The Language of Crusaders

The year 2014 is a crucial one for India. It is election year. Whoever wins, whatever the outcome, I feel I'd like to air one grouse. 

Corruption is high on the agenda. Reams have been written about, spoken about and discussed by everyone. The discussions continue unabated. It is wonderful that the common Indian citizen has started speaking out boldly. There was a time, as recently as the nineties, when only a very few used to speak out. The rest of us used to rail and rant, but within the confines and safety of our four walls. And then, four or five courageous individuals told us exactly what loopholes the politicians were using in the law to get away with siphoning off crores of rupees and for gagging the whistle blowers.

I understand the ordinary person is disgusted with the looting of the Indian treasury. Just to give one example, they’ve seen individuals start in politics with modest homes to their names and within a couple of years, move to palatial houses.

I understand the anger.

So many of us have come together to fight this common enemy. We are from disparate backgrounds and we’ve come together because we want the same outcome – the eradication of this blatant looting.

What is my grouse? It is about the discussions at the "India Against Corruption's (IAC's) fb and other sites. 

Yes, we feel a natural affinity towards members of our group. We want the identical same thing. 

Yes, we now have two plans of action to move forward where previously we had one. Some of us believe we can make politicians accountable with dharnas, anshans, fasts and protest marches while others believe we've tried that route and by itself, it hasn't worked. It needs another dimension as well where the common educated and respected Indians (retired chief justices, social activists and others) introduce those accountability laws themselves - from within – by becoming politicians; that the politicians of today will never, of their own accord, allow a law that demands accountability from the corrupt to be passed. Under such a law they would be the first to be punished.

Yes, I understand there are staunch supporters of each of the two current major parties (ruling and opposition) who join in the discussions online so that they don't pass up the opportunity to bad mouth each other or to bad mouth the IAC in the hope of getting a rise out of IAC supporters.

And yes, many of these bad mouthers are staunch supporters of IAC too.

Anyone can understand people having heated discussions.  I am not squeamish about people showing their loyalty, prejudice, preferences or anger. But the stream of filth that continues to plague these discussions, words like "bhos*i " and more used to attack individuals... this has got to stop. 

The more decent individuals either ignore such comments or appeal to the offenders to stop. Neither of these two strategies seems to be working. The filth continues unabated.

Such people do a lot of harm to their own case. And if they are on the IAC forum, that’s who they harm. Their disgusting language is met with a dignified silence from the corrupt politicians they foul mouth. As a result, the corrupt come out smelling of roses - their wrong doings get sidelined.

And tomorrow, if anything goes wrong, these foul mouthers are the very individuals who will be difficult to contain. They blow their tops during discussions – what chance that anyone can contain them in any other situation? Why wait that long - wily and seasoned politicians who don't want the IAC to get into politics on the platform of corruption (too popular with the hoi polloi and too dangerous for them?) are always on the look out to stir up trouble. And a volatile few play right into their hands.

Things are looking good for IAC. People admire them for their courage and for explaining exactly where and how corruption has taken place. Here are Arvind Kejriwal's tapes (in Hindi) explaining what each of fifteen politicians has done. I think they are worth a visit.

Let's not rock the boat. Lets nip the bad mouthing right now. I wish I knew how. Suggestions welcome. 
 

Anticorruption Bill 2011 Postponed Again

The New Bill 2011 to fight corruption in India (the lokpal) has been an eagerly awaited non event - since the past sixty years! After Anna Hazare's hugely popular fast was ended with the government promising Anna that they would discuss the bill in the monsoon session of parliament in 2011, everyone had started hoping it would ATLAST become law. Unfortunately from the monsoon session it was carried forward to the winter session and at the last minute the Congress balked and backed out. "Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley also said that the government had choreographed chaos to dodge a vote." (see http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Lokpal-Bill-put-to-sleep-at-midnight/articleshow/11298043.cms)

Here's a short, award winning video on how corruption isplayed out in, and affects, India..

