So, what next?

Why suddenly there is a smear campaign against Anna’s team, specifically the Bhushans? It’s not difficult to see through this…clearly, it does not take an Einstein to figure out who benefits the most from such a smear campaign!

So, what next?

Do we get someone else in place of Bhushans? If we accede, then, our hallowed politicians will get some other issue to stall the momentum gained over the last few weeks and if no action is taken then the same politicians will succeed in planting the seeds of doubt in the minds of public (something they have been wanting to do with some active support of “helpful” media!). As they say, damned if you do and damned if you don’t!

Where do we go from here? Looks like this “revolution” too will fritter away as many other before it because “revolutions” such as these are unstructured and with multiple power centers and each pulling in different direction and it is difficult to sustain momentum – just like a tsunami which causes most of the destruction with its initial momentum but then recedes as quickly as it came unless another aftershock causes another tsunami! So, how does one sustain the momentum? The fact is that these attacks by the politicians both from within the government and outside it will continue to grow and will sap the momentum and energy of the movement.

So, what next?

Undoubtedly, what Anna has given us is an opportunity and a platform to forge ahead and put together a law that will help stem corruption and therefore, its important that Anna’s team goes on to help draft the new Jan Lokpal bill regardless of the smear campaign against it as the credibility of the team will be evident in the finalized draft bill that is put up for public to comment upon…to this, one could argue, wouldn’t it be too late as the draft bill will have been readied by then without proper scrutiny and would go to the parliament for its nod? Yes, that’s true but then, there are two possible outcomes to this, one that the parliament ratifies the bill and it becomes law and second that its falls through the parliamentary process and does not become law. In either case, we do not get a desired result and thus do not gain or loose anything. Again, one would argue that if we had changed the panel and removed the Bhushans with someone else, then, perhaps we would have got a bill that was originally intended…but then, what’s the guarantee that the replacement of Bhushans do not come with similar baggage and result in the same outcome as what we are dreading now!

So, what next? As I see it, it’s best to proceed with Anna’s chosen team and also put in place milestone review mechanisms that will ensure transparency in each stage of bill drafting, some sort of maker-checker mechanism, so that any kinks in the draft are addressed as and when they appear and we get the desired bill at the end of it all.

Are we game? Or, will we fall prey to the usual wily politicians? Choice is ours.