THE organisational abilities of Arvind Kejriwal exhibited during the recent Jan Lokpal Bill movement earned him the sobriquet “Field Marshal of a peaceful agitation”. The social activist and Ramon Magsaysay Award winner played a significant role in conceiving the slogans, the symbolism and the trajectory of the movement. He is credited with anticipating some of the moves of the government...
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Anna wave coincides with vow to purge electoral ills by Manash Pratim Gohain
Around the time Anna Hazare ended his fast at Ramlila Maidan and declared "electoral reforms" as his next agenda, 15 different organizations under the aegis of "Forum For Good Governance" kicked off a daylong deliberation on the same issue. Eminent members of the judiciary, political class, civil society and bureaucracy participated in the national conference on the 'urgency of electoral and political party reforms'. The success of Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement...
More »Anti-corruption campaigns: Flow of unaccounted money from politicians, businessmen may get disrupted by Ravi Teja Sharma
The anti-corruption campaigns that has brought politicians and businessmen under the scanner-especially their links with the builder community being exposed in recent scams-has got the real estate sector worried. A number of industry insiders and sleuths have confirmed that the flow of unaccounted money (or black money) in the system, a big source of funding for the sector facing funds crunch, will get disrupted. An unhealthy nexus between builders and politicians...
More »Do not yield to mobocracy; Lokpal cannot end corruption by TK Arun
Barring the very corrupt, everyone would support the ongoing campaign against corruption. But not either Team Anna's specific solution or the means it employs. In fact, there is every reason to oppose and condemn the move to blackmail the government into conceding a very flawed demand. A monolithic, all-powerful body that would hold every functionary of the state including the judiciary to account, and investigate and prosecute them if necessary, while...
More »Fasting as democracy decays by Gautam Adhikari
The movement around Anna Hazare's fast highlights a worrying trend. No, it's not corruption. That we know. The worry is: Is Indian democracy in a state of decay? Democracy in this largest of all democratic nations seems to be working fine at first glance. We vote regularly and throw out parties in power when a majority wants change. We have a free press. We have an independent judiciary. But there's...
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