In any case, the government's version of the lokpal (anti-corruption bill) was weak. This is what an editorial in a respected Indian newspaper, "The Hindu", had to say about it."The Centre, which has retained administrative control (read: promotions, transfers, etc.) of the CBI via the Ministry of Personnel, knows better than most that he who pays the piper calls the tune.". 

One of my previous posts explains the problems in the present anti-corruption systems of India and the role of the CBI. Here's ten different people who've answered the following question - "why do many political parties in India question CBI's credibility from time to time?"
http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101114114515AAYRZAP
All ten seem to agree that the CBI is used by the party in power to keep the opposition at bay:

Here's what I think the current government is scared of: An agency that polices the Congress plays right into the hands of the opposition. There are too many in the Congress and its coalition who've been tainted by corruption. Some of these politicians are influential. To have any of them under the scrutiny of an independent anti-corruption committee is to weaken and maybe even topple the coalition (UPI) government. The Congress is not about to jeopardise its hold on power.

The main opposition is the BJP - a right wing Hindu party. They would try their utmost, and probably succeed, in destabilising the ruling coalition. We all know there's corruption in those corridors too, apart from the non-secular politics they practice.

How does one eliminate the cancer of corruption then? What choices do the people have when neither party is free of corruption? when individuals from both treat tax payer money as their own? 

One option would be to look out for a third alternative to the current government+coalition partners and the opposition - perhaps an independent, someone totally new and inexperienced :-( BUT starting on a clean slate.

We'd have to wait till 2014 for that and we don't know what laws the government would try to push through before that to protect individual, influential looters.

Here's a suggestion from the former director of Infosys, Mohandas Pai - a split in the CBI - the wing that takes care of the opposition to government, and the wing that takes care of corruption. This is what he says: "The challenge in India for corruption cases has been the lack of investigation, the lack of resources and the lack of integrity in the investigation. If we don't want a Lokpal that is impotent, CBI needs to be under its control or it is not going to work." 

Justice V.N.Khare has expanded on this further in an interview with the Times of India. His reply to the following query by the times reporter, "Is there any merit in the Team Anna argument that the CBI should be brought under the Lokpal?" is as follows: I don't think that the entire CBI can be brought under the Lokpal. The CBI is a huge organisation whose investigative capabilities are used for so many things other than fighting corruption. At best you can put 50 or 60 CBI officers on deputation with the Lokpal. However, if the CBI is under the government and the government is the prosecutor, there is a clear conflict of interest in prosecuting government corruption. I believe the CBI should be autonomous in any case.

Which brings me to Team Anna's option: "India Against Corruption" (IAC) want an anti-corruption bill with a lot of teeth. They've drafted the Janlokpal bill. Team Anna’s demands include total independence of the CBI from the likelihood of government interference. Till team Anna came on the scene we knew about corruption in politics but we didn't know how these greedy individuals got away with siphoning off for themselves, what belonged to India and Indians. Team Anna made a lot of effort to expalin the loopholes in the anti-corruption systems. Who can deny what Prashant Bhushan, one of the members of Team Anna and one of the drafters of the Janlokpal bill had to say at Ramlila Grounds, Delhi,"This movement has forced the Government to pass a bill, however weak. It had to make a Joint committee, standing committee and then pass a bill. It is a weak bill, no doubt, but it is your pressure that made it happen." He said this before the government scuttled the bill yet again after the winter session of parliament.

IAC has shown us we need not feel so helpless - that we can, and must, agitate if we think the government won't bring in a strong anti-corruption bill. Government BY the people isn't only voting every four years and then letting those voted in have a field day looting India. I know lobbying is too hard and won't show results immediately. But if you believe there is rampant corruption that affects the ordianry people of India, it is worth making the effort.

