The society is writhing on the hot bed of corruption, which has crept into each and every stratum of society. Corruption had been simmering and simmering for a quite long time but with the regular revelation of black money kept mostly outside the country and demand to bring it back to the country and confiscate it, now it seems to have come to a boil. That is why the concern of civil society has found expression in the repeated and pressing demand of Lokpal Bill.
It is another matter that those who are leading, rather competing to lead, this public demand, Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, are being exploited or projected for petty political gains. Of the two personages who have staged fast against corruption, the former has somewhat better credential to lead the movement while the latter was palpably planted by the Sangh Parivar, which is trying to restore the lost political space after having received at their chagrin regular electoral drubbings.
While the movement is going on and taking turns, one after another, the Supreme Court has underlined the need to amend the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) to root out corruption in the country. In the June 8 pronouncement of the Apex Court, along with the amendment of the PCA came the stress on amendment of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. “In this country, if there are two laws that need to be changed or amended to act as a deterrent, they are laws relating to anti-corruption and sale of spurious drugs,” the Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and Swatanter Kumar said while dismissing the appeal of an Assistant Excise Commissioner in a graft case.
The question is: Can law alone succeed in changing the society for the better? The answer is a big NO. Change, or call it reform if you like, comes from within. But the irony is that the desire to change the society does not seem to have emanated from within. Take any law and cast a glance on the society. You will, more often than not, find its naked violation. For example, take Anti-Defection Law. Are politicians not changing loyalties; and if yes, whether for the greater cause of the nation? This does not mean that there is no need of law as there will be complete chaos if there is no law. Then what the society is lacking?
Let us ask another question: Is there any page in human history that sings of a corruption-free society? Yes, there is. We say it loud and clear that the society Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) established in Madinah, of course under the Divine Guidance, and after him maintained by his rightly guided caliphs, was an ideal society free from corruption. Our society needs to turn this page. Will it turn this sane advice down at the cost of moral health of society?