India Against Corruption
A-119, Kaushambi, Ghaziabad . 201010. UP Ph: 09868069953
www.indiaagainstcorruption.org
Date: April 6, 2011
To,
Dr. Manmohan Singh,
Hon'ble Prime Minister of India
New Delhi
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
years 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 not come. We strongly believe
in dialogue and engagement. Kindly do not mislead the country by
saying that we are shunning dialogue. We request you to take some
credible steps at stemming corruption. Kindly stop finding faults and
suspecting conspiracies in our movement. There are none. Even if
there were, it does not absolve you of your responsibilities to stop
corruption.
With warm regards,
(K B Hazare)
இந்த அண்ணா ஹஸாரேயாலே இன்னா பெரீய தொந்தரவாய்ப்போச்சு! நல்லவேளை
தலைக்கு வந்தது தலைப்பாகையோடு போச்சு.. வெறும் லெட்டரோடே வுட்டாரே..
போதுமடா சாமின்னு எவ்வளவு நிம்மதியாப் பெருமூச்சு விடறாரு இப்ப நம்ம
மன்மோஹன் சிங்ஜி!(சர்தார்ஜிக்குத்தாங்க இந்த அடைமொழி எவ்வளவு நல்லா பொருந்துது பாத்தீங்கல்ல!)
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