There are some who feel team Anna's version of the bill would give too much power to the 9 member committee who would control the anti-corruption agencies. Arvind Kejriwal, from team Anna says that is a deliberate attempt to mislead the people; that the 9 member committee wouldn't have the power of impeaching anyone - just lodging the fir - the first information report. The impeachment procedure would remain unchanged and would be through the courts. (Listen from 2 minutes and 27 seconds of this Youtube video.)

I wonder what our cynics think of the version the government has put up - that bill, for starters, declares the government will pick the team that will police them. What's more, that team will be beholden to the government for promotions and transfers etc according to the newspaper editorial above. How can they not toe the government line? Also, what credibility does the government have now, after scuttling the bill again and again? Till we have a law to prevent or punish corruption, we've seen proof that they will continue looting the money Indians pay for India's safety, security, infrastracture, progress and the environment.

Everyone hopes the people of India win. We hope their hard earned money and taxes are used to benefit them and not greedy individual politicians. To make that hope a reality means making your voice heard. And whose voice is heard loud and clear? A billion lone (armchair) voices or a billion strong force?

My hope is that the eyes of the WORLD are trained on the non-violent movement. That can happen if more of us join the protests, making it clear as team Anna does, that our protest is against corruption - not against any political party.


Follow team Anna and India Against Corruption as they unfold their action plan once more.  And if you are able, join the protest.

Credibility of Indian Politicians

What Platform will Indian Politicians Fight on in 2014? What rhetoric will they be able to spew out with conviction? 

The 1993 synchronised bombs in Mumbai left Indians in shock. The feelings uppermost in Indian minds were disbelief that anyone could hate us so much, and fear.  

Indian flag by gsagri04, open clipart

The attacks from gun totting Pakistanis in '98 left us reeling with the same feelings. But added to that was pride in the way Indians helped fellow human beings plus an awareness that our enemies wanted India to descend into chaos and a determination not to let that happen. Indian communities came together in a show of unity and strength. There was also a slow burning anger at the Indian government for taking so long to send help.

When the Zaveri Bazaar bombs went off in July this year, Indian anger at the government reached boiling point. Some government official tried to get a photo op. out of the whole hopeless mess - going to the scene of the bomb and giving a speech, calling Indians brave and suggesting the Indian spirit will survive. That was the final straw. Indian anger boiled over. They said "never mind our spirit, what are the government's plans for our safety?" and more words to that effect. here's one link out of millions - Bombed, Doomed and Living On 

Indians are aware that the first instinctive thought of any politician is to kill the opposition. Indians can live with that. They know leaders of major parties try and ensure that party line are followed. But safety is beyond petty party politics. Indians are angry that their safety and security isn't of paramount importance to our politicians. Political parties in any mature and responsible democracy throughout the world understand it is non-negotiable. This is possible in India too, according to http://ibnlive.in.com/news/devils-advocate-why-has-india-failed-to-combat-terror/183168-3.html 

The next elections are three years away. Can we afford to wait that long to ensure the safety and security of our country is on our politician radar screens? Indians need to see the two major Indian political parties hammer out differences on this vital issue now. Or, the Indian public is willing to look for someone who will - perhaps an independent. 

The other big issue is, of course, corruption. We've come to know how Indian MPs have been looting the Indian treasury. In states ruled by both major parties the degree of corruption is mind boggling. It involves lakhs of crores of rupees where 1 lakh crore is 

Sabsey bada Rupaia - Indian rupees by beshra, free clipart

Rs 1,000,000,000,000.
(At the current rate, that is 20,393,596,410 USD) 

And they get away because our anti-corruption agencies are hopelessly under-staffed, under-funded and not independent of the government. Files investigating MPs land on the desks of staff working under those very MPs. Who would investigate their boss? And there's more as explained by "India Against Corruption" or http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/p/india-against-corruption.html

The outrage and scorn for our MPs has boiled over. And the irony is that both major parties have declared in almost all their previous party manifestos they will fight ... you guessed it, corruption.

