The Lok Raj Sangathan unequivocally condemns the Manmohan Singh government for arresting Anna Hazare and his teammates and detaining thousands of people who were planning to gather at JP Park, Kotla, Delhi to press for a strong law against corruption.
The Lok Raj Sangathan hails the people of our country for coming onto the streets in the capital and in all the towns and villages of our vast country to protest this clampdown of dissent and express their oneness with the struggle for a corruption free India. Through this massive show of solidarity and dissent, the people of our country have shown what peoples power is. We have forced the government and the parliamentary political parties on to the back foot. Our people are demanding with one voice an end to the corrupt and parasitic system. Our people have expressed complete lack of faith in the rulers on dealing with this burning problem.
A government which arrogantly picked up Anna Hazare from his home hours before the protest began has had to back down and withdraw the 7 day judicial remand on the night of August 16, 2011. However, Anna Hazare and his teammates have declined to stop the fast unto death in the jail, or come out of jail, unless the government agrees to allow them the right to carry on their protest without restrictions. Now the government is under pressure to eat its own words, and allow the protest to continue, as demanded by the people.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his colleagues in the government have been repeatedly declaring that the people of India have no role in deciding legislation. Their role is limited to voting this or that party to power. According to the government, it is the sovereign right of parliament to decide on legislations. In other words, sovereignty does not vest in the people of our country, but in parliament. The will of the people does not count. The people of India are not the rulers, but the ruled. Parliament is the ruler.
The people of our country have in one voice challenged this outdated and restricted concept of democracy. They have in no uncertain terms declared their right to become rulers.
The struggle that is raging today goes far beyond just the demand for a strong Jan Lok Pal institution framed by people, to check corruption. It is an assertion by our people that the time has come to reform the political system and process so that sovereign power vests in the people.
People are demanding that the right to select and elect candidates to parliament and the right to recall unsuitable representatives must vest in people. They are demanding that people must have the right to initiate legislation. They are demanding the right to vote on legislations through referendums.
People are asking questions about the role of political parties. Lok Raj Sangathan believes that the time has come to redefine the role of political parties so that they cannot rule over the people. Political parties have an important role to play in organizing the people to become the rulers. They must be instruments of the people to rule themselves. Only such political parties deserve the right to exist.
The struggle over the Lok Pal Bill has exposed that the present system is outdated and anachronistic. It does not suit the people of our country. We need a new system where people will be rulers, and will reorient the economy to fulfill the needs of the people. We need Lok Raj!
Onwards with the struggle for a corruption free India!
Onwards with the struggle for peoples empowerment!
Onwards with the struggle for Lok Raj!
Statement of the Lok Raj Sangathan, August 17, 2011
