Whither Team Anna: Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption had struck a chord in our people across the board because people were fed up with corruption and believed that Anna Hazare had no political agenda. Unfortunately, the movement lost its central focus of combating corruption and digressed into other issues which did not have the same wholehearted public support. For example, its demand for a Special Investigation Team to inquire into allegations of corruption in respect of 12 or more ministers, including the Prime Minister and the President, who in the unilateral subjective assessment of the Team were corrupt. Statements by a member of the team which indiscriminately condemned the entire political class and questioned the integrity of all the MPs smacked of arrogance and self-righteousness. Indefinite fasts began to have diminishing returns. There was fast fatigue and people were not enthused by the spectacle of periodic indefinite fasts which had life-threatening consequences. Persons sympathetic to the movement urged Anna that measures to combat corruption, and for that purpose the enactment of an effective Lokpal Bill, could best be achieved by or through Parliament and not by pressure tactics in the street. The Anna team did not agree to that course of action.
Then, lo and behold, it was announced on Thursday that fasts would end on Friday at 5 pm. A face-saving device was an appeal to the team by several prominent persons to end the fasts. Team Anna’s announcement on Thursday that it is not averse to forming a political party, equidistant from the Congress and the BJP, sent confusing signals.
There have been divergent reactions to Anna’s decision about calling off the fast. A unanimous sense of relief that fasts would end, obviating any danger to the lives of Anna team members. Then there has been gloating cynicism, ‘I told you so’ and unfair insinuations that the Anna movement always had a political agenda with support of the RSS.
There is no doubt that there has been a strategic retreat by Team Anna. Unfortunately, a movement that started with a bang has temporarily ended with a whimper. But the underlying moral impact of the movement has not disappeared. It is hoped that Team Anna will speak with one coherent and consistent voice and will embark on the right course in its fight against the cancer of corruption.
Delayed War Crimes Prosecution: Public policy considerations require that the law of limitation should not bar prosecution of persons for grave crimes like murder. The rationale is that such offences cause injury not only to the victims of crime but also to society. This position is recognised in our Criminal Procedure Code.
It is indubitable that crimes committed against Jews and other sections of society during the Nazi regime were crimes against humanity and the offenders should not escape prosecution because of mere lapse of time. The vexed question is whether the alleged offender’s age and condition should not be taken into consideration. Laszlo Csatary, a 97-year-old former police officer, is under house arrest in Budapest on allegations of war crimes. His arrest has raised a storm in Hungary and has polarised the divide between the Jewish community and the rest. One wonders what will be achieved by the prosecution of Csatary who will be 100 by the time the trial is concluded and very likely may not live to hear the sentence pronounced on him. Is it satisfaction of the revenge instinct or keenness to see that the rule of law is vindicated and justice is not denied to the families of the numerous victims? There are no easy answers to this question. I would opt for vindication of the rule of law which was flagrantly violated by the Nazis. Let justice be done fairly and the families of the victims be not deprived of their minimum just due.
solisorabjee@gmail.com
Sorabjee is a former Attorney General of India