Here are a couple of links to Congress’s "common minimum programme" of 2004. http://pmindia.nic.in/cmp.pdf  straight from the PM’s office or http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3757269.stm from the BBC

A few points covered in the common minimum programme are, no privatisation, abolition of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism) that made the minorities feel threatened, uplifting the poor, education, economic reform and growth, women’s rights and corruption.

The BJP’s agenda in 2009 included life and job security to all citizens, prevent corruption and achieve speedy development. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-04-08/mysore/28057435_1_bjp-leader-l-k-advani-prime-ministerial-candidate
 
Is life any safer in 2011? Has poverty been eradicated? What about the quality of the air Indians breathe, the soil we grow our crops in or the level of pollution in our waters - factors that directly impact our health and our doctors' bills? Our factories to a large extent, know they can easily bribe our politicians to let them continue breaking environment laws instead of ensuring what they spew out or empty out into our rivers and soil as by-products of their cash-making ventures, don't harm the environment. What about electricity grids for our villages? Or pucca roads in India. Are India’s poor any better off, women safer or terrorists less able to execute their anti-human plans in our country? Would the BJP guarantee the safety, security and independence of minorities and women? Would they re-introduce POTA?  Most important of all, are any of our politicians less corrupt or did both parties mean to be the exceptions to their corruption platforms? 

Indians blame most of these issues on weak anti-corruption laws that govern our politicians. Funds for any project are siphoned off by individuals, thereby compromising the said projects. Indians are harassed for bribes at every step. There is determination that a strong anti-corruption bill will be passed to curb the ability of politicians to loot Indian funds and get away with it.

Glib politician rhetoric 

• without a properly spelt out action plan, 
• without a proper budget and 
• without indications where exactly the funds for any glib promise will come from

will not easily take in an enlightened Indian public any more. 

Neither major party will be able to use "corruption and safety-security" as the platforms they fight the 2014 elections on. Indians have openly started heaping scorn and disgust on such speechifying from corrupt and callous politicians.

The only hope Indian politicians have is to put these two issues - corruption in politics and safety-security in India - in order, well before the elections.

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Indians Scared To Speak Out?

There are any number of Indians who have always been outspoken about the state of affairs in India. Courageous souls, mostly from the media, who the rest of us have admired for their outspokenness. And we've agreed with them about the sad state of affairs. Many of us have berated the people responsible for it too - but always in private. Until now.

Anna's movement, Anna's team has had all of India speak out with one, effective voice. The latent energy of the people's anger has erupted never to be bottled again. What are the lessons to take away from this most inspiring of movements?

We need to, however embarrassed it makes us, accept that we haven't taken a stand before. And it isn't too difficult to see why. So many people have given their lives for speaking out. The latest victim - hopefully the last to give up her life in so blatant, unafraid and open a murder, was Shehla Masood. Has the guilty party been punished?

Indians know, with the system as it is, they never will.

What's more, Indians have always known this to be the consequence of speaking out. It's made us afraid for our lives and the lives of our loved ones. We've learnt to be cowed, to give up and give in with a sense of hopelessness and frustration. 

I hope India never feels afraid to speak out again. If there's unity and a well thought out action plan there is no need to be afraid. Today ordinary Indians are pitted against a powerful foe - corruption in politics. India Against Corruption has clearly spelt out what politicians have been getting away with and why. It has made ordinary Indians angry. IAC has made them understand that democracy won't work unless they take an active role in questioning each and every move made by these politicians. That means giving up a bit of that most precious of resources - time.

And IAC are under no illusions that people who've benefitted from the system will give in meekly. These people are bound to resist any moves to change the status quo. IAC has said only one thing will ensure their accountability. UNITED ACTION. Otherwise they will carry on doing what they've done before.

They will

• create a parellel economy through bleeding Indians and India dry
• through demanding bribes and 
• through scams to siphon off for themselves, what the tax payer gives them for India.

