Arundhati Roy, a big liberal, perhaps like a big corrupt government establishment. This is reflected in her campaign against the anti-corruption movement of Anna Hazare. Here is an excerpt from an article from the Wall Street Journal (Saturday), 3rd September, 2011 by Gurcharan Das. It starts as follows: A year ago, no one in India could have imagined that cabinet ministers, powerful politicians, senior officials, and CEOs would be in jail now, awaiting trial for corruption. The credit for this dramatic shift belongs in no small part to the anticorruption movement of a 74-year-old activist, Anna Hazare, supported by determined justices of the Supreme Court, an exceptional auditor general, rival television channels in 'search of "breaking news" and, crucially, a newly assertive Indian middle class…… It gives some anecdotal evidence of corruption, such as buying a toilet paper roll for $80 for the Common Wealth Games, Government's sale of licenses for mobile phone spectrum to favored companies at prices so low that government treasury lost as much as $40 billions, nepotism of powerful politicians in allotting prime properties in Mumbai, etc. It states that – many officials were taken by surprise by Mr. Hazare's support from the middle class, which is almost a third of India's populations today…. People have begun to believe that their future is open, not predetermined, and can be altered by their own actions. The article ends by saying – Mr. Hazare's bill is the needed medicine, but it is being administered long after the sickness appeared. Clearing swamps is a better way to tackle malaria than administering quinine. Yes, Mr. Hazare's bill is all about clearing swamps, and mosquitoes don't like it. Thanks. Jiten Roy |
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