Team Anna targets Agnivesh over controversial video
Opinion is divided among politicians, journalists and others with majority feeling that while the issue of corruption he projected may have drawn national attention, the methods he employed may not have been appreciated.Some feel that the 74-year-old Gandhian has "achieved a lot" but they also question the methods used by him and his team which sometimes appeared to be underminingconstitution and Parliament.Hazare initially went on a hunger strike setting a deadline of August 30 for passage of civil society's Jan Lokpal Bill by Parliament without referring it to the Standing Committee.The civil society had also sought inclusion of Prime Minister, higher judiciary and MPs conduct in Parliament within the purview of the bill but he settled for referring three of his key issue to the committee which will report back to Parliament.Eminent jurist P P Rao and journalists Chandan Mitra and Vinod Mehta feel that Hazare did achieve a lot by getting Parliament to endorse three of his crucial demands in the Jan Lokpal Bill for consideration by Parliamentary Standing Committee.MPs belonging to Congress and BSP feel the methods adopted by him were not appropriate, while SP leader Mohan Singh said the methods created a fear of scrutiny among the political class.The politicians are one in that Parliament has prevailed over Hazare that it has not conceded any of his major demands but only referred some issues for scrutiny by the Standing Committee. Rao and Mitra said Hazare was able to make Parliament commit itself to considering Lokpal Bill because with galloping corruption it was giving an impression that it was not concerned about it.Mitra is of the opinion that Hazare forced government in Parliament to bring in a strong and effective Lokpal Bill which could not be done in the last 40 years.Both of them feel it does not matter who won or who lost. There was a give and take and win-win on both sides. SP's Mohan Singh concurs on this issue.But Mehta said Team Anna was using all sorts of tricks and used the life of a Gandhian to gain leverage. "To some extent, there is political blackmail by these civil society activists."He feels that they can put pressure, give suggestions but can't dictate to Parliament. And this is what a lot of people think is a "dangerous trend".Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi said he does not agree with the method adopted by Hazare to get his demand accepted.People have a right to protest but threatening fast unto death for pushing their demands is not correct, he says.Mitra feels that how to achieve the Lokpal Bill has been left to parliamentarians and Parliament which bodes well for democratic system.JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, who was critical of the media coverage of the Hazare campaign, and RJD MP Jagatanand Singh find nothing wrong in the Gandhian's agitation."No, it's not like that the agitation undermined parliamentary democracy. After all, it was a peaceful agitation against corruption and the agitation was for valid reasons," he said noting that corruption is a big issue. [More]Tags:team annaagniveshcontroversial video