Bangalore meets to tackle corruption
Posted on May 23, 2011
On May 6, 2011, Anna Hazare was due to visit Bangalore. While his visit was postponed due to ill health, the meeting continued with Swami Agnivesh making time to meet representatives from various anti-corruption campaigns in Bangalore and discuss the provisions of the Jan Lokpal Bill from a citizen’s point of view.
While Prithvi Reddy from Smart Vote introduced the forum to the audience, T.R. Raghunandan from ipaidabribe.com opened the discussion by speaking eloquently on the Lokpal Bill, ipaidabribe and the need for strong anti-corruption laws as well as systemic change, rather than one time measures. He also suggested identifying the 'honest doer' in government and empowering him to make a difference.
Swamiji then went on to talk about the events leading to the Jantar Mantar fast, including the march down Parliament Street. He emphasised that despite protests being held all over the country in support, none were disruptive and all were singularly non-violent in nature. He elaborated on the success of the event and said that it was a significant demonstration of people’s power and its capacity to influence the government. He then opened out the discussion to the people and invited suggestions for the new Jan Lokpal Bill.
Attending the event were several well known faces–Dr Meenakshi Bharat, Ramchandra Guha, Katyayini Chamaraj from Civic Bangalore, eminent citizens M.K. Gandhi and Shankar Prasad, the International Sufi Centre and Bangalore-based anti-corruption activists from `India Against Corruption’ and `Saaku’ who added their suggestions.
The meeting ended with a recap of all suggestions offered and a pledge taken to make the next anti-corruption event in Bangalore a resounding success.
Since then, India has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, but the battle doesn’t end there. As T.R. Raghunandan mentioned in his posts on the Lokpal Bill, this is only the beginning of a long and arduous drafting exercise. The laws have to be put in place and then enforced diligently.
To this effect, on May 28, 2011, you are invited to participate in a public meeting with Anna Hazare along with Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Swami Agnivesh at 2 pm, National College Grounds, Basavanagudi, Bangalore.