• not allow access to even the basics - good pucca roads that last and footpaths made to walk on, clean air to breathe, electricity, water, a basic education and an equal chance for everyone to be able to hope for a better future - benefits that every Indian should rightfully be able to expect. But most dastardly of all, 

• kill anyone who dares to speak up against their corrupt actions.

The lessons for us:

Being scared is a vicious cycle. It keeps corruption alive.

Yet, being afraid is prudent unless we are united, have a well thought out action plan and the lines of communication are always open, not only between us but between the media and the movement leaders as well.

In a democracy, ordinary people have to participate to make politicians accountable.



 I am a proud member of "India Against Corruption" (IAC)

                               
Activity: IAC is the movement spearheaded by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal against the cancer of corruption that is eating away at India. Our current aim is to get a strong anti-corruption bill (The Jan Lokpal bill) passed by the parliament in the monsoon session.
Details: We have a few PPT\'s, FAQ\'s and pamphlets which can help the bloggers get a bit more clear idea about the movement and the bill. Moreover the 2.2 version of the bill is also available on the website for those who are interested in the legal aspects. We also plan to start hour long webcasts about the bill every weekend very soon. Interested people can join us there too. Contact us for more details. (Ankit Lal is also a blogger and is responsible for online activities of IAC. His blog links are: ankitlal.blogspot.com, naivereader.blogspot,com)
Support: Corruption
Note: There is a lot of misconception in the public about Anna\'s movement, Janlokpal and the aftereffects it would have. Our aim is to clear the air and make the public aware about JLP.
This post is a part of BlogAdda's Bloggers Social Responsibility (BSR) initiative. Visit http://www.blogadda.com/bsr/  and support an NGO of your choice by writing about its work.
    








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Bombay In Her Heart - K.Mathur Interview

I enjoyed being interviewed by the Hutt News for Never Mind Yaar and managed to talk about many things I feel strongly about besides the book.

Please click on the photo to enlarge and read the interview

In NZ the book is available at The Best Little Bookstore 

Also available on Amazon, USA.

For excerpts and reviews please go to the following page.

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India Against Corruption - Anna's Message

My Dear Fellow Indians
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A decisive battle against corruption has begun. We are not against any political party. We want systemic reforms. We want a corruption-free India.

After all, what are the people asking for – a strong anti-corruption law which provides for honest and time-bound investigations and trials that result in jail for the guilty, confiscation of embezzled money and their dismissal from service?

Are we asking too much?

For two months, we were talking to the government. Government seems unwilling to take even small steps against corruption. Government appears insincere. We have met all prominent political leaders. We have tried everything. What do we do now? When I announced my indefinite fast from the 16th of August, the government threatened that they would crush us the way they crushed Baba Ramdev's peaceful agitation.

Friends, this is a historic opportunity. We can't afford to lose it. We are determined to fight to the end. If they arrest us, we will peacefully offer ourselves. If they use batons and bullets, we will happily lay down our lives but will not leave the place. We will not retaliate. It will be a completely non-violent movement.

“If you fast on 16 August, you will be crushed” – this is what they are saying. “We will impose section 144 on Jantar Mantar” – this is what they are thinking. But I say that if every citizen in this country takes off from his work from 16 August, comes on the streets in front of his house, at the crossing, with a tricolor in his hands shouting “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and raising slogans against corruption, they will fall short of batons and bullets.

The government may arrest one Anna Hazare but how will they arrest 120 crore Anna Hazares? They may
impose section 144 at one Jantar Mantar but will they impose section 144 on the whole country? And let me tell you – the police and army is with us. At traffic signals, policemen stop us, express their support
and wish us well; at Raj Ghat, the policemen donated generously for the movement!

So, will you take off from your work from 16 August? Will you descend on the streets with me? This year, the country will wait for 16 rather than 15 August.

In solidarity,
Anna Hazare

(Please make copies of this pamphlet and distribute it in large nos.)

