Roy's problems are the same as a number of her fellow Anna critics on the Left. Reuters
Actually, it’s what they want
Team Anna‘s diagnosis of the disease is wrong-headed, Roy claims, but its cure is nothing short of monstrous:
The Jan Lokpal Bill is a draconian, anti-corruption law, in which a panel of carefully chosen people will administer a giant bureaucracy, with thousands of employees, with the power to police everybody from the Prime Minister, the judiciary, members of Parliament, and all of the bureaucracy, down to the lowest government official. The Lokpal will have the powers of investigation, surveillance, and prosecution. Except for the fact that it won’t have its own prisons, it will function as an independent administration, meant to counter the bloated, unaccountable, corrupt one that we already have. Two oligarchies, instead of just one.
Now, this is a valid worry about the Jan Lokpal bill, one voiced by critics across the political spectrum, including the government itself. Uncomfortable perhaps at keeping such dubious company, Roy tries to differentiate herself — and to bizarre effect. By the end of her essay, she is arguing for the inclusion of “corporations, the media, and NGOs… in the jurisdiction of a Lokpal bill.” A recommendation that will surely make any Lokpal even more bloated and all-powerful.
In any case, if the Lokpal will indeed be a dangerous oligarchy, it certainly can’t be accused of undermining the powers of the state. Yet Roy’s final conclusion is that the Lokpal will lay the grounds for free-market free-for-all:
Now, by shouting louder than everyone else, by pushing a campaign that is hammering away at the theme of evil politicians and government corruption, they have very cleverly let themselves off the hook. Worse, by demonising only the government they have built themselves a pulpit from which to call for the further withdrawal of the state from the public sphere and for a second round of reforms — more privatisation, more access to public infrastructure and India’s natural resources.
Now it is a bit amusing to witness Roy complaining about “demonising” government or warning against the withdrawal of the state she has accused of hunting down its poor “with guns, with helicopter gunships”.
But such cheap shots aside, isn’t the Lokpal an institution of the state? It is a watchdog agency that is part of the state apparatus. How does its creation make the state any weaker or force it to “withdraw”? In the case of Bellary mining, two state institutions, the Lokayukta and the Supreme Court, have instead forced corporations to shut down illegal mining. Even if the Lokpal were to turn corrupt, as Roy predicts, it would reinforce the power of the state, not weaken it.
No, no, it’s who they follow
Roy’s problems are the same as a number of her fellow Anna critics on the Left. Attacking the state has always been the time-honoured preserve of Leftists. What in the world does a good Lefty do when the same middle class – who you routinely condemn for its shallow materialism and self-interested apathy – takes up cudgels against that very same loathed government and state? And is now making a number of arguments that you’ve long upheld – oh, the horror – with the full attention of the corporate media.
This is a genuine political and ideological conundrum, and there have been a number of thoughtful responses from other Lefty critics, irrespective of where they come down in the end. (Read this or this)
The Anna moment is especially tricky for Roy who famously declared: “The role of being a member of civil society does not mean making the journey from citizen to a politician holding office. It’s about how do you keep power on a short leash, how do you refuse to relinquish your freedoms.”
A woman who has also said: “Real public power has to come from outside, from a dissenting public that says, I am sorry but I don’t accept this choice.”
Given such pronouncements, surely the Hazare movement – for all its flaws – ought to provoke some soul-searching. Not quite.
Determined to stick to her blinkered anti-establishment guns, Roy instead finds herself in the shoddy position of accusing various members of Team Anna – with the exclusion of her friends Prashant Bhushan and Medha Patkar – of being corporate stooges running NGOs funded by US corporations like Coca Cola, Lehman Brothers, and (god forbid!) the Ford Foundation.
And in doing so, she sounds like every other paranoid right-wing blogger who sees an international conspiracy any time an NGO works on human rights or climate change. The ‘foreign hand’ is now an equal opportunity bogeyman.
There are two possible tacks open to Roy if she wants to maintain her anti-establishment stance against a mainstream movement. She can attack the Lokpal and its advocates either as the enemy of the state or as its Frankenstein-like creation. Either course forces her to invert the traditional leftist position —i.e. to uphold the ruling order or demonise those who would challenge it. Roy in her infinite wisdom has chosen to do both.
Written with inputs and research by Sandip Roy
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