The Anna Hazard
Surely, the lok pal, like the ombudsman, needs to play the role of the watchdog of society, putting pressure on the government and its diverse administrative arms to regulate governance with probity, using the mechanisms and delivery systems according to stated laws.
This is the humungous corrective that has to be initiated and made operative. India does not need anarchy to replace democracy. We need our democratic systems to be rebooted and restored. We need collective political will to do that. We need Parliament to be respected by the elected representatives themselves. We need to conduct ourselves with dignity. And this ‘we’ includes Team Anna, political parties of India, the administrative service, the judiciary and the people. To exchange one dreadful, failed mess with another is suicidal. – Malavika Singh
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The Lokpal tamasha is bereft of serious debate and discussion. Allegations and counter allegations are being flung around, making the entire exercise contentious and unacceptable. There’s no real debate on TV, only hysteria and endless political 'tu tu main main' . Anchors have stopped being non-partisan. They brandish personal views, thus diluting all discussions
Something called ‘Team Anna’ claims to represent ‘civil society’. Clearly, it does not. There are many in ‘civil society’ — experienced professionals, thinkers and activists — who are stridently questioning the foundation of many demands raised by ‘Team Anna’.
This is like a movement for anarchy. ‘Team Anna’ seems to want the creation of a parallel government, peopled with self-appointed individuals, who believe that they are more honest than their fellow men. This ‘Lok pal’ will have no accountability at all to established democratic institutions: the Constitution, Parliament and the judiciary, even to the people of India.
The ‘hero’ of the TV anchors is Anna Hazare, who comes across as being equally superficial and simplistic when addressing this issue of enormous future importance for our democracy. His arrogant manner, devoid of intellectual strength, is scary, to say the least. The prospect of leaving governance to this ‘alternative’ is terrifying.
The press, has failed us by not being able to transmit the pros and cons of issues that are fundamental to our everyday lives. With a few exceptions, TV channels have reduced debate to sarcastic comments, trite questioning and disdainful, personal comments
Sadly, the untrained electronic lot screams at us, pushes its agendas in high-pitched, aggressive tones and kills the potential strength of the television. Anchors get away with anything. The same, predictable faces from civil society appear for the discussions. They flit like flies from one channel to the next, buzzing their plastic speil.
Prasar Bharati should have seized the moment to reinvent Doordarshan so that it could compete with the frivolous channels in our media space. There is a crying need for a public interest channel that will treat the viewer with respect and not ‘dumb down’ every idea to the lowest common denominator.
This is the humungous corrective that has to be initiated and made operative. India does not need anarchy to replace democracy. We need our democratic systems to be rebooted and restored. We need collective political will to do that. We need Parliament to be respected by the elected representatives themselves. We need to conduct ourselves with dignity. And this ‘we’ includes Team Anna, political parties of India, the administrative service, the judiciary and the people. To exchange one dreadful, failed mess with another is suicidal. – Malavika Singh
The Lokpal tamasha is bereft of serious debate and discussion. Allegations and counter allegations are being flung around, making the entire exercise contentious and unacceptable. There’s no real debate on TV, only hysteria and endless political 'tu tu main main' . Anchors have stopped being non-partisan. They brandish personal views, thus diluting all discussions
Something called ‘Team Anna’ claims to represent ‘civil society’. Clearly, it does not. There are many in ‘civil society’ — experienced professionals, thinkers and activists — who are stridently questioning the foundation of many demands raised by ‘Team Anna’.
This is like a movement for anarchy. ‘Team Anna’ seems to want the creation of a parallel government, peopled with self-appointed individuals, who believe that they are more honest than their fellow men. This ‘Lok pal’ will have no accountability at all to established democratic institutions: the Constitution, Parliament and the judiciary, even to the people of India.
The ‘hero’ of the TV anchors is Anna Hazare, who comes across as being equally superficial and simplistic when addressing this issue of enormous future importance for our democracy. His arrogant manner, devoid of intellectual strength, is scary, to say the least. The prospect of leaving governance to this ‘alternative’ is terrifying.
The press, has failed us by not being able to transmit the pros and cons of issues that are fundamental to our everyday lives. With a few exceptions, TV channels have reduced debate to sarcastic comments, trite questioning and disdainful, personal comments
Sadly, the untrained electronic lot screams at us, pushes its agendas in high-pitched, aggressive tones and kills the potential strength of the television. Anchors get away with anything. The same, predictable faces from civil society appear for the discussions. They flit like flies from one channel to the next, buzzing their plastic speil.
Prasar Bharati should have seized the moment to reinvent Doordarshan so that it could compete with the frivolous channels in our media space. There is a crying need for a public interest channel that will treat the viewer with respect and not ‘dumb down’ every idea to the lowest common denominator.
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