For more on India Against Corruption please go to http://nevermindyaar.blogspot.com/p/india-against-corruption.html or http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/ 



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Problems in the present anti-corruption systems of India

There are many corrupt government officials in India. In order to understand why they flourish we need to understand the Problems in the present anti-corruption systems at both, the Central and State Government levels in India

Today's post is taken from the following link:
http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/doc/Reforms_needed%5B1%5D.pdf

This post is to pique interest in "India Against Corruption" an organisation which has put forward recommendations to make the fight against government corruption slightly more foolproof. The government is fighting tooth and nail not to implement these recommendations or to delay implementing them or to change them slightly so that the recommendations remain ineffective. It is doing so because these recommendations would implicate too many of its party and coalition party members. These recommendations take into account the safety of whistleblowers and would ensure that the anticorruption agencies remain independent of the very government officials they are supposed to investigate.

More and more Indians should join "India Against Corruption" After all, whose voice is more effective? A billion lone individuals or a billion strong force?

At Central Government level, we have the following anti corruption agencies
1. Central Vigilance Commission - CVC,
2. Departmental vigilance - DVO and
3. Central Bureau of Investigation - CBI.

Here's a brief discussion of why they are ineffective.

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC):

CVC is the apex body for all vigilance cases in the Government of India. Although CVC is relatively independent in its functioning, it neither has resources nor powers to enquire and take action on complaints of corruption in a manner that meets the expectations of people.

E.g. 1. CVC can only recommend and advice the Central Government Departments who is free to accept or reject its advice.

E.g.2. It has a staff of less than 200 employees which has to check corruption in more than 1500 central government departments and ministries. Some of these ministries are huge e.g. to name just three - Railways, Central Excise and Income Tax.

E.g. 3. Due to lack of manpower the CVC forwards most of the complaints to the vigilance wings of these very departments - (Departmental Vigilance or DVO). You can imagine what happens to these complaints once they are in the hands of the very ones against whom the complaint is – delay tactics, scuttling of the complaint, transferring of vigilance officers or even firing them (see next point)

E.g.4. There are certain areas where the CVC have no powers
• CVC does not have administrative control over officials in vigilance wings of various central government departments to which it forwards corruption complaints. All officials except the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) are appointed/transferred by this very government department. How easy is it to transfer or even fire an official who doesn’t toe the departmental line? So the Departmental Vigilance is just a mockery where senior officials of the department are concerned.

• CVC does not have powers to register criminal cases. That is done by the CBI. CVC deals only with vigilance or disciplinary matters.

• It does not have powers over politicians. If there is an involvement of a politician, CVC can, at best, bring it to the notice of the Government. There are several cases of serious corruption in which officials and political executive are involved together. What’s more, appointments to CVC are directly under the control of the ruling political party.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

CBI has powers of a police station to investigate and register FIR. It can investigate any case related to a Central Government department on its own or any case referred to it by any state government or any court.

The problems it faces:

• CBI is overburdened and does not accept cases where a citizen has accused that amounts as much as Rs 1 crore have been defalcated or embezzled.

• What’s worse, CBI is directly under the administrative control of Central Government. So, if a complaint pertains to any minister or politician who is part of a ruling coalition or a bureaucrat who is close to them, CBI's credibility has suffered and there is increasing public perception that it cannot do a fair investigation and that it is influenced to scuttle these cases.

• Again, because CBI is directly under the control of Central Government, CBI is perceived to have been often used to settle scores against inconvenient politicians.

Therefore, if a citizen wants to make a complaint about corruption by a politician or an official in the Central Government, there isn’t a single anti-corruption agency which is effective and independent of the government, whose wrongdoings are sought to be investigated. CBI has powers but it is not independent. CVC is independent but it does not have sufficient powers or resources.

