'Hazare's protest puts social issues in focus'

PUNE: Political analyst Suhas Palashikar on Monday said that though social crusader Anna Hazare's agitations against corruption have brought social issues like corruption on the table for discussion, he has doubts whether the Lokpal will succeed in curbing corruption.
Palashikar was delivering a lecture on 'Challenges before democracy' as part of the V M Dandekar memorial annual lecture series organized by Bharatiya Artha Vidnyan Vardhini, a research institute here.
Palshikar called for a methodological and institutional practice to curb corruption. "The idea of having a strong Lokpal is welcomed. But in today's world, where corruption is practised in a nexus, whether such an institution will succeed in curbing corruption is a matter for concern." He also wondered who will keep a watch on the Lokpal itself.
Major opposition parties failed in performing their duties in the democratic set up which caused political stagnation in the country, he said. This resulted in bringing up people's issues such as corruption on a national platform through non-party agitations. People from urban middle class have participated in Hazare's the agitation in large numbers. tnn
Palashikar said that whether or not the judiciary, government employees, politicians, senior army personnel and media persons should be brought within the ambit of Lokpal was a matter of concern for the public. But the layman on the periphery of the system, who is being exploited due to malpractices and corruption in the society, should be the prime focus of such agitations.
"Democratic system within the political parties is very limited and fragile. Transparency in the system will help people identify good elements in politics, instead of only supporting non-party agitations," he said.
The demand for right to recall, right to reject and right of people to participate in law-making process sounded good but were very difficult to implement, he added.
Eom/harshal/md