It was a dedicated effort, and well directed. It was a sincere effort, and well orchestrated. It was aptly advertised and cleverly caused. People were called out into the streets, from different houses and localities. People of every religion and caste made their presence known. Man, woman, child---- all were there, agitated and ready to walk. But, something was missing. A sincere question to Mr. Hazare on his recent bout with the Government against corruption in the country- Really?
India is a corrupt country not because of politicians. India is a corrupt country because India is a country of corrupt people. An agitation was not required. People are well aware of corruption. People are well educated about corruption. Every man in his life has encountered corruption and dealt with it. People are really very well aware that corruption haunts the streets of India, starting from getting admission into pre-school to getting a death certificate to prove a man is actually dead. Individuals and groups, people and the government have both been actively involved in this process. Corruption is all around us, because corrupt people are all around us. People were all across television expressing anger against the government.So, lets assume for now the fight is against the government. But then again, we elected the government. Every one of us did. And we hold them responsible. You tell me you don t vote because it doesn't matter and I will tell you it matters much more.
And this helps me modify my question for Mr. Hazare a little.
What is your fight against, really? Is it corruption? Is it corrupt government? Is it corrupt people? Because, corruption cannot exist without corrupt government, which in turn is meaningless without corrupt people. and if you are indeed fighting against corrupt people, here I am. Come. We all have gone through corruption and been very active in corruption since our birth. Why in fact, for most of us our birth certificate was got by paying a bribe to a peon. We then go to school, where every day our mother and father bribe us with sweets and toys to get a good grade. In college, the police bribe us every time we drive without a helmet. For many of us, getting into the college of our dreams is impossible without corruption. Getting a job, getting promoted, getting a raise, everything now has incorporated corruption very easily.
And we accept it. Which we shouldn't.
And so, before we can even think of saying something as ridiculous as "We don't want corruption in the government" we should first have the guts to not pay a bribe when we break the signal.
The question that needs a answer is which of the following is more dangerous- the government with a thousand crore rupee scam and a population all angry at it, or simple individuals who bribe a policeman for having broken the signal? This question might seem innocent but it has its roots for deep in the actual problem this country is facing.
I hear a lot of people saying that when the Government gets caught in a million rupee scam the National pride is hurt and we as a nation are humiliated on a global scale. I contradict this, because I think that every time a foreign tourist sees a citizen who pays a bribe to get out of trouble, we as a nation are shamed much more.
And lets assume for a minute that Mr. Hazare gets rid of corruption in the country. What next? Would we have an utopia? Would we have a country where everyone is happy? Would every one follow the rules now?
Hardly.
I can guarantee you that one day, when no one is taking bribes, there will be a person who wonders whether he can get a better deal. This will start a whole cycle of corruption and a struggle against it. More people will see that to get a better deal all you need to do is be corrupt. And why would you not do it? The system is bad, you can always convince yourself. Everyone is doing is, you can always console yourself to sleep. And so you join and drag with you, a multitude.
A better approach in this case would be to not target corruption but the causes of corruption. We can spend time and think why we need to pay the bribe to a policewaala everytime we break a signal. Make the system of paying fines better. Give the policemen better wages so they do not have to take bribes. Keep on reviewing these changes after certain fixed times and make changes as needed. Make the citizens realize the seriousness of breaking a signal. Make the policemen realize the seriousness of not taking a bribe and fining the culprits to the full.
Corruption will never go, but it will always teach us a lot about ourselves and our country. It acts as an extraordinary pointer to underlying causes of distress to people. It tells us where and how our system is failing. More importantly, it tells us where we can better ourselves and the system. We should learn as much as we can from this symptom of failure, because corruption is not a cause but a symptom.
And so I always maintain this point of view- corruption can never leave us alone. We should not strive to be a country which is corruption free, but a country which is always striving to be corruption free.
Ed Lithium