(For a more detailed report of the exact problems faced by the anti-corruption agencies and the recommendations made by “India Against Corruption” go to: http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/doc/Reforms_needed%5B1%5D.pdf )

 

Four Ways to Fight Corruption

Indians are so fed up of corruption they are taking determined steps to cull it from the psyche of our politicians. Not an easy task to undertake but here are some alternatives:

1. Do nothing, and hope for the best
2. Be an armchair activist and talk about this problem to everyone you know
3. Question the people who are doing something to eradicate corruption: whether they are the right people, whether they are themselves corrupt, whether they have a good plan, etc.
4. Join the cause, and do something, provide some support and momentum – be present in the events, talk to your friends and neighbors and inspire them to join this movement.

Want to find out more? Check out the entire article by Aadesh Goyal at:

http://aadeshgoyal.blogspot.com/2011/04/corruption-four-choices.html

Join the movement, "India Against Corruption" 3.5 crore people already have. After all, whose voice is stronger and louder, a billion lone individuals or a billion strong force?



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Manmohan's interview with TV News Editors

Everyone in India seems to be talking of Manmohan Singh's interview with major Indian TV news channels plus international ones like Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN . From all comments on various blogs I gathered that many ordinary folk seem to be disappointed with what he had to say. I watched it online and quite frankly, was impressed.

Remembering he is in a coalition government and is therefore beholden to other parties, I think he is a wonderfully stabling influence. His economic policies since Narasimha Rao's days (under whom he was finance minister), have helped more Indians prosper than any other person’s. His background, and therefore his strength, is finance.

Where corruption is concerned, I agree that he is weak, making excuses for not taking people in power to task, sometimes, even rewarding them with promotions. Every TV editor asked him what he was doing re corruption of some person in power or the other and his answers never said he'd be able to recover the lost revenues or make that person accountable by asking him or her to resign. To know someone is corrupt and not insisting on making that person accountable makes Manmohan as guilty as if he committed the crime himself. His answers were, to my mind, a bit helpless except when he declared that after the budget session (not now, but sometime in the future) there would be a reshuffle of his entire cabinet.

But here’s the problem – Manmohan’s policy on corruption might be weak but everyone is agreed he isn’t corrupt himself. His economic policies since Narasimha Rao's days have helped more Indians prosper than any other person’s. So many Indian politicians have been accused of corruption by the media; so many use strong arm tactics to subdue Indians who question them; who are communal by nature - which means they aren’t concerned about the well being of all Indians except the ones who belong to their own community; and too many whose economic policies have never been as strong as Manmohan’s.

Summing up,

So many comments I’ve read indicate that the Indian public isn’t impressed with Rahul Gandhi – the PM in waiting!

Secular Indians definitely don't want a communal minded party (only our community and damn the others) to come to power.

I feel Manmohan is
     . honest, astute and has sound economic policies. Those are the sum of his leadership skills.
     . He is weak on corruption
     . I'm really not sure what he plans to do about terrorism, inflation and the environment.
     . He blames the Congress coalition partners for compromises he has to make and for having to overlook corruption.
     . The public is wary. Nobody believes him.

What can we do to change the situation? Do we solely depend on our news reporters or can we, the public, do something? And if so, what, that would be effective?

Can we keep showing Manmohan that we are not going to let up our pressure on corrupt individuals in politics till he is forced to take action and not just mouth platitudes – that it is the public he is more accountable to rather than his coalition partners and his party members?

Do we have any other options besides waiting for a candidate who will open up the economy like Manmohan has, is perhaps stronger than him when dealing with corruption in his own party or in the coalition, and last, but not least, someone who deals strongly with terrorists and the environment?

Yes we do. We can protest in unity; make our presence felt. The key word is UNITY. It shouldn't be that as soon as there are threats to someone's life, property and loved ones, the rest of us quietly move away. It takes time to build such unity. How? We need a well thought out action plan.

ORGANISE, THEN MOBILISE

The link to the interview with Manmohan was provided by Patrick French in his blog (blog link: http://www.theindiasite.com/looking-people-in-the-eye-manmohan-singhs-press-conference/)

This is the link to MANMOHAN'S ENTIRE INTERVIEW:
http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/pm-manmohan-singh-s-q-a-with-editors/191098