Means should justify ends

Mr. Sundeep Pandey said at Vijayavada:
"We welcome the fight launched by Ramdev. But surprisingly, crores of rupees are being pumped into organisations headed by babas in the country. Ramdev should first speak on the issue."
My mind compiled some questions and answers:

Q: Is this question really important?

Ans: Certainly. A person staying in a glass-house cannot throw stones at others. Ramdev Baba seems to have amassed millions partly may be by legitimate and partly by illegitimate means. Both the UPA and the NDA Governments ignored when this amassing of wealth was taking place. BJP and the Sangh Parivar seems to be happy because Ramdev is playing to their tunes. Had NDA been in power, Ramdev would have played a different tune.

Q: How do you know this?

Ans: Baba himself said that he was planning to start a political party of his own. He has his own political ambitions a la Uma Bharati. The present leaders of BJP and the Sangh Parivar cannot yield the top slot to Ramdev, who is just a fresher. There are many slogging in BJP, awaiting opportunities.

Q: Ramdev is trying to do something good by fighting against corruption. Why don't you support it and why do you pick holes in his campaigns?

Ans: Anna Hazare sounds more sincere than Ramdev Baba. This cannot be said of all the people surrounding Anna Hazare and Ramdev. Both the campaigns are trying to bully the Government, to extract their own pound of flesh.

Q: How do you know?

Ans: Public Service today is not philanthropy. We cannot find Good Samaritans here. Everybody entering politics may not want power and pelf. Things have become too hazy. Jurisprudence says that accused persons are to be treated as innocent till guilt is established beyond doubt. But practical experience of Indians is showing that everybody is to be suspected until proved innocent indisputably.

If we go on doubting everybody, we shall become doubting Thomases. Nobody will enter to help in future. Hence, we should belive somebody or other after making some inquiries and exercising due diligence.

Ans: This sounds practical. Corruption is no longer an agenda in Indian elections. Recent elections in the Kadapa Parliamentary Constituency have shown that there was little for the voters to choose among the three chief contesting parties. The voters should have examined the merits other contesting candidates. Did the voters do? No.

Q: Do you mean to say that the real corruption lies in the voters?

Ans: Exactly. The voters may have their own reasons for their becoming corrupt while voting. But the hard-biting fact remains. Ramdev and Hazare should have approached the voters for eradicating the voter-corruption. Mr. Hazare is frank and honest enough to declare that he would lose deposit if he contests. Nothing will change much even after Lok Pal Bill which includes even Prime Minister in its scope, is enacted. The Lok Pal may not act independently. He may be denied Office. He may not have sufficient investigative and enforcing staff. His recommendations may remain unimplemented.

Q: Something is better than nothing. Let a beginning be made.

Ans: OK. Let a beginning be made. But all the energies of the Nation cannot be wasted in creating just a recommending agency without teeth. We can have better results if Hazare and Ramdev try to convince people about the need to ignore old horses both candidates and parties. A new guy or a new party may be worse than the old devils. Yet, the air does not stagnate.