I know what you did last summer

I saw you wearing that Anna Hazare cap

Last summer, as the temperatures rose, you saw Anna Hazare play Piped Piper to the disgruntled Indian masses. Fed up with the government and corruption, they flocked to him, their quick fix messiah. We might question his methods, but an anti-corruption movement seemed to be the need of the hour.

One may ask, why was Anna’s fast different from that of Irom Sharmillas’s which goes on even after a decade. It is actually quite simple. Anna offered a solution for the corruption that permeates every level of the Indian bureaucracy, something that claims it will change the way India’s politics are forever.
Bribery and corruption are conjoint twins, they exist and flourish together. Corruption seen in India exists because of bribery and people’s willingness to pay to get what they want and twist law’s arm.

Buying into this, a large section of Indian society came out on to the streets and rallied against corruption for months together. This leaves the Indian government in quite a fix: How do they pass a bill that undermines the constitution and the entire functioning of the government?

After the string of scams that came up in the last few years, the public unwilling to let it slide easily. Although months have passed and it is true that the movement has simmered down, it is far from forgotten.

So what are they to do, our poor government? Well, they have a few options, the most plausible ones being coming up with their own version of the Jan Lokpal or putting the constitution to better use.

One might say we already use the constitution, what is this journalist on? Let me explain: Our constitution has been touted as one of the best in the world. Yet, we conveniently find the tiniest loopholes to get out of situations. If we enforced the constitution in its absolute form, it would help a large deal.

Contrary to popular belief, the provisions in our constitution that are meant to tackle corruption are actually quite impressive. How can one have faith in something that has existed all this while and still lands us in the position we are in today.

The solution lies in restoring people’s belief in the constitution again. Use constitutional remedies to fix the scams that have been discovered instead of dragging proceedings on for a long time till people lose faith in the legislative system as well. This is one of the problems with the constitutional solutions to corruption: The criminal justice system functions at the pace of a wounded snail.
Another problem with using judicial means to tackle corruption is that witnesses turn hostile. We need a proper whistleblower protection program so we do not have more cases like Shehla Masood’s where justice never comes to light.

Rather than restructure the entire government, it would be easier to make these few changes which will ensure a brighter future ahead for Indian politics, and India on the whole as well.