The evil of corruption in high places — secret accounts in Swiss Bank and offshore banks, Common Wealth Games loot, 2G Spectrum scandal etc. etc. etc. — percolates down to the local administration when India's poor seek ration card, land title transfer (RTC), BPL card, subsidy, transfer, jobs, old age pension etcetera. Unfortunately, the nexus between the politician, bureaucrat and the criminal is preventing a law, the Lokpal Bill, being enacted to break this pernicious nexus and contain the evil of all - pervasive corruption.

That's when the concerned citizens of this country, who love Democracy, came together and formed a platform calling it as “India Against Corruption” (IAC) and decided to get the Lokpal Bill, which has been under consideration of the successive Central Governments since 42 years, passed. However, to the horror of the IAC, it found the Group of Ministers [GoM] set up by the Union Government (UPA) to prepare the Draft Bill had a different idea — emasculate the Bill to an extent that its very purpose is defeated.

Take for example, the Draft Bill by GoM says any complaint against the elected representatives (ministers included) and bureaucrats, in other words all public servants of our Central Government, should be given to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for permission to investigate or prosecute and not to the Lokpal. And the Speaker…. you know what he would do!

Who is fooling who? All present politicians are the same in their opinions about the present GoM - drafted Lokpal Bill except for a few.

The question is: What could have ignited this movement rather unexpectedly without any warning like tsunami? I learn that on 7th March 2011, knowing the “treachery” hidden in the GoM's draft Lokpal Bill against the people of India, the IAC group led by Anna Hazare with Kiran Bedi, that inveterate IPS Officer, Arvind Kejriwal (of RTI Act fame), Swami Agnivesh and may be others went to meet the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and wanted to talk of the Jan Lokpal Bill the IAC had drafted with inputs from Karnataka Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde and Supreme Court Senior Advocate Prashanth Bhusan (son of former Law Minister in Janata Government Shanti Bhusan). This Jan Lokpal Bill draft was already sent to PM in the month of January 2011 itself.

Since there was no response, the IAC went to meet him. But, Anna Hazare and his good samaritan friends found the Prime Minister speaking about the technicalities of a democratic government and was dismissive in his response. So like Gandhiji going to London to attend the Round Table Conference and returning empty - handed, Anna Hazare too returned empty - handed. However, he did not despair. He took up the challenge and on 5th April, 2011 went on a fast-unto-death following Mahatma Gandhi's non - violent Satyagraha for a just cause, not in Maharashtra his native State, but where the power centre is — Delhi.

And support for his cause came spontaneously from across the country and even the world. What was originally planned to be a movement to be launched to create awareness in 130 cities snowballed into more than 400 cities on the second day itself. In Bangalore, a relay fast is on at the Freedom Park, where earlier the Central Jail was located and where significantly some opposition politicians were jailed during the 1975 Emergency Rule.

In city, Dr. R.Balasubramaniam of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), H. D. Kote, had sat on a day's fast in front of Gandhiji's bust near the City Courts in support of Anna Hazare's fast on the same day at Delhi. Apart from Mysore, similar agitation was launched on the same day in Karnataka at Hassan, Bijapur and Dharwad where signed petitions were given to Deputy Commissioner or Tahasildar to be forwarded to the Prime Minister. Wonder, if these bureaucrats had forwarded the petitions. But it was an action on the part of the Fifth Estate, the “grassroot citizens group”, a democratic way of fighting injustice.

It is understandable, ruling coalition (UPA) with many of its Ministers and MPs already entangled in corruption and criminal cases, could not be very enthusiastic about accepting the Jan Lokpal Bill drafted by the IAC of Anna Hazare. But are they lacking in patriotic spirit to bring about a law quickly to arrest the evil of corruption and save our Freedom and Democracy?

What is happening today at Janatar - Mantar is not blackmailing as described by the Congress spokespersons but an upsurge of angry, concerned, non - political members of the Civil Society as it happened in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other Arab countries — a spontaneous response to corruption and poor governance. The UPA government will do well to see the writings on the wall and positively respond to Anna Hazare and the people before there is a mass movement to overthrow the UPA Government before its time.

Remember the situation in our country soon after Indira Gandhi won a landslide victory following Bangladesh war in 1971 - 72 and the corruption and autocratic rule that prevailed all over the country? Remember the students' movement in Bihar and Gujarat and the call given by Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) for a Total Revolution? Remember how JP movement was contained by subverting the Constitution and declaring emergency laws, suspending the Parliament, etc.? Are we to witness the history repeating itself, having learnt no lesson from the 1975 experience?

At the end, in a liberal democracy, politicians of all parties behave the same way, with political ideologies cast away at the altar of power.

It is, therefore, not surprising Anna Hazare has gone on record saying that he would "Live for the country and also die for the country." For a better India. He has to think and live that way and die that way too (God forbid) either fighting or fasting, because corruption has become part of our DNA, not just part of our culture.

That indeed means, corruption has reached a dangerous level that may destroy our democracy. This is the time to save it. Tomorrow it may be too late. In the midst of all this, Ambika Soni, Sonia Gandhi's crony, utters like a wisecrack that Lokpal Bill should be drafted in a way "acceptable to all sections of the people." What? Including the mafia, the crooks and the corrupt? Perish the thought… And finally, the Chairperson of UPA, the de facto PM of our country Madam Sonia Gandhi, is making some noise. Some hope now.

Go India, go. Go at the jugular of corruption
The good people of this ancient land of dharma have found that all the four pillars of Democracy — Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and the Media — are tottering under total corruption eating into the vitals of our society, making our life miserable.

After the 1975 Emergency experience, we are once again finding ourselves at the cross - roads of our destiny. The country seems to be on the verge of falling apart that neither the Central Government nor the four pillars of Democracy can hold. What shall we do? Try the Fifth Pillar, the Grassroot Citizens Group "India Against Corruption," now being led by Anna Hazare from Jantar Mantar, Delhi.